This was a smart and well written mystery where everyone is a suspect. The plot within a plot was great but took me a bit to get my head around. I loved the descriptions of the Boston Library! Highly recommend

This was a quick, easy, sometimes fun story-within-a story murder mystery. The writing had some subtle humor and not so subtle social commentary. I did finish the book and did want to find out whodunit, but I ultimately felt that the characters and plot fell a little short for the sake of form, the reveal could have been better. And the ending – I just didn’t like it.
I was a little put off by the stalkerish behavior of some of the characters and the fact that it was never called out as abnormal. And I didn’t understand the instant romantic relationships that developed – especially with Freddie and Cain – there was not enough character development to make me see that there would be any attraction for something that was supposed to be long term.

I enjoyed the book within a book concept, and the smart way the author used the letters from Leo to add context to the story. The character development was very good and well-planned. The references to the stories each main character was working on and the inspiration for those characters was a neat addition to create more depth to the plot as well. The weakness for me was the slow start of the story. Nothing grabbed me at first but sticking with it paid off in the second part of the book! Once I hit the halfway point, there was much more action and cat-and-mouse game occurring and I was hooked.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.

This is a book within a book.
Author Hannah is writing a Mystery novel about four strangers thrown together amid a crisis.
Each person has a reason for being there. And one of them is a killer.

After Hannah finishes each chapter she sends it to her number one fan - Leo.
Leo adds a unique point of view along with suggestions and some criticism.

I loved this format and this double story was so fun to read. I can’t even decide which story I liked best. It was such a unique style and I would definitely recommend this one.

I am once again asking to rate something 3.5 stars. I really don’t ask much.

This story was unlike anything I’ve read before. Maybe that means I need to read more, or maybe it really was just an unusual and interesting take on a mystery. I think I liked the actual story more than the email correspondence, but I thought the interspersed emails were a cool way to differentiate the story from other mysteries. A few thoughts.

I felt like the two mysteries both were a bit weak and maybe couldn't have stood on their own without the secondary mystery there to distract/hold each other up. I wanted more investigating and more details about the library murder, but it was solved at the end very suddenly. I think the email correspondence really drew away from the unraveling of the original mystery. However, the correspondence also offered a different sort of perspective than you would normally get. I liked seeing Hannah protest her pen pal's increasingly racist and creepy advice in her writing.

But as far as the creepy and racist advice goes... I read another review that said the social commentary in this book was heavy-handed, and I have to agree. There were parts where the author simply missed the mark and left some really unacceptable or questionable things on the page. I was very uncomfortable at the beginning when the pen pal complained that he couldn't take advantage of white privilege anymore as an author, so it was something of a relief to see him written as the villain. I'd worried the author was serious when she wrote that comment because unfortunately, this is something that some white authors actually feel (James Patterson, anyone?) but I digress.

All in all, I think I liked this book for what it tried to do, but I had problems with some of the content and wish the plot was structured better/differently. I'm not sure the correspondence could have been a story on its own, and I do think that the emails helped enrich the library murder mystery, but I'm left feeling a bit odd about it. Do with that what you will.

The premise of this book was so interesting and creative! The book within a book was something I can’t recall ever reading before, but it surprisingly didn’t take me out of the story of Freddie as much as I would have guessed. Leo was suitably creepy and annoying. Using his letters to address the pandemic without putting it in the main story was great. I had a feeling that I knew who the murderer was, and I ended up being right, but I don’t feel like it was obvious.
The one negative is that I don’t really think the cover really fit with the story inside.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

The Woman in the Library
By Sulari Gentill, 7 June 2022
Poisoned Pen Press


“The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream.”

I loved this book within a book, a mystery within a mystery!

This was my first book by Sulari Gentill and I didn’t know what to expect. I’ll admit I was a little confused at first and wasn’t certain I would enjoy the format, but I was quickly hooked and couldn’t stop turning the pages.

Four strangers were sitting in the Boston Public Library, minding their own business and working on their own projects. A scream, and the subsequent dead body, bind the four together to solve the mysterious death. Friendships grow, romance begins, people are stabbed, and some are murdered. You won’t be able to put this book down until you know the murderer behind the scream!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel so bad that I'm DNFing this since it was an ARC, but I am so incredibly bored!

I fell asleep the first two times trying to read this and had to restart. On the third attempt, it just really didn't seem worth sticking out no matter how hard I tried.

The mystery just does not interest me and at the end of each chapter, there's like a meta character writing notes about the story as if it's a book currently being written which just takes away any momentum the story may have had to begin with.

None of the characters feel relatable or draw empathy from me and the writing style comes off very clinical for some reason like there's no emotion in the words.

Thank you, NetGalley for the prelease of this novel.

Wow, what a book! I haven't read such a suspenseful thriller book since The Silent Patient. Every character had a potential angle, but who was the actual killer? The book kept me guessing until the very end. What made the writing even more impressive was the larger story within the story. That was a really clever idea, and I didn't expect the curveball....

All this to say, if you enjoy a well-crafted, not super obvious who done it mystery, you need to get a copy of this book!!!

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

This read was full of unexpected twists and the entire cast were very well executed red herrings until the very end. The plot line itself was enough to keep me reading despite some of the slow burn chapters and having to keep track of the multiple main character set.

I did find it sort of hard to follow being that it was a story within a story within a story. I also felt disconnected from the characters themselves and honestly really didn't even feel connected to the victim that was a random person so I didn't care too much had actually committed the crime.

This thriller/mystery is both a book within a book about a group of strangers who become unlikely friends after a murder occurs while they're all in a library as well as the story of the correspondence between that book's author and one of her fans. I enjoyed it a lot even if the ending was a bit of a letdown.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the copy to review.

While the premise of The Woman in the Library was clever, as well as the story-within-a-story of a fellow author/fan critiquing the WitL manuscript, ultimately I was disappointed by this book.

"The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a captivating mystery thriller about the friendship among four strangers that begins at the library with a horrifying scream. It's a page turner with twist after twist that leaves you guessing until the end.

I fully admit to coming into this one expecting to not like it because of all the hype it's been getting and I happily report that I was so wrong to doubt the insane amounts of praise. It totally deserves it and more.
The way the story is told is incredibly creative and adds a wonderful second level of mystery to the whole thing that I greatly appreciated. It's a complete contradiction in book form. It's not really a straightforward mystery but it does follow the basic rules of one. The twists and turns are expected but they still feel like they're coming out of left field. The entire plot is a series of revelations that kept me turning pages and excited to see what else Gentill could possibly come up with, finding myself constantly in love with where the story goes.
I'm not going to discuss anything about the plot because I fully believe that going into this one blind will up the enjoyment of the story, but know that it's a locked room mystery that is nothing at all like a locked room mystery. Just come into it expecting to be entertained and you most definitely will be.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the exciting read!

"The Woman in the Library" is a book with layers. The author writes about an author writing about an author, and at some points it's definitely a challenge to decipher what is real and what is fiction. The multiple breaks in the fourth wall were interesting at the start but didn't add anything significant to the plot or atmosphere of the book. While the mystery of the murdered woman acts as the main driver of the plot, there is very little tension that compels the reader to follow the four main characters in solving the mystery. It just sort of happens.

The Woman in the Library begins with a murder that brings four strangers together. Their bond is struck when they all independently end up the library together at the same time that someone is murdered.

I enjoyed the main story itself quite a lot, I thought it was an intriguing, twisty murder mystery. I loved the background of the characters, Cain in particular. However I just couldn’t get past the letters from Leo. I found it so distracting and just took me out of the mystery. I just wanted to focus on Freddie, Cain, Marigold, and Whit! Their story was great and fascinating and would have been a four star book on its own. It was a bit plain as far as murder mysteries go but I really enjoyed the characters and the twists! But the letters really took away from that unfortunately.

Nevertheless, an enjoyable read and getting to know the four main characters was wonderful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sulari Gentill for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman in the Library is an accomplished page turner of a mystery.
If you’re someone who enjoys a good mystery that will challenge you and keep you on edge of your seat – you will certainly want to seek this one out.

For me, The Woman in the Library cared a bit too much about its concept than its characters or plot. I’m not a giant fan of metafiction and didn’t realize from the blurb what I was getting into. That being said, even though it’s not exactly up my aisle, I do think the author did a decent job with it.

I guess there are three stories here. Australian author Hannah is writing a murder mystery feature Winifred, the woman in the library from the blurb who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Winifred is also writing a book inspired by the three people she meets in the library. Hannah’s beta reader is Leo and most of the book alternates between Hannah’s chapters featuring Winifred and Leo’s e-mail responses. Once you get into the rhythm, it works well, but the structure did keep me off balance and at a distance from any of the characters.

We’ve got two plots here. (Winifred’s manuscript doesn’t get a plot, just characters.) The mystery involving Winifred and her new friends took some interesting turns with plenty of misdirection and a couple of good twists. It would have been a little over the top if it had been the whole mystery, but as it’s fiction within the story it worked well and kept my attention. The second plot involving Leo and Hannah in the “real” world took a turn midway through that I probably should have seen coming, but didn’t. On the other hand, I don’t know that I really cared anyway. In the “real” world there were some references to the pandemic that I could have done without. I didn’t feel like they added much to the narrative and honestly, I don’t really want COVID in my fiction.

I didn’t love the book. I didn’t hate it. It was worth reading but I can’t think of anyone I would actually recommend it to.

This wasn't at all what I expected but I was not at all disappointed. Start with a library (one of my favorite places) toss in a murder, and spin us between characters to solve the case makes this a near-perfect who done it! I highly recommend.

I loved the idea of this clever mystery within a mystery. The way the fictional reality in the story played alongside the fictional in a unique format.

A murder at the library, people bonded by a scream, another murder or two, a manuscript, lots of book talk, someone playing Nancy Drew, interesting turns that had me double guessing myself and swaying my opinion of
the identity in question

I HAD to know WHO did it! I kept wanting to read more to find out

Thank you to netgalley and publishers for providing an e-copy for me to read and write my honest review. All thoughts are mine.