I haven't read a framing story quite like this one. The novel tells of four people who bear witness to this strange scream and a subsequent murder in a Boston Public Library. I think that the dual narratives, the main story and then the authors sharing their work, made this a really captivating read. I think I would classify this as almost like a mixed media type of story and I really really loved it. I think some of the twists and turns weren't necessarily shocking, but the novelty of the story itself kept me really engaged with the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this!

This murder mystery that begins with a scream in a library is a brilliantly and tightly constructed story within a story. Winifred, a novelist, is in the Boston Libary carefully observing the three people sitting at her table who become characters in the novel she’s writing. When they hear a scream the group starts chatting and over time become friends. This is the main storyline and presented as chapters but at the end of each chapter is a letter from Leo to Hannah the author of each chapter. He’s in Boston, she’s in Australia so he’s reading each chapter to check for locations, corrections etc. I enjoyed this aspect of the story more than the main one, I think, clever, humorous and kinda creepy, it builds to its conclusion in a more satisfying way. The conclusion of the main storyline felt anticlimactic to me but it’s still a very entertaining mystery although it does require some concentration, I did get a bit confused in the early chapters getting my head around the characters.

The Woman in the Library tells the tale of four friends who meet at a library. Once they arrive, a murder occurs and one of the four is the murderer. It was really fun guessing who the murderer was. It was a very fast-paced and suspenseful read! I also love the library as the setting! Therefore, this is a must read for fans of mysteries!

Four people sit in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. One, an Australian mystery writer, is in Boston for a year on a writing fellowship. Two others are college students. Another is an author from the Carolinas. They are strangers who have never met.

“The Woman in the Library,” a mystery written by Sulari Gentill, opens with this. The four are quietly observing yet ignoring each other. When a woman screams outside the reading room, library security asks them to remain in the room while they investigate. Nothing is then discovered, and they are told they are free to go.

The incident breaks the ice. They start talking to each other while waiting in the room, then decide to go for coffee together. Soon they bond and become friends. They agree to meet again. When they do meet the next day, they learn a woman’s body was discovered hidden in a room near the reading room. She was murdered. At the urging of one of the four, a psychology student they decide to investigate the murder. The four soon quickly discover their investigation has led them into danger.

This tale is one of two within the novel. Gentill wraps this story within a second one. The book you are reading is a novel in the process of being written by an Australian novelist, Hannah Tigone. It is set in Boston. Tigone’s protagonist, Winifred Kincaid is spending a year in writing a novel for the “Marriot Scholarship.” Real authors rarely get that type of opportunity. Tigone is stuck in Australia, writing a novel about Boston. A fan, unpublished author Leo Johnson, lives in Boston. She exchanges emails with him. She sends chapters as she writes them. He responds, providing her local flavor about Boston. Their emails precede or follow each chapter. Tigone writes Leo into her story (commonly done as thanks) as another visiting writer on a fellowship. Leo’s responses yields its own mystery.

The result is a deeply layered and richly textured story. The two mysteries, the one written by Tigone and the one revealed by the emails intertwine. The main mystery takes increasingly complex turns. It involves readers in the lives of the four main characters, and takes them through a pre-pandemic Boston that seems real. “The Woman in the Library” is an absorbing and engaging mystery. It breaks the third wall, offering readers a marvelous and engaging adventure.

“The Woman in the Library,” by Sulari Gentill, Poisoned Pen Press, June, 2022, 288 pages, $26.99 (Hardcover), $16.99 (Paperback), $9.99 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.

The woman in the library is very unusual book, we have plot arc into the plot arc. The Australian bestselling author Hanna is writing a new detective novel, and share new chapters with starting writer Leo. We observe emails of Leo and the new book of Hanna. Both of stories is interesting, fresh and thrilling. I really love the way letter from Leo is changing the direction and language to show as that is something wrong. How his aggressive behaviour started to dripping from the letters. And what the ending of this arc, how scary it’s to be Hanna in that moment. If talk about Hanna’s novel, this is story of four strangers and the scream, and don’t thin that you will need more information. Great book, first of all because, till the very end I was really confused who the killer is. Secondary I love the fact that two main characters are writers, how they discuss the writing, the strategy, everything in this book is on its place. The woman in the library great detective story, very gripping I read it in one sit! I had a lot of fun, that why I can honestly recommend this novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in return for a fair and honest review.

From the opening letter beginning "Dear Hannah," I was intrigued by this book. It's a layered book within a book. Hannah, an Australian author, is writing a mystery set in Boston. The book she is writing is also about an author, Freddie, who is Australian, but has won a prize allowing her to live in Boston for a year to write a novel. So, while the story takes place in Boston, it is ostensibly being written by a woman in Australia, who has a correspondence with a Boston would-be writer, Leo, who is coaching her through Americanisms, sending her pictures of relevant sites in Boston, etc. Each chapter includes an email from Leo, giving his thoughts, suggestions, etc. on the chapter. It sounds confusing, but it really isn't - you just go with it and it makes sense.

The inner mystery story involves 4 people sitting at a work table in the reading room of the Boston Public Library - a scream is heard, everyone has to stay put while there's an investigation, and the four - Freddie, Cain, Whit and Marigold - form a bond. They begin meeting to discuss the scream, and then, when a body is found, to discuss the murder. Secrets come out, and relationships turn out to be far more complicated and entangled than anyone had realized.

Along with the complications in the inner mystery, we start realizing that there's more going on in the outer story, with Hannah and Leo, than we realize at first!

I don't want to say much more about the details - there are twists and disclosing them in a review would be a shame. Suffice it to say, that there are twist and turns that make this a compelling story - I had trouble putting it down, because I wanted to know what would happen next!

I spent my Sunday afternoon curled up with this new release and read it in one sitting. There's so much to enjoy here! You've got a thriller within a thriller, the murder setting in the Boston Library, characters who are authors and a twisty, engaging plot. Will you be able to guess which one of the four friends is actually the murderer?

I expected this to be more of a locked-in-the-library mystery, but it definitely wasn't that. The 4 people all meet just before the murder in the library happens, and the book follows the mystery of figuring out who the killer is. There was a bit I liked about the book, and some that I didn't. I liked the way most of the events were linked together. But I didn't feel like I had any real connection to the characters; they felt underdeveloped to me. I also felt it was very unrealistic for them to be such close friends almost immediately after meeting.

I did like the idea of this being an author writing a book within an author writing a book - you'll have to read it to make sense of that one - and there was certainly a mystery within (with out?) a mystery.

The premise of the novel was great, and I think the author did an okay job of pulling it off.

The Woman in the Library was one of the most unique storytelling methods I’ve ever read. As much of the promo foretells, there are stories within stories within stories— and that becomes clear from the very start.
We have an email correspondence plot between an author and a friend/beta reader discussing her newest manuscript. We also have the actual manuscript unfolding like the main plot with “comments” (from beta reader friend) via email at the end of most chapters which slowly become a mystery plot of their own. I think this is definitely the kind of story to go in knowing the least amount possible. For me, it did take me a while to get into the flow of the story and come fully hooked but the last half went by so fast because I was so intrigued to uncover all the resolutions. I do think some of the story was repetitive, it’s hard to explain why without spoilers, but I think the author spent some unnecessary time lingering on one of the suspects and then the MC being unmoved by that notion of motive was repetitive when it was becoming pretty obvious to the reader what was really happening. However!! I did enjoy the reveal but I wish it would have been a little earlier, that’s all, so the ending didn’t feel as rushed after such a long build up. Again, the multiple intertwined stories: “real life” versus fiction, was slightly confusing at first but the mystery and strong characters kept me reading!

🌟3.8/5🌟

*thank you to NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

The Woman in the Library was a very unique way to tell a story. I greatly enjoyed it and will be purchasing a copy for our library when it releases. I appreciate the opportunity to read and advanced copy.

Thank you for the opportunity!

I loved the story within a story plot. I really did not enjoy any of the characters for me. The thought of them all becoming friends during a time when they only came together with a woman’s scream is little weird to me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This is wonderful mystery, a story within a story.
"The Woman in the Library" was plotted wonderfully with interesting characters. Ms. Gentill never disappoints her readers by trying different things within the genre. A somewhat cozy read made it a perfect book for vacation/weekend.

The story starts with Hannah Tigone sending a her newly written manuscript, chapter by chapter to a person named Leo Johnson who lives in the Us. Leo Winifred Kincaid or Freddie is an Australian writer living in Boston, US to work on her novel. While working on her novel in Boston Public Library she comes across 3 people who soon become her close friends. Marigold Anastas is a Psychology student. Cain McLeod is also a writer who was working on his next novel just like Freddie. Lastly, Whit Metters was a law student studying in Harvard. They all happened to sit across one another in BPL when a terrifying scream broke the silence.

From there on, Freddie's life becomes involved with that of a murderer and things start to get a lot more complicated when strange incidents start happening around her, starting with her receiving a phone call from Cain's number, replaying the same scream from the library.

Although the story started with a great punch and managed to keep me hooked for the majority, the ending felt a bit anticlimactic to me. I was expecting a bit more action than what we got with Leo. Also the murderer became more and more predictable to me as the story progressed which eliminated the thrill factor which I feel is essential for a thriller. So, there was not much of a twist at the end. But the terrific writing, engaging characters and unique plot line and framework of the story definitely made it a hit in my eyes.

Having waded through dozens of mystery books that remained unfinished, it was a wonderful surprise to encounter The Woman in the Library. Sulari Gentill is a clever and skilled author who takes a simple situation - four people sitting at a table in the Boston Public Library - and weaves a multi-layered who-dunnit that will keep the most avid mystery eader guessing until the end.

The main character, Freddie Kincaid, is at the BPL seeking inspiration for her latest novel, a who-dunnit. While at the library, a murder that takes place which Freddie decides to use as the plot of her book and her three table-companions become characters in her novel. In the real world, Freddie and her table-mates become friends as they try to help solve the mystery of the murder together.

We get peeks into Freddie's novel as she sends chapters to a fellow writer for his feedback. Although there are several layers to this plot, it is easy to follow as the four friends find out more about each other and the events that led to the murder of the Woman in the Library.

This is brilliant mystery novel by Sulari Gentill that would be enjoyed by any mystery reader.

I am grateful to NetGallery for providing an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am a writer, a beta reader, and a thriller enthusiast; this book was written for me. A successful Australian writer is sending her new thriller, chapter by chapter, to Leo, her trusted American Beta Reader and author looking for an agent. She needs his help because her novel features four people that meet in a library and it is set in Boston. The pandemic has broken out, and everybody is stuck at home, but Leo is eager to do her research.
Leo is quickly engrossed in the mystery, ( as a beta reader I wish all my clients could write like this!) and who can blame him. Four people meet under the strangest circumstances, they hear a woman scream in the Boston library, and while the police investigate, they are ordered to stay put. And a bond is formed for life. Freddie, Winifred is also Australian and in the US on a scholarship. Marigold is a manic pixie girl covered in tattoos. Whit is a privileged Harvard Law student, and the last one is another author, a gorgeously mysterious man named Cain.

Now the woman who screamed is found dead, and Freddie, our protagonist who is a writer (feeling the Droste effect yet?), starts penning her novel inspired by the people she met under these bizarre circumstances. But she can't help to start doing a bit of digging on the side into the murder.

Like Leo, the beta reader, fears, Freddie soon falls for, according to him, the main suspect, Cain. Then people get stabbed, stalked, and murdered.

It is a feat that the layers in this novel never get confusing; they complement each other deliciously, much better than the strange donut flavors in the hip place the characters frequent. No, this novel is the perfect dish, innovative, complex, and gratifying. It is an academia thriller that is utterly surprising, maybe it is more of a curl under the blanket and sip something warm kind of read, but with a pageturner this fun, the beach will do just fine.

This book has all the elements I love in an immersive read — compelling characters, tons of atmosphere, a VERY intriguing premise — then it blew my mind and delighted me with the book-within-a-book and its literary magic. So wonderfully twisty and compelling. The just-right connection to reality get me IN the story. I recommended this book in our YouTube show and podcast on June 10. https://strongsenseofplace.com/library

I was intrigued at first by the writing style, the letters placed after each chapter and I did like the aspect of the book where real-life Leo is a murderer and the author helped the FBI capture him. Overall the first 50% was a little slow going. I was more invested in the last half, wanting to know the outcome. As a whole, I didn’t love the book, but it was okay.

Gentill’s structure of having a novel with in a novel offers lots of meta commentary and introspection of what it means to be a writer. The mystery was fun, but I’d be lying if I said the ending didn’t drop my experience just a tad.

Overall, excellent characters and an exciting premise! The audiobook is performed beautifully and I’m glad I made it to this one sooner than later!

3.75/5 ⭐️

"The Woman In The Library" was an interesting concept and would appeal to people who like mysteries. The writing style was very good, however halfway through the book, it became apparent who the killer was. The dialogue and characters were very compelling. It was a fast-paced book that kept my attention and kept me turning pages. I wasn't a fan of the segments where the main character corresponded via e-mail with her friend; it was distracting from the main storyline.

There was some violence in the storyline, but I think that most readers who like mysteries would enjoy it. This was a good book and it was entertaining.

I actually did this one on audio, but I think I should have flipped back and forth or read it. I thought the narrator was brilliant and did a great job of speaking in other character voices, but I still think it could have been more powerful with additional narrators. This story focuses on a book within a book, and I found myself glued to it the beginning, but feeling lost in the story at the end. I think had I read this one it would have been easier to follow. Over all I did enjoy this one and felt like the book idea was unique.