This was a fresh take on a mystery! I loved the story within a story as we see chapters of the novel come through along with emails from Leo. There’s something sinister going on in both stories, so it was thrilling to go back and forth. I loved seeing the response to the notes from Leo in the next chapters. Very cool and very fun!

MY REVIEW: 2.5 Stars

I love the idea of this book, but I couldn't get into it all the way.

We have these people that meet at a table in the Boston Public Library. They hear a woman scream....

We also get letters from a writer and her beta writer. He has to do research for her as she's from Australia and can't come to Boston due to covid. Sooo.... are these people real? Are they just characters in her book? One of them is a murderer. Is it a real person or a person that's in the book. Yes, I'm going to say it? This is a book inside of a book that's possibly inside another book!

Sigh... Unfortunately, for me this was a miss. I was confused at times and I didn't really connect to the characters.

This is just my opinion! I suggest you read it and see if you just might love it. I have friends that loved it and that didn't so you never know.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital copy of this book.

The Woman in the Library started off promising with a good premise and a good hook. Mysteries set in a library are my catnip! However, this one quickly went off the rails with a convoluted and confusing story within a story within a story. After about the first few chapters, there is almost no mention of the original victim until much later in the book, even though the title suggests it’s about her. Although the book reads quickly, I found myself unable to connect with the characters and wishing we had more than one POV. And this is just a hang up of mine, but I don’t want to read about events that we are currently living through in my fictional novels, i.e. the pandemic. I read to escape from the real world, not be thrown right back into it. Overall, it was a decent read but not one that I would recommend with glowing praise.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Unfortunately, this story within a story didn't work for me. Great concept, but it felt too broken up, rather than a cohesive narrative.

A murder in the library. That’s what hooked me right away but what kept me hooked was the eclectic group of characters and the mystery that they all find themselves involved in. A group of young authors gathered in the library hear a woman scream. Soon it is discovered that a lady has been murdered. A young Australian author, Hannah, finds herself growing in friendship with this group of authors. But is there a murder amongst them? As like turns to love, Hannah finds herself in a budding relationship with the main character. Can she prove his innocence or is she being the one who is being fooled? But wait is this all just a novel? Throughout this who dun it there is this correspondence from an American who is giving Hannah his critique and honest opinion of her book. Who is he and is this just a novel or is the murder real? This story within a story at first had me a little confused but as I continued I really liked the added mystery. I feel like this is a solid 4 stars and definitely for anyone who loves mysteries and libraries! Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this book.

Be prepared - The Woman in the Library is a story within a story. The main story is of four strangers who meet under mysterious circumstances when they hear a woman scream in the library. After the first chapter, we learn that this particular plotline is actually a novel being written by Hannah, and she is providing her chapters to a pen pal named Leo who is providing feedback. The secondary storyline follows Leo and Hannah.

I found this pretty interesting and it was a very unique read. I had parts that I found to be a bit difficult to follow, but all in all, despite the dual storylines, I didn't have too much trouble. It was definitely different than anything I had read before.

I also loved that it featured my home city of Boston and the Boston Public Library - a very unique setting indeed!

3.5/5 stars
Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the eARC!

The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentill, is an inventive thriller that takes readers on 2 different journeys at once. First, a group of four strangers hears a mysterious scream in a library, where a body is later found. Then, between the chapters about that incident is a sort of story within a story. I won't spoil how these two plots intersect and conclude. But I will say that I have mixed feelings about the novel as a whole. Gentill presents a rather intricately-woven and complicated narrative that definitely leaves readers guessing throughout. However, the details are pretty far-fetched and hard to believe at times. And I think the epistolary sections of the book weren't really necessary and only confused things. I'd really only recommend this book if you don't mind suspending belief in plausibility of certain story elements and if you are okay with messy, and sometimes problematic, behavior from main characters.

Four strangers become connected at the Boston Public Library when they hear a mysterious woman's scream. Has she been murdered? Do one of these strangers have something to hide?

Hannah, the main author of the story, is telling us a story about Freddie as she befriends these 3 strangers at the Library. Interwoven into that is another story in where Leo is, a literary friend of Hannah's is giving her feedback on chapters throughout the story.

Freddie, who is in Boston on fellowship, is in the Boston Public Library trying to gather inspiration and finds herself sharing a table with three other people, whom she dubs Freud Girl, Heroic Chin and Handsome Man. Hannah bases the characters in her book on these strangers as we learn more about them. We also meet Leo Johnson who is also on fellowship in Boston and this is where the lines start to blur. Is this the same Leo from the letters?

I wanted to love this book so much, but by the time I was done reading it, I couldn't even wrap my head around it. At times the characters and story line are hard to follow. Which I think is what the author Sulari Gentill wants, as she has you questioning things at every single turn in the story.

This book is for you if you like twisty stories where the truth and reality blend together seamlessly. If you're looking for a straight forward who done it, this book will fall a little short.

I did feel that the writing itself was wonderful - very vivid and intelligently written. I would pick up another Sulari Gentill book if the plot line is a bit more straight forward.

Overall I give 'The Woman in the Library' 3 stars.

The Women in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a compelling and thrilling story about a writer writing a book about a writer writing a book. Hannah Tigone is an Australian author, who is writing a book that takes place in Boston. Unfortunately, due to COVID she is unable to travel to Boston in order to conduct her research. As a result, Hannah has been sending letters to Leo in order to conduct the research as well as gather descriptions. The book Hannah is writing is about an Australian writer Winifred Kincaid (Fredie), who has recently won a scholarship which allowed her to move to Boston, MA. Freddie is working on her novel in the Boston Public Library reading room where she is taking inspiration from the people around her for her novel from the three strangers who are also working in the reading room. While Freddie and the three strangers are all working; they hear a frightening scream and discover that a woman has been found dead. As a result, the four of them discuss what could have happened and end up exchanging phone numbers in case they are in need of an alibi. After the incident at the Boston the four of them become close friends, however as the novel proceeds strange things start to happen to them. The four friends begin to learn that there are still things that they don't really know about. While at the same time, Hannah begins to realize that she does not really know Leo the more she corresponds with him. As time moves on, everyone begins to suspect each other as they don’t know each other as well as they thought they did. Will they be able to figure out who the murder is and why these strange things are happening to them?
While reading Gentill mystery and thriller books I enjoy how she incorporated letters that were sent between Leo and Hannah. These helped me to see the writing process that Hannah went through and the research that was needed for her to write the novel. When I first began reading I did find the letters confusing, however the further I got into the book the more they made sense as to what was happening. I also noticed how there were a lot of comparisons between various things like Freddie’s writing process to people taking the bus. I found this interesting as I have never thought of the writing process in this way. In addition to this, Gentill also included some sensitive topics like homelessness, runaways, and sexual abuse in a way that enhanced the story rather than overbearing it. Another aspect of Gentill's novel that I liked was how she connected all four of the strangers. I have read stories where there are multiple characters with different background stories that become interconnected to each other, however at times it can be confusing to keep track of how they are connected. Gentill is able to connect her characters to each other in a way that allows the reader to understand each of the characters' individual stories as well as how they are connected to each other. When thinking about the conversations between Leo and Hannah I found it hard at some points to follow their characters and the interactions that were happening between them with the exception of the research. When thinking about the plot of this story, I was very intrigued after reading the summary online. I found myself wanting to read more after the first couple chapters, however during the middle of the novel I felt that it dragged on a little before picking up towards the end.
Overall, I gave The Woman in the Library three stars, as I feel like the relationship between both Leo and Hannah could have been portrayed in a more effective way. I found the story of the four strangers very interesting and was more interested in them rather than Leo and Hannah. On the other hand, I did find reading about the writing process whether it was Cain’s room with his plot ideas all sprawled out, Freddie’s writing process, or how Hannah gathered her information for her novel. In addition to this, I think that the letters between Leo and Hannah were a very unique addition to the story. However I felt very confused when I first read them in the beginning and how they connected to the first plot. Lastly, it did take me a while to understand that Hannah was a writer writing a story about a writer (Freddie) writing a story. I found this novel complicated the more I read and think that anyone who enjoys a good mystery and thriller would enjoy reading Gentill novel The Woman in the Library; as there were many twists and turns that I didn't see coming myself.
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Sulari Gentill, and NetGallery for the chance to read an advanced copy of this book.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is such a unique book when it comes to the format of the story, but the reader still gets a classic mystery the likes of Agatha Christie. Already looking forward to what Gentill puts out next!

The protagonist, Freddie, is an aspiring writer from Australia who won a scholarship to come to America and write. Freddie meets three people in the library where they are all united by a mysterious scream (and later, dead body) while they are sitting near each other. Freddie gets inspiration from these three to write her novel, so you have the fictitious characters modeled after the new people she met, along with the actual characters of the book. Add to that a dedicated fan who is emailing/helping the “real” author of the story of Freddie and Freddie’s work in progress, with factual information of Boston/America, since the “real” author is writing about Freddie and Freddie’s book from Australia.
Yeah, it seems a bit confusing, but once you’re actually reading the story it all makes sense, and is completely unique. A metaverse type writing style that you didn’t even know that you wanted.

There are so many layers to this mystery, along with some romance and some very suspenseful scenes. I really enjoyed the interaction between the fan and “real” author, especially as the book progresses and when the “real” author starts using the fan’s suggestions in Freddie’s book, but twists them a bit. Don’t want to say much else as to not give anything away, other than, you should grab yourself a copy of The Woman in the Library!

When I first heard about this book I was intrigued, and when I was later approved to read an advance copy of it I was ecstatic! I started reading immediately, but sadly it has taken some time to finish.

I loved the premise, a murder mystery set in the library? Perfect! And then to go on and very early find out two of the main characters are writers? I was over the moon. The story itself builds well, throughout the narrative you are looking left and right to find the truth, the twists were defiantly enough to throw you off your scent and the big reveal was that: A BIG REVEAL, one that took me by surprise.

The one thing that I wasn't too keen on initially was the letters from Leo, the premise of that confused me and had me doubting which part was the actual story. Leo was incredibly annoying, a backseat writer that no writer wants, I couldn't help but feel irritated on Hannah's behalf of his increasingly pushy remarks.

It was those letters that initially put me off, I started to dread finishing chapters and had to stop myself from skipping them. In fact, I was about to skip them when they began to take a very sinister turn and became much more interesting.

I liked that added twist but I did feel the end of it was rushed. I am aware we are limited to the communication from letters but I would love to have seen more about the ending and the outcome.

The story around that also ended suddenly but I feel it was an appropriate ending as the letters were forced to stop.

I did really enjoy this once overall! Thank you so much for this opportunity!

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
#thirtyfifthbookof2022 #arc

CW: death, murder, violence, stalking, stabbing, mansplaining, oh so much mansplaining

Who doesn’t love a book within a book within a book? NetGalley’s description of this book of pretty typical. It’s a mystery that starts in a library. But you learn from the very beginning that it’s not so straightforward.

Freddie is a writer, and she makes quick friends with other library patrons during an extraordinary event. Things quickly get serious as people turn up dead, and the story races to find out who she can trust. Is one of her new friends a murderer?

Major Spoilers:

I liked the framing device quite a lot. To find out that Freddie’s story is actually someone’s novel, and that book’s author is communicating with a fan, is a really interesting way to show the difference in American and Australian terminology, as well as discuss issues such as race and pandemic inclusion.

There is a person named Leo who is the absolute worst, and he’s supposed to be, and I kind of loved where his story went.

I plowed through this book in just a few hours, and absolutely loved it.

#thewomaninthelibrary

Thank you to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the advance copy. (Pub date 06/07/22)

A standalone thriller, The Woman in the Library is the latest book from Australian author Sulari Gentill. Four people in the Boston Public Library all hear a woman’s scream. Security is called but nothing seems amiss. Later, a body is discovered in a nearby room and the four decide to go to a nearby café to debrief. As they get to know each other, they become firm friends and decide to try and solve the murder mystery together. The narrative switches between recounting events of the four friends and email comments from a Leo, an author assisting one of them to write the story. A most pleasant tale with plenty of character detail but benign tension, making for a gentle crime thriller with three and a half star rating. With thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

I LOVE this book. Well written and addictive from the start Sulari Gentill does a great job weaving two stories into one while leaving the reader eager to find out what happens next. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the thriller genre. I will definitely be getting myself a finished copy of this book.

The Woman in the Library was phenomenal!
Run, do not walk, to read this amazingly wondrous book.
Sulari has brought together an amazingly original cast of American stereo types together in a way that makes this book a home run.
Follow Hannah as she chases her dream as a writer, her new found romance, a mysterious murder, and the truth that ties them all together. This book is truly unlike any book I’ve read in that it’s a book within a book. Hannah is writing a book and has a friend proofing her chapters. This is so thrilling because it’s literally like getting two books for the price of one.
Not wanting to give anything away, this is a fast paced read that will be hard to put down. I missed sleep several nights because I just couldn’t stop.
If I had one critique, it would be for more. Each character was so neat, I wanted the back story for everyone involved. A sophisticated look into the writer’s world as icing on the cake.
I recommend this book to everyone and cannot wait to read everything Surlari has written. Simply brilliant!

I love good mysteries - as a genre and as a palate cleanser - so I'm always looking forward to reading more thrillers in the summertime when "the livin' is easy." After discovering that "The Woman in the Library" by Surali Gentill was recommended in the New York Times (May 27, 2022, "Murder, Blackmail and an Epic Battle to the Death in Australia"), I decided to plunge into this new thriller, written by an unknown yet for me author.
The novel starts true to its title and, a bit predictably, inside the beautiful reading room at the Boston Public Library. An aspiring mystery writer, Freddie closely watches the three guests sitting with her at the table – she's planning to use them as the characters in her new opus. Suddenly, the silence is interrupted by a woman's scream. The body is discovered, and of course, all present become suspects. Outraged, the four people at the table start to talk about what happened and decide to meet again. The intent is to investigate the murder, and the accidental encounter becomes a casual friendship. These four reminded me of another four, although a much older group from "The Thursday Murder Club" series by Richard Osman. And it is a positive association.
The novel unfolds as "a story within a story" - one is the story of a newly formed group of friends: Freddie, the writer; Cain, formerly named Abel (Nomen est Omen?), another writer, the handsome one with a shady past; Marigold, a tattooed psychology student; and Whit, a reluctant Harvard law student. Among these four, a murderer is hiding who will not stop at one murder.
The second layer consists of the emails that the actual writer of the story, Hannah, based in Sidney, receives from Leo, a fan dabbling in literature. He provides research for the book, small local details, and comments. Initially sympathetic and kind, the emails turn from innocent suggestions to harsh instructions on how the novel should be written and are accompanied by photos of actual murder victims, often recent and unexplained.
I did not think that I would like this book so much. And, it turned out, I couldn't stop reading! The language is mainly the characters' dialogues, so it's pretty simple. The action is also relatively straightforward, even with the layers: aside from Freddie's escape, Cain's hiding, and some assaults, it consists primarily of going to restaurants, cafes, and many discussions about what the others are doing at a given moment. This book is intelligent and captivating. I'm glad that I discovered a new mystery writer, and I'm planning on reading more of Surali Gentill's thrillers. And, I hope that in my local library, the eventual blood-curdling scream may be only a reaction to the devastating news that the book someone wanted was just borrowed yesterday...

We are at the Boston Public Library’s reading room. Our heroine Freddie is admiring the ornate ceiling and then the silence is shattered by a woman’s scream. The guards in the library take over and ask everyone to wait until there’s an all-clear.

Meanwhile, Freddie is sitting at the table wondering about the cause of the scream with four other strangers. They strike up a conversation and a deep friendship between the four follows. But what none of them realize is that the next day a woman’s body will be found at the library and one of the four is the murderer.
The unusual format of this story is captivating. You will be reading a fictional story, inside a fictional story (in the form of letters between the story’s writer Hannah and her beta reader Leo). It sounds Christopher Nolanish doesn’t it?

It came to me as no surprise after I finished reading the story that the author has already won several awards and accolades in Australia, her native country, and the US for many of her other standalone and series.
The twisty plot of this novel only emphasizes my love for mysteries and why I always pick a mystery to get out of a reading slump. I simply, could not leave my Kindle screen. I had to know who was behind the entire mess and multiple murders.

I have no complaints about the story or the characters except that there were some minor grammatical mistakes, but what I read was a pre-publication manuscript, that's why I am sure it will be proofread several more times before it gets out for publication.

Overall I think the story-telling style was fascinating, and the characters were also so lovable. Alas, someone had to be the murderer. And my guess proved to be wrong about it.

So please explore this gem of a mystery novel. Thank you, NetGalley and the author, for a copy of this book. I enjoyed it immensely.

I found this very good at first. I was very into it and anxious to finish it, but something happened in the middle, and I failed to find it riveting. It was a mystery inside a mystery of an Australian woman trying to write a mystery about Americans. It was worth reading, but nothing to write home about.

Thank you to @Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

Wow what a ride this book is. A twisty story within a story. It will leave you asking," Wait, what happened? "

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a highly recommended, entertaining story-within-a-mystery novel.

Australian mystery writer author Hannah Tigone is writing a new novel and Leo Johnson, a fan and aspiring writer is corresponding with her and offering to be a beta reader for her new novel. In the novel Australian writer Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid has received a writing fellowship that has her staying in Boston. While in the Boston Public Library looking for writing inspiration, Freddie is secretly observing her fellow table mates when a scream is heard that starts a conversation between the four. Marigold, Whit, Cain, and Freddie, become friends and we know from her first chapter that one of them is a killer.

The dual narrative alternates between emails from Leo to Hannah which include writing suggestions and hope that the two writers can meet soon and chapters from the new mystery novel featuring Freddie. In both of the narratives there is a story that is unfolding. There is an impending sense of trepidation as the tension increases in the murder mystery Hannah is writing. Leo's correspondence is full of suggestions and initially is supportive but about half way through the book some outside information comes to light that results in Leo's letters take on a whole new dimension.

This is a fun, entertaining inventive novel with interesting characters. The dual narratives adds interest and both are unpredictable in very different ways. While I found the novel and the two perspectives entertaining, I can't say I was wholly invested in the totality of the novel until it was well underway. Some parts seemed slow moving, nevertheless, I was engaged enough to keep reading and was pleased with some of the turns the plot takes, the detective work of Freddie, and the unexpected surprises and new information that was revealed. This is a novel that would benefit from being able to read it quickly.

The characters are all sufficiently developed, with the exception of the writer, Hannah, so readers will be guessing who is the killer. I did find the sudden, intense friendship of the four a bit unrealistic, but it is necessary to move that story along. The narrative with the four instant friends does contrast nicely with Leo's epistolary narrative.

I enjoyed The Woman in the Library and found it entertaining. One suggestion would be to stick this one out through the slow start until you reach the point where the narratives both pick up and become compelling. The conclusions of both narratives are very satisfying.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Sourcebooks via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.