Oooo I'm afraid I was so confused by the story within a story that I struggled to love this one. The rhythm of the story is very original and I think it will work for readers who could wrap their heads round it better than I could. But kudos to the author for originality

The Woman in the Library had such promise, and after Sulari Gentill's brilliantly twisting After She Wrote Him, I had high hopes for that potential. Unfortunately, though, I found it just a little disappointing. It was still an enjoyable read, but it seemed to have ambitions it just didn't quite achieve.

The Woman in the Library delivers two layers of story. In one, Hannah, an Australian crime writer living in Australia, is working on a book about an Australian crime writer living in the US (this one named Freddie) and corresponding with a fan/fellow writer about her work. The second layer is that work in progress, a mystery centering on a novelist who, along with three strangers, hears the scream of a murdered woman in the Boston Public Library.

The interplay of the two layers, as Hannah's correspondent's suggestions affect her next chapters, works quite well, but I wanted more out of the internal mystery (it's a little anticlimactic, ultimately) as well as more out of the epistolary level, which is a well-drawn character portrait and reflection on the choices and conflicts faced by a writer of contemporary fiction in the midst of a global pandemic...but which doesn't really go further than that.

So, in the end, a relatively pedestrian mystery, raised a bit higher by the epistolary twist, but with both of them falling a little flat, the two layers fail to bring the whole to the ambitious level I expected and wanted.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentill, is an intriguing combination of two intersecting stories. Australian novelist Hannah, living in Australia during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, is working on a mystery novel set in Boston, and corresponding with American fan and fellow writer Leo about her work. The other story is that work itself, in which Australian novelist Freddie, in Boston on a writing fellowship, finds herself tangled up in the lives of three other people when they all happen to be in the Boston Public Library's reading room in time to hear a woman's scream from somewhere in the library.

It's an interesting way of telling a story, but while the intersections are thought-provoking and entertaining by turns (for example, Leo bringing up the question of whether contemporary fiction being created mid/post pandemic should acknowledge Covid or not?), each of the stories falls a little flat on its own merits. The Boston-set mystery is just a little mundane, as whodunits go, and the story unfolding in letters fails to go much further than admittedly well-paced character development.

But it's an interesting and ambitious attempt, nevertheless, and full of ideas for so quick a book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

Incredibly boring and goes off on random tangents. I don’t have much else to say unfortunately but I’m pretty disappointed. A lot of useless information that convoluted the story so I’m not sure what was trying to be done here. The characters felt so one dimensional I truly did not care about even one of them. I was excited for this one but it fell flat.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller/mystery and honestly, it's probably one of my top reads so far this year.

One thing that annoys me about this genre is that it can be a bit predictable and I find myself figuring out what happens half way through, however this wasn't the case with one! There were so many twists and turns and shady characters that I can safely say "I didn't see that coming.'

The dual narrative was also a super cool idea and really unique. I think the author did an awesome job jumping back and forth between the two stories and not making it seem out of place. I was invested in both.

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a E-copy in exchange for an honest review!

<i><b>In every person's story, there is something to hide...</b></i>

A Book within a book, what a clever premise. It's been done before but not as cleverly as this!

Hannah Tigone is an Australian mystery writer who is writing a book set in Boston. In her book, Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, who is also an Australian writer, has come to Boston on a writer's scholarship. She went to the Boston Library looking for inspiration when she heard a woman's terrified scream. She along with others, who were sitting at her table, begin talking when the library tells them no one can leave right away following the scream. Everyone has their own reasons for being at the library that day. One of them is also a murderer.

Hannah Tigone has a beta reader who she corresponds with throughout the book. You will be privy to their correspondence throughout the book.

As the book within a book progress, readers learn more about the characters, their motivations, their suspicions, their unease, and their connections. Who can be trusted? Who has secrets? Who is not as they seem?

This was a clever whodunit. I was fully invested and did my own detective work while reading. There were sections in this book were things slowed down a little, but I didn't mind. I was enjoying the book too much.

I had the privilege of having both the audiobook and e-book versions and enjoyed going back and forth between the two. This one kept me on my toes as there are many characters and of course, there is the book within a book. It never got confusing and yet I needed to pay close attention.

Clever, entertaining, original, and captivating.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

I would like to thank the publisher for an ARC of this book. This book was so incredibly boring. I was so disappointed. I really wanted to like it. There was too much going on that I was confused about which storyline was what. The emails from Leo in Boston to the author in Australia. The writer in Boston and her friends and the murder. I really didn’t like Freddie (the writer in Boston.) I mean who goes to a library and instantly becomes best friends with three people they just met. Freddie thinks the other are attractive and then she is best friends with them. It’s like the next day and she lets them stay the night in her apartment. Not the smartest thing to do. A woman was murdered in the library. I didn’t even care. I felt no connection with the characters at all.

Alas, a book to captivate my interest and relieve me from the book rut that had plagued me. The Woman in the Library blends two mysteries at once. It is one part "present day" emails addressed to author, Hannah from Leo, an early reader/fan/fellow aspiring author eager to improve the authenticity of her book-who may not be who he appears. It also reveals chapters of Hannah's manuscript- chronicling the aftermath of a scream and murder in the Boston Public Library and four strangers that are brought together through the event. I loved the format and the way it added an extra layer to the story. I have been fearful of hyped books lately but this was one that lived up to the high praise it has been receiving.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this gifted copy.

The Woman in the Library is an interesting concept of a novel. Sulari Gentill weaves a story within a story (within a story?) unlike anything I've read before. While I wouldn't call it groundbreaking, it did lend an interesting edge to an otherwise solid but unremarkable mystery novel. I had fun reading this one and I'll definitely be looking for more of Gentill's work in the future.

Interesting premise for a book and unique storytelling! I did struggle through the first half, but things picked up toward the middle. I loved the progression of Leo in the emails. I did guess the killer early on, which is always a bittersweet feeling.

This was a 3.5 and rounded up to a 4 star read.

I absolutely loved the premise of the book because it seems like fate drawing people together who will find the murderer that is walking around. Although this is a story being written by an author who is sending her drafts to a penpal, who gives her advice since she is from Australia and is writing about Boston in the US. Throughout the story you go through their emails where his advice and added information becomes a bit scary and strange.

It is a story in a story and that immediately drew me in to the story line. The main character, Winifred Kincaid, is an Australian author, who gets a scholarship to the US to write her next novel. While at the Boston Public Library writing she finds a table with three other people and they all hear a scream that leads to murder after murder throughout the story.

If you enjoy mysteries with twists and a little romance this novel was short and sweet. I am excited to pick up anything else this author might write and see how they develop over time.

Thank you for the E-arc!

This book was an incredible read. It was so unique in the way it was written. As the story progresses you get to know the 4 main characters, or do you really. Each chapter had a moment of craziness in it, most were subtle but it was there. There are actually two stories going on in this book but the author does a fantastic job of tying them tougher. One story was so much more bizarre and scary than the other.

A refreshing, intriguing, unique, suspenseful novel.

Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, an Australian author who’s won a prestigious fellowship, is attempting to write in the Boston Public Library when she hears a woman scream. In the scream’s aftermath, she bonds with a few of the people sitting around her: Marigold Anastas, a psychology student, Whit Metters, a law student, and Cain McLeod, who’s also a writer. Part of The Woman in the Library follows this story, which it transpires is being written by a fictional novelist named Hannah Tigone. Interspersed with Hannah’s chapters we get emails from a friend of Hannah’s in Boston named Leo. As Hannah (like Gentill herself) is Australian, Leo provides a helping hand with details about Boston as her “man on the ground,” so to speak. The dual narratives let Gentill acknowledge the pandemic through Leo’s correspondence with Hannah without having it overtake the mystery narrative, whose characters seem to exist in the time before the pandemic. The mystery of who screamed and what happened to her, despite a few random diversions, runs along pleasingly; my suspicion fell on each of the main characters at one point or another. Other violent episodes occur that keep Freddie and her friends involved in the investigation. Although I guessed the culprit before the final reveal, the ending was satisfyingly thrilling. I will be picking up the first book of Gentill’s historical mystery series soon!
Likes: The mystery is well-developed, with lots of red herrings and plenty of suspicion to go around. Freddie is a sympathetic narrator and doesn’t take complete leave of her senses, as the heroines of thrillers are wont to do. Having lived in Boston, I loved the details about the city. I loved the dual narrative structure, especially the epistolary sections. What initially seems like innocuous commentary becomes a compelling story of its own!
Dislikes: there were a few detours that left me scratching my head, such as when a friend takes Freddie and two characters we’ve never met before and never see again on a day trip. I wished Marigold had a bit more of a backstory. These are very minor criticisms – the book was a hugely enjoyable page-turner!
FYI: descriptions of physical attacks, fights, gun violence. Murder and attempted murder. One scene of attempted sexual assault of a child.

Sigh. I finished this book feeling so disappointed. This review might be a bit spoiler-y but I don’t know how to critique this particular book without inadvertently maybe giving some things away - so let this be your warning.

Unlike some other reviewers, I actually liked the book within a book plot. Of course, if an author is going to write 2 separate plots, you expect them eventually to come together. Unfortunately, that never happened so essentially there was no point to Leo (either of them). A big part of what kept me interested was the expectation that the events of the book within the book would eventually cross over in the author’s life - real murders and real suspects among the friends she was basing her book on. But no. So the only twist (which was predictable btw) happened to characters in a book in a book which just leaves the reader an extra degree away from caring. It also stalled a bit for me in the middle. Gentill tried something new and I would’ve liked it had it been executed differently. Instead, a book that initially had me really intrigued left me feeling meh by the end.

Not my cup of tea.... I was intrigued by this one after reading the synopsis. Murder, mystery, libraries, what more could you want? Apparently more, because this story was lacking for me. I honestly found myself skimming over the majority of the story after reading about 25% of the book. I couldn't find anything relatable in the characters. Nothing in their stories connected to me or made me want to dive deeper into their lives and stories. The plotline was... interesting. The writing style was very hard to follow. This one unfortunately was just not for me and had I not been reading an ARC, I probably would've added this to my DNF list after about 40%.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my reviews & honest opinions.

this novel really fell flat for me, for several reasons.

first and foremost, the entire plot felt scattershot - random, disjointed, and thus hard to emotionally invest in. i started this book expecting a twisty whodunnit concerning the murder of a woman at the boston public library (almost like an adult version of one of us is lying); in actuality, this particular murder feels tangential to most of the unfolding narrative. there's a lot more that happens beyond just this one catalytic event, and i think the book blurb does the novel a disservice by not mentioning the heaps of plot that occur beyond the woman in the library.

this story is split into two different narratives: first, we have letters (e-mails?) written by leo johnson, a writer in boston, to hannah tigone, a writer in australia. leo serves as a beta reader for hannah's manuscript, providing feedback and critiques - as well as increasingly unsettling updates about his own life - in his missives. second, there is a narrative arc centring four individuals who become friends the day they happen to overhear a bloodcurdling scream at the boston public library; this narrative follows the four friends as they become entangled in an ominous mystery in which one of them is a murderer.

the two storylines don't dovetail particularly neatly or interestingly. it's probable that i missed a clue somewhere, but i was utterly confused by the book's ending.

i also did not find any of the characters in either storyline to be likeable or memorable. in fact, the characters all felt, to me, like two-dimensional renderings on a page - no one jumps out as a fully fleshed individual, and it was hard to immerse myself in the story when each person felt like a caricature.

lastly, i really was not a fan of certain statements made throughout the book. for example, houseless people seem to be interchangeably referred to as "junkies" (whether intentionally or not), while generalizations about gender, race, and other identities remained largely unchallenged (e.g., one character says, "They're immigrants. They get the job done." yet when another character attempts to explain why this is problematic, they can only come up with "I'm not sure... It just sounds reductive."). there was even a wholly unnecessary reference to "gestapo" that took me aback. most of these statements - but not all - were articulated by a character we later realize is a highly unreliable and bigoted narrator. i took major issue with the fact that this character is the only one who speaks on sociopolitical topics (e.g., gender, race, the pandemic). in other words, despite knowing that this person is an unreliable villain, i didn't find that the problematic and callous things they voiced were challenged or critiqued or subverted nearly enough - simply because their unreliable narration is the book's only (apparent) method of critique.

in a similar vein, i recognize that the book attempted to, clumsily, bring up important and complex issues such as the representation of race in fiction (or, as the book club question puts it, "What does a story gain by making race explicit? What are the potential drawbacks?"). these are important issues that i'm concerned with, too. however, when they're presented solely through the perspective of a bigoted and horrid character, i'd almost rather that these issues hadn't been raised. discussion of topics such as representing race in fiction is undoubtedly necessary - which is why i wish the book had delved further into exploring these ideas beyond just the bigoted comments spouted by one character. if there had been allusion to these themes in freddie's storyline, i think i would've felt slightly less uneasy about the whole thing. as it is, though, freddie's story remained apolitical and vacuous on that front - maybe deliberately so, but i personally found this choice extremely dissatisfying.

i don't doubt that the author had good and just intentions, which is clear to me through their efforts to bring up important sociopolitical themes; i just personally don't feel that the book's impact matched those intentions. i also want to be clear that this review is a reflection of my experience with this specific novel, and not a statement about the author's politics or character.

all in all, not the book for me! though i did appreciate reading a story by an australian author of colour, and i hope to continue reading sulari gentill's work in future.



i'm very grateful to netgalley and poisoned pen press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. all opinions are my own.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Here we have a mystery writer and a mystery.
But, inside the mystery is another mystery!
Oh, and some of the characters may appear in both stories.

Other authors have written books within books, but Sulari Gentill has done an exceptional job with this tricky format.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to future books from this author.

I love a thriller with a unique concept, and The Woman in the Library uses a unique plotting device to provide a totally addictive reading experience. In this mystery, Hannah Tigone is an Australian writer who sends chapters of her books to an American writer for feedback and help authenticating her setting and use of American English. The emails from Leo, her Beta reader, come at the end of the chapters she is writing, which comprise the main narrative thread of the book. In this story within a story, the main character, Freddie, meets three other people in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. They hear a woman scream, and eventually a dead body is found in the library. The four strangers form a bond and begin investigating the woman's death, but what happens if one of them is the murderer? This book has lots of secrets, twists, and turns in both narrative arcs to keep you turning the pages--it's the perfect book for your summer vacation or day at the pool. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the librarian preview!

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill caught my attention right away, I love the setting of a library, having spent much of my time in various libraries during my life so far. And I do love a “closed room” mystery so I was super excited to read this novel. It’s a little more dense and slow than other suspense books I’ve read lately, but I enjoyed reading it.

SYNOPSIS:

In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

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.

The author did a great job with rounding out the characters and maintaining an element of suspense.

Coming out on June 7.

This book was very clever, intelligent and well-written. I loved the premise of the story, written within another story - it had the potential to be confusing but both plotlines were very well explained and well-plotted. The plotlines were both very original, with unforeseen twists and turns throughout. The surprise ending was fantastic and it wrapped up both plotlines nicely.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.