A group of people are forced into friendship over witnessing a murder in a library. As they try to solve the mystery, we as the reader learn we are actually witnessing a real world However, these friends are fictional characters in a book that is being written by a real-world author that is corresponding with her editor long distance during the pandemic. One oscillates between the story being written and the author/editor "real world" story. it is an interesting premise, but I felt it was choppy and odd to create a story centered around creating another story. It ends up being two mysteries unraveling at the same time. I felt there were too many Australian wording choices constantly pointed out and descriptions that were unnecessary. The editing could have been better. The story was not super compelling. The characters were not overly likable and had dull predictable personalities. Also, the whole pandemic emphasis was over the top and now dates the book. overall, not one I would recommend unless the person is a diehard mystery reader for something different.

This was a great book but it definitely did my head in. I am not the audience this book is for. The writing was good and I did like the characters- but I had no idea what was going on. It confused me so much.

Found this extremely hard to get into so I ended up DNFing after a couple of chapters. The introduction of the characters was too forced and the entire set up just made it very hard for me to get into, my apologies.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Harriet is an Australian implant writer who hopes to find inspiration for a novel while staring at the ceiling at the Boston Public Library. Cain, Whit, and Marigold happen to be sitting at the same table when they hear the horrendous noise of a woman’s screams. Shocked, they end up striking up a quick and effortless friendship…only to find out soon after that the screaming woman was murdered. Who murdered her? Could it possibly be someone at the table?

This is a fun whodunnit that is told from Harriet’s POV. Alternating chapters tell a story within a story through Leo, a fan of an author named Hannah, who is writing the story we’re reading. She sends him chapters of her book and he responds to each one, helping with advice. Will his insight be impactful?

This mystery is fun, with a great group of characters to get to know. I suspected quite a few folks at one time or another…and yet, I wasn’t completely blown away when all was revealed. That didn’t deter my engagement.

While I don’t want to say too much more (although other reviews do…beware), I’ll add that this novel serves food for thought on racial equality and pandemics in writing. It does NOT get too heavy though.

Overall, I would recommend this to readers looking for an entertaining and sometimes humorous mystery that balances the right amount of depth without ever taking itself too seriously.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was quite the adventure! I really enjoyed the back and forth between the novel and Freddie's exchange with "Leo". I listened to this one on audio, which was extremely well done. The wordplay between Australian and American culture as far as words, mannerisms etc that Leo educated Freddie on via his letters was fun to learn about, although his increasing obsession with crime was less so. Overall there were plenty of plottwists I didn't see coming and this was a very well-woven story

I’m not quite sure what I read here. Is it supposed to be a mystery? It sure didn’t seem that way. Bland characters, slow pacing, and boring storyline. Need I say more?

OK, so I put this book off for awhile for no particular reason other than having too many books and too little time. But I read this book just after The Club, a closed door mystery so to speak since all the possible suspects are together on an island. So here in The Woman in The Library, we have an open door mystery, as the author puts it.

The book follows writer Winifred, aka "Freddie," who attempts to work on her manuscript in the Boston Public Library. She becomes intrigued by the three people at her table and gives them nicknames in her work. After a scream and the discovery of a murdered woman, the group bonds and secrets come spilling out.

The novel has an interesting structure, with each chapter ending with the author Hannah's correspondence with a fan/beta reader named Leo. Hannah is based in Australia and Leo in Boston, where the novel is set.

I found this book to be fantastic, and I rate it 4 out of 5 stars. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because the ending felt a little rushed and unclear, and the characters were a bit underdeveloped. Otherwise, it was a solid whodunnit and a quick read for me. If you want to read my thoughts on the ending of this book, head on over to Feed The Bookworm, the link is in my bio.

This story really upended me! Of course it starts off with 4 random people who meet in a library (they do not know each other) and there is a scream. Thus begins the woman in the library that was murdered. I liked the course of the investigating and the fact of: is this real? Or is this part of the book one of the characters is writing????

The Woman in the Library falls outside of my normal realm of YA and science fiction/fantasy, but I am enjoying it so far! The characters are solid and easy to distinguish from one another, with few to no important characters introduced beyond the first chapter or so. I am still trying to get a hang of the letters/emails at the beginning of the chapters. What is real life? Is anything beyond the letters real? Is Freddie real or is she merely the creation of the real author? I suppose I’m wondering where the line is between the manuscript and the real life of the novel itself.

I didn’t enjoy the mystery as much as I had hoped from the introduction. None of the characters were compelling beyond Freddie’s initial examination of them and the setting was just boring. Sure, the murder may have happened in the library but it wasn’t a library murder mystery. Much like a train heist, a library murder is something I will jump on without hesitation. But the library barely existed in the narrative.

I didn’t have a good time here. I finished the book and am glad to have done at least that, but it won’t be a book that sticks with me or that I look to in the future as a good murder mystery. With flat characters, and inaccurate corrections from the letter writer regarding the manuscript, I just couldn’t get into any part of it after the promising introduction.

Thanks for the ARC!

Although a murder in a library is typically my cup of tea, I was less than impressed with this book. While the main plot had potential, the additional storyline of someone corresponding with the author within the story detracted from the mystery and disrupted the flow. By the halfway point, I found myself skipping these irrelevant interludes, as they had no impact on the storyline I was invested in. This narrative choice ultimately made the book disappointing and uninteresting, and the only reason I finished it was to find out the culprit.

What a unique book! Gentill's novel contains a story within a story about an author writing, you guessed it, another story. Hannah is writing a novel about a group of four who are in a library when they hear a loud scream and find out a woman has been murdered. Meanwhile, she is corresponding with Leo and receiving his feedback on her novel. Both aspects of the story were fast paced and I couldn't put the book down, but I felt like the ending was less fulfilling than I hoped it would be. I did love the characters - they were so fleshed out and flawed and felt very real.

This book was full of characters and mystery. In some ways a classic whodunnit, with a mystery to solve as well as a character whose “input” becomes increasingly intense. It is told in alternating points of view of an author and her “editor”. As a Massachusetts resident, I was drawn in by the BPL setting. It was not an easy to solve mystery, but at times the characters lost distinction. A quick read for mystery lovers. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

They say never judge a book by its cover but that’s what I did and dissatisfied was I.

Sounded like a pretty cool concept and story but I was just not engaged with the characters or plot once I started reading.

This was a different premise for a thriller and I really enjoyed it. The audio was fantastic and I loved listening to this one. Four strangers are in a library and hear a scream, and become friends when they are asked to stay where they are for a while and end up talking for a bit. A body is discovered later and the foursome realize they have a lot more in common than they think as they try and figure out what happened, which is curious as one of them is a murderer. I couldn’t stop listening to this one and it kept me going until the end. I loved trying to figure out what was going on and I figured out one thing but not all of it. There was a story within a story going on too, I thought it was just so overall clever and very well done. I really enjoyed this and definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the digital copy to review.

Oooh, how fun. A story inside of a story, a whodunit, a library- a super fun and unique read.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the review copy!

This was a really satisfying, twisty mystery that was really two mysteries in one. It is a well-done "story within a story."

I loved that I was flip-flopping through every suspect right up to probably the 75% mark and even then I found myself second-guessing my hunch and still had no idea what the motivation was. Without giving any spoilers, I will say that I love how the author wrapped it all up, explaining every last detail and how it all fit together.

I also love the "outer" story. The mounting intensity as the author taunts her fan, winding him up until you know he's going to snap. It was truly delicious to see.

I won't go into any more details and ruin it for you. Just go pick up a copy. It's a great, quick read.

What a strangely put together book and a very, very, good story.
How often have you been in the library and heard a scream? How many times have you been there when someone found a dead person? Not often, right? All of this occurs right off the bat in The Woman in the Library. The action causes four strangers to become close acquaintances almost immediately.

Do I have your attention? It’s what grabbed mine from the first page. This is an excellent mystery. The personalities and relationships of the four characters become the biggest part of the story. They are, in fact, the whole plot. Hannah, our writer and POV in the story, is our main character, but it is very difficult to call the three other immediate friends side characters. Everyone’s life seems to become entwined with the others. A group of friends all created from the scream of The Woman in the Library.

This story did have some distraction for me though. It has to do with my reference to a “strangely put together book”. After each chapter in the book is a letter from what appears to be Hannah’s editor/researcher. His name is Leo. He describes his impressions about the chapter of her manuscript he has just read. I won’t tell you there is no added value from these letters, but it broke up the reading flow of this good story, at least it did for me. As the story quickened in intensity, I caught myself skipping Leo’s letters so that I could move on to the actual story.

The odd construction of the book/story is the only reason I would give this 4 stars instead of 5. While I would recommend this to anyone, I don’t think I’d like another “story within a story”.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is an edge of your seat thriller. Four strangers sitting at a table in the Boston Public Library reading room meet after an unsettling scream from within the library. When they later find out that a woman was murdered, they unite to find the killer. But this is just a story within a story as the plot of a novel by an Australian author, Hannah Tigone, who corresponds with Leo in Boston sharing her plot one chapter at a time. Very twisty and exciting.

I was so excited about this book being set in Boston Public Library but the format of it just was so hard for me to get into. A unique premise and style but not for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill.

"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."

Taking place in a beautiful library? Check. Murder mystery? Check. Finding out what really happened? Thrilling.