I have just read The Woman in the Library by Author Sulari Gentill.

The Woman in the Library is a twisty little adventure of a book that starts off in the Boston Public Library, when a group of people in the library hear a terrifying scream, and a woman is found dead, under a table.

I did enjoy this book and liked the characters who are all quite an interesting bunch. It was a bit slow for me at times, but overall, an enjoyable read

Thank You to NetGally the Author and Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced copy to read and review.

#NetGalley

The premise sounded so promising but I only finished the book to find out who the killer was. The story was really hard for me to follow and I had a hard time connecting with it.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A clever, interesting book within a book... within a book? An Australian crime writer is writing a book about an Australian crime writer who has won a fellowship to live in Boston, who is writing a murder mystery set in the Boston Public Library, where she herself coincidentally was when a murder occurred there. Don't worry about the plot, it sounds confusing, but it's actually really fun and layered, and I loved the one-sided correspondence of a beta reader who gets more and more creepy as the novel progresses. The story drew me in and I couldn't put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital review copy.

A story within a story within a story.
This story begins in the reading room of the Boston Public Library as many individuals are separately involved in research, reading or musing on life. Our narrator, a writer on a grant in Boston, is seeking inspiration in this famed room and checking out her immediate neighbors when there is a sudden scream. Also suddenly, Winifred, Freddie to her friends, now meets the three people she has been surreptitiously studying as everyone in the room reacts to the sound. Her new acquaintances are Whit, a law student, Marigold, a psychology student, and Cain who also writes. And just like that, Freddie now has some friends in Boston. She also has now become involved in murder.

The Woman in the Library is a well-crafted mystery on multiple levels and is a twisting, turning story that moves in multiple directions. Once I reached midway in this novel, it became an involving race to see where it would end. I was not disappointed.

Definitely recommended. Do remember that this is not just any mystery, however. There are levels to it that slowed me down initially but then became intriguing.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a great mystery inside a mystery! The pages turned easily and quickly. Readers will have to pay close attention so as not to confuse the two mysteries. It kept me guessing! I’m definitely recommending you read this fabulous book! It was the kind of book you need to read in one sitting. The writing was exceptional and although I had not previously heard of this author I’ll now be looking out for more books by her. Exceptional and a best read so far in 2022.

The first thoughts that come to my mind as I write the review for this novel, is “WOW! What a great read!” I was utterly shocked at how much this book grabbed my attention and did not let go until the very end. I read this book in one day because I simply could not put it down. The twists and turns had me literally gasping aloud and on the edge of my seat. This book is a murder mystery with many winding plot twists. All the reader knows is that one of the main characters is a murderer and they all have their own reasons for committing the crime. The reader is left guessing literally until the very last pages of this book. Let me say that I did not see the ending coming even though the author tells us at the very beginning that one of the main characters is the murderer.

This book will stay with me for a while. I read a lot of mysteries. Pretty much every book I read is a mystery, so for me to say that this book took me by surprise, it is a big deal. Gentill is a remarkable writer who engages her readers from the very first page until the very last page. The setup of this book is a little different and it is hard to describe for me in words, but I would suggest that the reader just roll with it and take it for what it is. You will not be disappointed. Basically, there are two different stories in this novel that overlap slightly but together create a mystery masterpiece.

Typically in my reviews, I outline the storyline of the book, but with this one it just wouldn’t feel right for me to detail the story on this blog. I feel like I would be doing the book an injustice and might give away some of the twists and turns that really make this book truly unique. All I can say is when this book is released in June of this year, run and get your hands on this one as it was phenomenal in every single way. I have a feeling this book will be a huge hit and everyone will be talking about it. I am absolutely honored I had the chance to preview it and read it early. From a chronic mystery reader, I give this book a huge standing ovation and cannot wait to see what the author writes next.

Overall Rating: 5+ stars
Author: Sulari Gentill

Series: N/A

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: June 7, 2022

Pages: 292

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

I really loved The Woman In The Library. Its unique structure deepened the mystery and shed important light on the characters and their motivation. This is the first book by Sulari Gentill that I’ve read but it won’t be the last.

Murder in a library? Yes, please!

This is really one story inside of another story. And it was a bit dicey trying to remember what was fiction and what was real. A woman in the Boston Public Library sits at a table with three strangers. Each doing their own writing. When they all hear a woman scream, they find themselves in the middle of a murder. And one of them is the killer.

The way this was written is not a style I enjoy. Letters between an author and a reader, everyone with their own point of view. I definitely did not find it thrilling.

I think the point was that words have a lot of power.

NetGalley/June 7th, 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press

A good, satisfying mystery with some great characters and a very interesting framing device. Once I was about a quarter of the way into it, I stopped being able to put it down.

Oh wow. Wow, wow, wow. This was SUCH a great book. I'm a sucker for anything related to libraries so was a touch disappointed that we didn't spend more time in a library but that was 100% made up for by (a) the amount of time talking/writing about writing, (b) the constant intrigue and (c) the cliffhangers. All the cliffhangers. I exaggerate.

Let me go back to the beginning. We learn quite quickly that our main character, who prefers to be called Freddie, is a writer and one day at the Boston Public Library she's trying to soak in the grandiose of their reading room when she hears a scream. Not just any old scream. A really intense, life changing scream. And it startles those nearest to her, the four of them forming a sort of automatic friendship or kinship as they react.

We also learn here that the screamer is the first murder victim of the story, and that someone sitting with Freddie is the murderer. What? How so?

This is just one of the twists, turns and truly terrific paths Sulari Gentill takes us on in her book.

What I really loved about this book (other than all the things I've already mentioned above) is the juxtaposition of the chapters of the prose with letters from someone named Leo to an Ausssie author. There are clear links with the prose, but Leo's story grows and evolves on its own too. He's an aspiring author writing to a famous author and their letters take a bit of a turn, and that's the most I'll say here - just to say that it's a fabulously fun way for the author to fill in a few gaps, keep us guessing, vying for links to the prose, it's fabulous.

4.5 to 5 stars; what an exciting read!

The Woman in the Library is a story about a fictional mystery Australian author named Hannah Tigone writing about a fictional mystery Australian author named Winnifred "Freddie" Kincaid who lives through a mystery of her own when a scream in the Boston Public Library unites her and three strangers. Lost yet? No? Good.

The story bounces between emails that were corresponded between Hannah and Leo, a fan of her work who lives in the U.S., and the story of Freddie and her newfound friends Cain, Marigold and Whit as they wonder about the mystery of the scream and eventually, the murder of a woman in the library.

While the email plotline influenced the Freddie plotline through the inclusion of a Leo and Hannah's doubts about email-Leo, they ran parallel to each other. Nevertheless, as time went on, tension rose to addicting heights, albeit with some floundering here and there.

It was quite interesting to read TWITL knowing that it's fictional to the real narrator of the story, Hannah, as the emails made it clear. I was at first unsure of how the email plotline would progress, but fortunately, it was adding another layer of mystery and tension to the story. As time went on and as Hannah continued to write Freddie's story, Leo became more tense and irritable and very insistent on getting Hannah to listen to his suggestions, inciting not only fear (and annoyance) in me but in Hannah as well.

Several great questions rose from this subplot, linking to the real-life dilemmas of writers. One of them is the dilemma of mentioning the pandemic in contemporary stories. To acknowledge its existence means to stay true to the idea of "contemporary" stories, but to ignore it while setting the story in the near future is to be ignorant of current events and the consequences of the pandemic. A similar dilemma was describing the characters' appearances: should you be concrete and detailed or be sparse with details to allow the reader to fill in the blanks? This is a more crucial dilemma for contemporary writers as they can't ignore the socio-economic effects of being of a certain race while living in our very flawed world.

No matter how interesting the email plotline was, it was merely a subplot to the main story of the book: Freddie's. Despite knowing that Freddie is more fictional than Hannah, it didn't really change my experience in reading the book; I just treated Freddie like any other protagonist and interpreted her words as hers, not Hannah's (even THOUGH...), and that the story was unfolding in front of our eyes.

Quickfire notes about the cast & other miscellaneous things:
- Marigold is such a warm fuzzy name, and I would say it kinda fits with her mama bear-ness over her friends! Don't let her tattoos, nose piercing or stalking tendencies scare you away! She's a little shy. Her background in psychology made her a valuable asset in delivering clues (to aid or deceive the reader, well...)
- Of course, we must have a debonair as part of the dynamic, and that role fell to Whit. He had me charmed... Despite his lazy personality and insistence on failing Harvard Law, he does have the brains.
- And we mustn't forget about the "person with the tragic/troubled past", Cain. I like the religious connotation with his name... or names... quite symbolic. He needs a hug. He probably packs the most punch in terms of his experiences.
- Freddie may be a mystery writer but something that wasn't a mystery from the get-go was her crush on Cain. When she believes in something, she sticks with it (with the occasional sense of doubt because she's human), may it be someone's innocence or the scream being related to the murder.
- If Oh My Cod, that restaurant with all the evocative names for their menu offerings, existed, it would certainly be considered a must-visit by Cosmopolitan magazine.
- This book makes me crave doughnuts.

I regret to say I didn't keep my detective hat on during this reading, DESPITE knowing this is a mystery novel that. is. begging. to. be. solved. Needless to say, I enjoyed the thrill and can't be mad at who's the killer; the biggest hint was there from the beginning but it was a matter of deducing if the hint was a ruse or not (especially since we're made aware that Freddie's story is being written by Hannah) and collecting the puzzle pieces (which I did not do, oops.)

To anyone that would like a hand in figuring out the clues, here's one for ya: watch out for the monikers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks) for providing me with the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf @35%

I simply did not care for the characters, the plot is just written in a bland manner, the characters are flat. Story within a story? KMN. Y'all made it seem like such an interesting read, but am sorry it just did not work for me. I found myself skimming through it and I just had to stop.

Also, the author being an aboriginal person, you would think she would pay attention to stereotypes but no that wasn't the case. It was disgusting to read and had no place in the book. I take it as a reflection of her own thoughts and her or anyone making excuses for the "characters' personality" is not a good enough excuse❌ Honestly, it does make me question how y'all chose to ignore that. I will not be reading any books by this author in the future.

eARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

It isn't until you find a book like this that you realize that most of the other books presented to you as of late just weren't that good. I went into this knowing nothing about the author, and was very pleased with what they created. I do admit that I am writing a book as I write this, and the shared struggle was heartwarming for me. I also love grand old libraries, so the Boston Pulic library was welcome setting.
At first I wasn't sure how this format would pan out, but it worked well in weaving the tale.

The Woman in the Library
by Sulari Gentill
4 stars
Hannah Tigone is an author from Australia who has a beta reader named Leo in America who is in Boston where her story is taking place at.
Freddie is a writer and she's getting new character ideas put together from the other 3 people in the reading room at the library. Cain is the handsome man, Whit is Heroic Chin and Marigold is Freud Girl. After hearing someone scream, the four started talking and thinking about what could have happened so they decided to discuss it more over coffee. After talking for a bit they all exchange numbers and go their separate ways. As the story slowly progresses random stabbings happen, and secrets of the past come to light all around them. It's up to them to figure out who made the woman scream and what happened. All the while Hannah is living in her own nightmare as the beta reader starts to creep her out.
This book started out so slow for me, the pace wasn't working in the beginning. About 50% in it was getting better and the pace was moving along nicely. I like how it was a story inside a story. How Hannah had to deal with a creepy stalker while writing her book about a murder. The ending was good and I actually didn't see it coming I was thinking it was someone else completely.

Thank you, Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC for an honest review.

"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.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all."

THE BOOK everyone is talking about right now, probably even those four strangers in the library!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Poisoned Pen Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Interesting story, well written, thrilling, clever and exciting.

Loved this very unique writing style and format for The Woman in the Library.

Author from Australia is writing a book about a murder in Boston. As the author is writing the book, a reader from Boston is reading and commenting on each chapter. There is a lot going on in this book. In my opinion this format really worked well for the book and I enjoyed how original it was.

Once again, I thank NetGalley for introducing me to this "new to me" author who is well published with many other mysteries. I'm sure that I'll be reading some of her other books. This review of the advance read copy is in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Sulari Gentill the author and to Poisoned Pen Press the publisher. Publication date is 07 June 2022.

Lots of buzz on this one and initially The Woman in the Library lives up to the hype. Great premise: four strangers hear the dying scream of a murdered woman in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library. The quartet soon bonds and almost immediately the group begins to experience the the strange machinations of a stalker and bodies begin to pile up. Which one of the quartet is responsible? Lots of twists and turns in the plot, which is given added complexity because it is framed as a manuscript with the "author" receiving advice from a fellow writer who seems a little too fascinated with the concept of murder, both literary and actual.

Unfortunately, the plot bogs down at points and the reader's patience is tested. Aside from pacing issues, the writing is often clever and the clues are there for the careful reader to solve this mystery.

Full Disclosure--NetGalley and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This review will be posted on June 2, 2022 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

I thought this was a pretty clever and a different kind of thriller. In one timeline, a famous female author maintains a correspondence with an American male fan and fellow author. Interestingly, we're only privy to his replies to the author. In another timeline, a group of strangers in the Boston Public Library become friends after a dead body is found in the museum. In a move reminiscent of the Scooby gang, the library quartet gets sucked into the murder and start their own investigation. It becomes clear early on how the timelines are related, but it's a fun realization to have on your own (so no spoilers!). I enjoyed the unique plot and the mysteries in the two timelines. The only letdown for me was the sort of deflated ending. It felt anti-climactic (especially the timeline with the author and her fan, but that might be because of its epistolary format). But overall, this was enjoyable and mysterious. #TheWomanInTheLibrary Rating: 🙂 / liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on June 7, 2022. Thank you @poisonedpenpress for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
I'm always drawn to books about libraries or bookstores and this one pulled me in pretty quickly. It was a little slow at times, but then as the story develops into a story within a story, it grew on me. In the end, I wanted a little more, but it was a unique twist.