The setting: Four strangers in the reading room at the Boston Public Library hear a scream. They bond. A mystery ensues. Who killed Caroline Palfrey?

Hannah Tigone, an Aussie, is writing a novel set in Boston. Because of the pandemic, she cannot travel to the US. As her novel progresses, she sends each chapter to Leo, a fan of hers in Boston. Every chapter ends with a letter from Leo where he sends her suggestions on how to make it more American and incorporate bits of Boston. As the novel progresses, Leo becomes more aggressive in his suggestions and assertions.

The cast of characters: Winifred "Freddie" Kincaid [the protagonist], an Aussie, is in the US on a Marriot Scholarship and is writing a novel [hence, a story within a story]. Freddie nicknames the others Handsome Man, Heroic Chin and Freud Girl. The four of them become bound in the mystery--who killed Caroline? Marigold [a quirky young woman], Whit Metters, a Harvard law student who'd like to flunk out, and Cain McLeod, a man with a past [murder and incarceration]. who has written a DARK bestseller about his life/experience. And Cain's ties to Boo, a street person [much more on this subplot.] Along the way we meet other characters--police officers, Whit's mother, Freddie's neighbor [also Leo], her doorman, and more.

Just didn't feel the love that many did. I kept wondering why it didn't grab me. The writing was ok, but...

Did I care? Not much. Never really engaged perhaps in part because I didn't care for any of the characters.

But I plodded on. Not a page turner, but I did want to see how it turned out. Often I see the "whodunit" but here I did not. Maybe because I just wanted to finish it and did not do a deep dive.

2.5 but rounding up because there will be fans and it wasn't awful. Just not for me.

What an unconventional way to write a mystery thriller…I was intrigued by the plot’s premise, but did find the narrative a bit confusing, especially at first.

While done with unique and unconventional prose, I struggled to get into this one and found myself skimming at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Press for the advanced copy.

What did I just read? It was like an author writing a book about an author writing a book about an author writing a book! SO fascinating! I was captivated by the letters from Leo, the beta reader sending feedback on each chapter. I may have had a unique experience with this one. The book he's critiquing is being written by an Australian but is set in his hometown of Boston and he likes to point out the difference between the two cultures. However, I'm from Massachusetts and went to grad school in Boston but have lived in AU for the past 12 years. I didn't notice anything amiss until he'd point it out. I'm curious what Americans or Australians think of those differences, as I am a "bilingual" reader, in a sense. This kept me guessing until the end and I didn't know if I could even trust the narrator. Highly recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

3,5/5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The only thing I disliked about this book was the first very slow 30%, and some of the red herrings that seemed very excessive. So this will be an appreciative, kind review with only few objections.

The structure amazed me! There re so many different layers, so this novel is by an author who is writing a book about n author who is writing a book about an author who’s writing a book about an author/herself. There are emails from an author friend of the author in the end of each chapter, commenting on the chapters and giving insights on the novel’s progress. Leo’s emails are chilling, they add an amazing and interesting layer to the story, and your interest is on a chokehold all of a sudden. I’m impressed, as again, it keeps you interested, as well as takes the novel to a new and distinct level of mystery.

The characters were okay. Like, I didn’t want to murder them, but I didn’t care much about them either. However, I think they function properly with the plot and the flow of the story. So no problem here.

Coming to the red herrings, misleads, whatever: they were all too obvious to me. At a point my reaction just was “okay yeah no this absolutely didn’t happen”.

The only other complaint is how slow the first 30% of the novel was. This is especially disappointing as the plot is very, very rich on itself. I think we could have more action here instead.

Overall a refreshing, cozy mystery. Very appreciated.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

A book about a book, what could go wrong? The epistolary format didn't work for me and left a disjointed, jerky feel to the story. I never felt attached to the characters.

2☆

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I am now looking forward to more.
It did take me a little while to get into the story and what was going on. The story seems to run in parallel with a manuscript being written by an Australian author Hannah Tigone who is located in Sydney, but writing a story set in Boston, unable to travel there due to the pandemic. A 'fan', Leo, who is located in Boston, is sharing an email exchange with Hannah to assist her with local information. Yet this correspondence starts to become dark in nature and takes quite a strange twist.
Then there is the manuscript, which is about four strangers brought together, when working independently in a Boston library they hear a blood curdling scream. The four, Freddie (aka Winfred), Marigold, Whit and Cain bond and are later shocked to find out a murdered woman is found in another room of the library. They find themselves drawn in and starting to do their own work to try and solve the mystery.
This is a very unique and contemporary take on a murder mystery that I am sure will become very popular.

3.5 stars

An interesting premise of a thriller within a thriller; although it's not until the halfway mark the reader is clued in to the dynamics between all the characters. I like how the author acknowledges certain tropes and the notion of coincidences needed to bring a novel together. All the characters were well done and it's an enjoyable reverse locked room mystery.

Less than impressed with this one. Which is such a shame because a murder in a library sounds exactly like my kind of thing.

And that plot-line is actually okay. Not amazing, but decent enough to keep me reading. What really ruined the book is the additional plot of someone emailing the author of the story (this is a story within a story within a story). It adds absolutely nothing to the book. If anything, it disrupts the flow of the mystery in the main plot, taking the reader out of moments that could have been tense if not for the disruption. I started skipping these interludes by the 50% mark because I realised they have absolutely no impact or connection to the storyline that I was actually somewhat interested in.

So just a very disappointing narrative choice, which unfortunately made me not interested in the book as a whole. The only reason I finished it was because I needed to know “whodunnit.”

I enjoyed this mystery. I particularly liked the way the letters provided another story to follow and extra information, The characters were well developed and the story line kept me guessing. I will be looking for other books by this author.

4.5 stars
This book was such a fun and interesting concept. The story within a story made it intriguing and kept my interest. I couldn't put this one down. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery with them. My only complaint is that the ending felt a bit rushed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Woman in the Library gets a little preposterous, but it sure is entertaining. It is written as a mystery within a mystery - an Australian author named Hannah is receiving e-mails from a zealous fan in the United States named Leo. Hannah is writing a novel about 4 people that hear a woman scream in the Boston Public Library, and later find out a woman has been murdered. The four friends, Freddie (also an Australian writer), Cain (another writer, Marigold (a pysch graduate student) and Whit, a prominent Bostonian enrolled begrudgingly in Harvard Law School bond very quickly and become friends. We are led to believe that one of the four is a murderer -but who? Meanwhile, the story of the murder in the library is framed in e-mails from Leo, the aspiring writer and fan, to Hannah. They begin with her sending chapters to him, and him answering with suggestions, and ways to "Americanize" her story and details on Boston geography. By the middle of the book, the emails are taking a more serious and alarming turn. Also by the middle of the book, secrets are revealed about one of the four friends - Cain may have a few secrets, and a previous conviction to hide.Very enjoyable and I will look for more books by this author!

Beautifully written mystery novel. The story becomes more complicated with emails and all the layers. If you stick with it, it is worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC. The Woman in the Library is a novel within a novel- writer Hannah is conversing with fellow writer through letters about her book in progress (but we only get to read Leo’s side of the conversation). Interspersed with Leo’s letters are chapters from Hannah’s story about the titular Woman in the Library, who is found dead at the beginning of the book.

I have to say, with the switching back and forth between novel and letters, I wasn’t really into the story until about 50%. Overall I think the decision to make two totally separate storylines here detracted from the feeling of suspense. I was interested in Evil Leo’s letters in the second half, once he started getting creepy. I wish we could have gotten a really scary moment with him. However the letter format forces Gentill to quickly tie up his story in a neat little bow at the last chapter.

As for the book-within-the-book part of the story, it felt like your average thriller. The fact that the author disclosed up front that one of her three (maybe four, including fake Leo) friends is a murderer actually made me lose interest a little. Cain was soon the obvious suspect, so thriller book custom states that it couldn’t have been him.

The plot got kind of overwrought by the end which also detracted from the suspense. I wasn’t scared for the main character (either of them) at any point.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen for the e-ARC.
What a great story! Mystery, true crime, romance, a library, what more could you want? I read very fast but I took my time and savored this book. It might be my favorite of the year so far. I love a book within a book. I love the email exchanges at the end of each chapter. I love that the whodunit aspect keeps you guessing. The whole concept was brilliant. And can I just say, the parts about the donuts? Laugh out loud hilarious! The title is what made me want to read this - I have to admit, I went into it kind of blind, not knowing much about the plot, and I'm glad I did. I can't really say too much without spoiling, suffice to say, if this isn't on your TBR list, add it right now.

4.5/5

“And then there is a scream. Ragged and terrified.”

Australian author Winifred ‘Freddie’ Kincaid is in Boston on a writers’ scholarship and is spending time in the reading room of Boston Public Library, seeking inspiration for her next book when a piercing scream shatters the silence and becomes a conversation starter for Freddie and the three other people sharing the table – psychology student Marigold Anastas, law student Whit Metters and published author Cain McLeod (initially dubbed Freud Girl, Heroic Chin and Handsome Man respectively by Freddie, based on her observations). Initially, the source of the scream is not revealed until the next day when it is made public that the body of a young woman, who worked for a local tabloid, had been found. As the story progresses, the four of them become friends and find themselves embroiled in the mystery surrounding the death of the young woman and it is revealed that one of them is connected to the murder.

Guess what? This is the plot of a work of fiction by Australian author Hannah Tigone. Unlike her protagonist Freddie, she is in Australia, working on her new book, and is sharing her chapters with Leo Johnson, a struggling writer and fan of Hannah’s previous work. Leo is based in Boston and shares his opinions and suggestions with Hannah. (Hannah also names another character in the book, Freddie’s friend, neighbor and fellow scholar, Leo). Travel restrictions on account of the COVID pandemic render Hannah unable to travel and Leo attempts to help her in her research, the tone of his letters becoming more forceful and disturbing as the plot progresses.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Woman the Library by Sulari Gentill. I loved the story within a story structure of the narrative. The narrative is in the form of draft chapters written by Hannah Tigone interspersed with her correspondence with Leo. This is a smart, well-written whodunit with an interesting cast of characters and a well-developed plot. The mystery element was intriguing and I found myself pleasantly surprised with the way both the stories progressed. Though the pace does waver in parts, at no point did I find myself losing interest. This is the kind of book that needs to be read in one sitting. This was my first Sulari Gentill novel and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be published on June 7, 2022.

What a ride! I haven’t read such a good thriller for awhile. The book starts with an author writing a story about four strangers who hear a woman scream in the Boston Public Library. The woman is found murdered and the they become friends as they try to figure out who killed her. All is well and good except one of the four is a murderer,

One of the most interesting things about this book within a book is the framing device that the author chose to use. That’s all I will say because I don’t want to spoil anything.

I was a bit confused at the beginning about what was the book within the book and what was “real”. Once I understand that I flew through the rest of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC of this book.

5/5 stars

I really enjoyed this one! When I started reading it I was I bit taken aback by the subplot - mainly because I was confused that there is no mention of it in any reviews or promo material BUT I ended up enjoying that part so much. I do wish *sort of spoilers here* that this part was concluded so quickly - I don't know how exactly this could've been stretched anymore without making a story within a story within a story, etc., etc., etc. but I felt a little blindsided by how quickly that ties up. I also did like the actual main story and Leo is clearly correct - everyone just writes romance haha. Overall, really liked this one - it was fun and inventive!

»The Woman in the Library« is one of these books that I expected to be five stars because the concept sounded so cool and unique - and then it was a bit of a disappointment. Which doesn’t necessarily mean it was a bad book, it just wasn’t working for me.

The story is basically a book in a book (in a book). The chapters with the main plot - Freddie, a writer, hears a woman scream in the library and she and the four people who sat next to her are curious, want to know what happened and try to investigate the death of the screaming woman - are written by a woman named Hannah and at the end of every chapter there’s an e-Mail from her critique partner Leo.
The thing is, that because of Leos thoughts about the chapters I wasn’t really invested in the story. As a reader you got reminded again and again that what was happening is „just“ something Hannah is writing, isn’t real. I don’t know if this makes sense but because of that the stakes didn’t feel high enough for me, when I read a book I don’t want to be reminded that I read about fictional characters and that someone wrote them. I want to be in the head of the narrator. And while we did read from Freddies POV mostly it was still so painfully obvious that she’s a character in a book. Does that make sense? I hope it does.
So, we basically have two plots, the one in the book Hannah is writing and then there’s another storyline going on - don’t worry, no spoilers - that I think was by far more interesting than the story about the woman in the library. But it also felt more like an afterthought, it was only mentioned briefly and I think that’s sad because if the book would have focused more on that storyline it probably would have been 5 stars for me.

So, overall really cool concept and idea, just the execution wasn’t necessarily for me - but if the book sounds interesting to you I would still recommend it! It was fast paced and kept me guessing, even though the ending was a bit simple for my taste but I’m at the same time glad the author didn’t try to pull anything ridiculous off and kept it real.

This was a very unique book to read: a mystery in a mystery, set in Boston during the early days of Covid. (Note: if Covid fiction is not your thing, it's really only mentioned a few times in Leo's letters.)

An Australian author has begun a correspondence with an American named Leo. We only see his letters to her, which start out doling out pointers about American vs Australian English, tips about Boston landmarks and plot twists for a novel she is writing that she is sharing with him. Soon enough, the letters get dark and demanding. The rest of the novel is her novel that starts with four strangers at a reading table in Boston Library that hear a scream. This starts a relationship that lasts throughout the book because of other interconnected events.

The premise was fantastic and the whole book was very interesting. It was the author's novel that I had trouble with. New details about old connections that suddenly pop up and the machinations the killer orchestrated from the beginning just seemed too big to me. But Leo's letters, as they got weirder, started to be more interesting to me than the novel. I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to worry about them. But Hannah and the real Leo? I looked forward to each letter. This is a 3.5* for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are mine and expressed freely.

A huge thank you to Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks Inc) for allowing me access to an advanced readers edition in exchange for an honest review.

In 'The Women in the Library", we are given a novel of an author writing a story about an author writing a story. Yes, you read that right. We are split between an Aussie author writing a book and communicating with an American friend and the book that the aforementioned author is writing.

Twisty, deceiving, smart and cheeky. Easy to consume in a single-sitting.

There are Australian and American counterparts that will give both nationalities a good chuckle among the mystery.

Do read this book in June 2022!!