Thankyou NetGalley & poisoned press for this arc copy, this book showcases dark academia and mysteries as estella is forced to revisit her past and her life when her father passes.

I really enjoyed this book it had elements of a gothic novel and was an easy read.

If your into dark gothic academia with a strong FMC I would recommend this page turner of a book

I need to quit saying that I don't like war books. I don't like books strictly about war. When there is a beautiful book that just happens to be set in war time, I'm in! This novel opens with a bang. It unfolds with an intriguing premise and a hook that promises suspense. This book is a rich, atmospheric blend of historical fiction, gothic mystery, and personal discovery, set against the backdrop of World War II-era New York. While the novel succeeds in crafting an eerie and immersive setting, it occasionally struggles with pacing and fully developing its supporting cast. E is a compelling protagonist. Her character is well-crafted with emotional depth. Her journey is heartfelt and engaging. The only reason that it's not a 5 star is the pacing in the middle of the book is slow. Overall it's a good read. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley and the Publisher. This is my honest review.

The Dark Library by Mary Ann Evans 4.5
I wasn’t quite sure where this story was going when I started it, but then it got better and better. Some surprisies – I just kept wondering where the title came from but then – it appeared and I said to myself ok, that makes sense.
This was a very good story of Estella returning home after running away from her overbearing father who lived lavishly and to find her mother missing.. She was forced back to teach at the college he was dominant as well. There are many things going on in this story. You will be surprised at what occurs and will enjoy every page. Thank you @PoisonedPress for allowing me the opportunity to read this great book.I will look for more books by this author.

Set in a small New York college town during World War Il, The Dark Library is a gripping Gothic mystery that weaves together family secrets, academic struggles, and the looming tension of wartime espionage. Mary Anna Evans masterfully crafts an atmospheric and suspenseful tale centered on Dr. Estella Ecker, a highly educated yet undervalued woman navigating both personal tragedy and societal limitations.

Estella, or "E," returns to her childhood home, Rockfall House, after her father's sudden death and her mother's mysterious disappearance. The once-grand estate, perched on a cliff, holds more than just memories-it harbors secrets that have long been hidden within her father's collection of rare books. As she settles into a research assistant position at the local college, E is met with hostility and suspicion, further exacerbated by the sudden and shocking suicide of her department head. Amidst financial hardship, gender discrimination, and whispers of war-related intrigue, she begins to unravel a tangled web of deception that may hold the key to her mother's fate.

Evans excels in creating a slow-burning tension that crescendos in the novel's final act. The historical backdrop of the early 1940s enriches the narrative, offering a glimpse into the challenges women faced in academia and society at large. The depiction of wartime America-rationing, absent young men, and the paranoia of potential spies-adds depth and urgency to Estella's story. While the novel starts at a measured pace, it rewards patient readers with a series of well-placed twists and an explosive conclusion.

Though some plot elements feel rushed in the final chapters, The Dark Library is a compelling read for fans of Gothic fiction, historical mysteries, and strong female protagonists. Evans blends atmospheric writing with an intricate mystery, making this a perfect book for a stormy night or a cozy weekend read.

Recommended for readers who enjoy:
* Gothic academia
* Slow-burn mysteries
* Historical fiction with a touch of suspense
* Strong-willed female protagonists

Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. I look forward to reading more from Mary Anna Evans! All opinions are my own and given freely.

I just love historical fiction books and I just finished a good one. The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans was a great book.

I loved all the unexpected events that occurred in this book. I initially thought it was going to be similar to some other books I had read recently, but nothing evolved as I expected. This turned out to be a completely original book with many surprises. There was mystery, romance, family drama, social commentary and more. The author did a great job bringing the time period to life. She showed the many challenges of the times. I enjoyed every aspect of the book, and I highly recommend it. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of it. I look forward to the author's next book!

1941. When Estrella “E” Echer got the message that her father was gravely ill, she gave up her teaching job in Boston and returned to the village of Bentham-on-Hudson. mansion on a cliff high above the Hudson River. Her father had suffered a massive stroke. The only words she could understand were about her mother, over the cliff, gone. Her mother had disappeared several months earlier. Some believe she threw herself off the cliff; others thought she’d left her overbearing husband for destination unknown. E refused to accept that her mother was gone, and continued the search long after the authorities gave up. Her father died two weeks after her arrival. Most of the villagers attended his funeral, but she sensed contempt, not respect, from most of them.
The author has created a perfect Gothic novel in the spirit of the Bronte sisters, and, more recently, Barbara Michaels and Victoria Holt. There are dark and stormy nights, a dark, brooding mansion on the hill with hidden rooms harboring dangerous secrets, destructive and deadly fires, handsome men who may or may not have her best interests in mind, everything one could ask for.

What a great mystery; I never saw the ending! A woman returns to her home town after her father's death and her mother's disappearance. A job at the local college provides her with little income to keep her and her family"s cook to keep them going. Preparing to sell her father's massive book collection, she stumbles upon hidden secrets that could expose people in the small university town. Set in the Hudson valley (where I now live), I loved every minute of this book. Looking forward to more from this author.

This book was ambitious and tried to accomplish a lot. From gender inequality, forced mental asylum visits, murder, blackmail, rape, war, Germans, race inequality and romance. It was fractured and hard to follow along with. I would have liked a couple of relevant topics of the WWII time and not all of them at once.

Estella, or E, has returned to the home where she grew up as a professor's daughter. Her father, now dead, was a well-respected man in literary circles. Presently working at the college herself, E. is witness to the shocking suicide of the dean. As she tries to come to terms with what she saw, she continues to search for her mother who has been missing for almost a year. Many believe her to be deceased, but E. believes she's still alive and is determined to find her.
The setting of the early 1940s adds to the atmosphere of this mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in E.'s grand old family home and stood in cerebral solidarity as she discovered more than one family secret. The addition of strong female characters pushed it up to 4.5 stars for me.

What a great book! I absolutely loved how twisty and clever this one was! I was totally engrossed from beginning to end and would definitely read from this author again, So, so, so good!

I am sorry but this one was not for me.
The pace was too slow for me.
I could not finish it.

Hence i wont be posting it.
Thanks.

Dark academia vibes.
A thriller that had me guessing a lot.
Engaging characters and plot.
Higky recommend.

The Dark Library

by Mary Anna Evans
Pub Date: Jun 24, 2025


This book has a slow burn-beginning and picks up speed after chapter 10. It is one of those books where the details that are shared with the reader all play a part later in the story and they are important to bringing the entire novel together! No matter how enticing it seems to skip over the boring details do not do so or you will find yourself having to re-read these important items.
I found this book very difficult to get into at the beginning, but it does pick up speed if you stick with the entire thing. Once you get hooked you are in for the duration as the plot continually takes you in different directions. Just when you think you have gotten it down another loophole throws everything you thought you believed out the window. Another suggestion is to not try to guess the villain. It is never who you think they are as you will see in this book.
I was really surprised at how well I liked this book after the rocky beginning that I felt took me forever to get into. These tend to be the best books if the author does the job and combines everything in a likable, believable, and enticing story. This author has done this in spades with this book. It takes time to get into the storyline but once you do you will be hooked. It will be well worth the read and I am sure it will be a book to not forget. Ever. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable book with surprises, mystery and heroines to die for. Literally.

Give me a dark academia book any day. Anything that has a library in it, I will devour. This was a nice pace of thriller, it wasn’t too stressful or intense, which was a nice change.

Mary Anna Evans' archeological mysteries have always been a favorite of mine. I was thrilled to see a new title by her. THE DARK LIBRARY has a seriously gothic vibe that the author uses to an advantage to create mood and suspense. There were a number of threads to connect by the end and she did a great job of connecting them all. The ultimate solution wasn't exactly a surprise, but the book needed a little more emphasis on the possibilities that turned out to be the solution. The characters were beautifully drawn and I enjoyed the read, just felt a little disappointment at the ending.

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans was a delightful departure from my usual reads—and I couldn’t put it down! The plot pulled me in, leaving me constantly wondering where the story would twist next. From the moment E's father’s secrets began to unravel, I was captivated, knowing that her journey would be one of discovery and determination.

E’s resilience as a female academic navigating a society stacked against women is both inspiring and deeply moving. Evans weaves this theme seamlessly into the narrative, making it a story as much about personal triumph as it is about mystery and history.

Bentham-on-Hudson, though fictional, felt entirely real to me. The vivid descriptions of the town, the striking beauty of E’s family home, and the evocative emotions tied to her circumstances—the loss of her parents and the financial burden she inherits—made it all leap off the page. I never once questioned the authenticity of the world Evans created.

Mary Anna Evans is a true master of her craft, delivering not only an engaging mystery but a poignant exploration of grief, ambition, and courage. I can’t recommend The Dark Library enough—especially for readers who, like me, find themselves entranced by characters who triumph against the odds. This one will stick with me for a long time!

"The Dark Library" didn't really work for me on any level: the characters weren't well developed, the plot didn't make any sense, and the writing just wasn't for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley , Mary Anna Evans and the publishers for offering me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

This one was not at all what I expected based on the blurb but I was pleasantly surprised. A mystery with many layers unfolds in this novel. When E is summoned home unexpectedly under the alarming circumstances that her mother is missing and her father is seriously ill , it is up to her to solve the mysteries around her parents, face her own past, balance a household & life all while a war takes place .


The layers of mystery are slowly revealed throughout the book in a way that keeps you hungry for more information . Mary Anna Evans did a stupendous job balancing the plot line & connecting you to the characters while building the realistic world of 1940s New York . The imagery was so captivating. The characters were so real you were ready to cheer them on like a dear friend and in some instances ready to fight those with ill intentions. While I thought it was going to be more focused on the books in the library throughout , it was a wonderful storyline and tied all together wonderfully in the end.

If you like a touch of historical fiction with layers of mystery and dark academia vibes this would be a great fit !

The Dark Library is a 1940s era story about a woman who discovers her family secrets in a very unexpected place.

The FMC Estella, who goes by E, has returned to the town that she grew up in after her mother’s mysterious disappearance and her father’s unexpected death. The police have searched everywhere for her mother’s body, but nobody has been able to find it, so E is convinced her mother is alive somewhere. E gets a job at the local college when she moves back to town, where a mysterious death occurs.

The story takes place in the 1940s, so the characters are going through all of the things that people experienced during WWII, like food rations, a lot of the younger men being gone, as well as mysterious people that may be spying, but you can’t ever really tell. You also get a glimpse into how hard it was for a single woman in the 40s’ to live on her own, E wasn’t able to just walk into a bank and take out money, or pay her own bills without the help of a man. Not only was E forced to move from where she lived comfortably, but she has been snooping around her parents house, that she now lives in, and starts to find some potentially very dark secrets about how her father made his money.

I enjoyed this story, it was somewhat slow-paced, and there are things that are mentioned or that occur, that you aren’t sure what their purpose is, but it all makes sense by the end of the story. The story kept my interest because the title is The Dark Library, so the entire story I was just waiting to learn what the title truly meant. Once you get there, it is like WOW. It is considered a suspense novel, and while it was suspenseful, it was a slow paced suspense, until that last maybe 10-15% of the book, than all of the secrets and mysteries sort of come out all at once. There are tidbits sprinkled throughout the story that make you wonder why is this or that happening, which does keep up the suspense, so it kept me reading because I really wanted to know what all these mysteries were. But as I mentioned I feel like the story is slow, and then the suspense and pace slowly builds on itself as you read through.

I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely read more like it!

Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and the author for a review copy of this book!