The Woman in the Library is a thought-provoking, brilliant and well-executed mystery and thriller book. Hooked right from page one, I found myself musing over the fab four of the BPL who instantly bond over a scream, a murder they just heard. As each finds themselves on a quest to decipher what happens, friendships will be tested, betrayal comes knocking, and motives will be pending a thorough review. Trust backed by love and attraction complicates this, and boundaries will be pushed. Kudos to Sulari for pulling out such an unconventional manner of storytelling whereby the chapters of the book are presented first, followed by the email exchange steeped in reality. This is the marriage of inception and Agatha Christie. I could never have predicted the series of events leading to a well-thought and numbing ending. I went back to read it twice to understand the union between fiction and reality. For mystery and suspense fans, do not skip this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me this ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily,

The Woman in the Library is Australian author Sulari Gentill’s second excursion into crime meta fiction and, like her most recent Rowland Sinclair series release the setting is Boston. However, in this case the time period is contemporary.

The book resembles a literary matryoshka doll: it portrays an Australian writer, Hannah Tigone, writing a mystery story set in Boston, featuring as its main character another (fictional) Australian writer, "Freddie" Kincaid, who is in turn writing a fictionalised murder mystery inspired by her experiences while undertaking a literary fellowship in the city. One day, while fruitlessly seeking literary inspiration in the Boston Public Library Reading Room, Freddie and other patrons are shocked to hear a woman's blood-curdling scream. She subsequently forms friendships with three other "readers" and together they seek to uncover the horrific truth behind what they witnessed. But could the villain be closer than Freddie could possibly imagine?

Hannah's authorial presence is depicted only via her role as the invisible recipient of a series of emails forming one side of an exchange between herself and a Boston-based fan / de facto research assistant named Leo. Their exchange forms a separate plot line, as Leo gradually morphs from a somewhat gushing Beta-reader into a disturbingly volatile individual who seems to be blurring the line between fiction and reality.

Sulari Gentill skilfully employs a range of literary devices, including foreshadowing, misdirection and the trope, familiar in "golden age" crime fiction, that every character has something to hide. The underlying mystery storyline is enthralling, but just as engrossing are the developing relationships between Freddie and her newfound circle of friends.

Gentill clearly draws upon her own experiences as a writer, via the experiences of both Hannah and Freddie throughout the narrative. I found it a fascinating read - The Woman in the Library is so much more than another murder mystery novel - it's a window into the process of mystery writing itself.

I'd thoroughly recommend The Woman in the Library to any lover of crime-mystery-thriller fiction who's keen to read something a little different and perhaps more challenging than the mainstream offerings.

My heartfelt thanks to the author, the brilliant Sulari Gentill, publisher Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this stunning new title.

The Woman In The Library is a stand-alone novel by award-winning Australian author, Sulari Gentill. Aspiring author Leo Johnson, whose opus has now attracted publisher rejections in double figures, sits in Boston Public Library’s reading room, awaiting inspiration from his uncooperative muse. His Australian correspondent, best-selling author, Hannah Tigone, takes his emailed description and incorporates it into her new novel, sending Leo chapters as they are written. Leo enthusiastically offers comments, culture and location tips, crime-scene photos, plot suggestions, and other literary feedback.

Aspiring mystery author, Winifred Kincaid (Freddie), taking advantage of her Marriot Fellowship, sits in Boston Public Library’s reading room, subtly (she thinks) examining her table neighbours, noting their descriptions and giving them tentative titles in the novel she would write about them. The silence of this private study of Freud Girl (liberally tattooed, psychology student?), Heroic Chin (Harvard law student?) and Handsome Man (dark-haired, dark-eyed classic beauty, a writer?) is suddenly broken by a piercing scream. In the immediate aftermath, four strangers become friends.

When the body of a woman is later found in a nearby library gallery room, the four speculate about the murder, curious to know more but, it seems, some of them are omitting relevant facts and keeping secrets. And the drama doesn’t end there: one of their number is mugged, another injured in an altercation with a homeless man, cell phones go missing, creepy messages are received, a food hamper mysteriously appears, someone’s mother is attacked and someone else dies.

This novel is very cleverly constructed: chapters of Hannah’s fictional murder mystery alternate with Leo’s emailed input. Hannah sometimes incorporates Leo’s feedback into ensuing chapters, and the story she creates is thoroughly gripping, with more than enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing right up to the thrilling climax. From his emails, Leo initially seems earnest and extremely thorough, but as the story advances, Hannah is probably grateful for the restrictions COVID has imposed on international travel.

The concept of a story within a story keeps the reader on their toes, and it’s easy to be thoroughly absorbed in Hannah’s story until Leo’s emails remind the reader it is fiction. But of course, it’s all fiction. And while one murderer might be an obvious pick, even the most astute reader is unlikely to settle upon the other.

This format does give the reader a peek into the world of the writer, and what needs to be considered and researched when creating a believable work of fiction. Smart and funny, this is murder mystery at its most entertaining.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.