The Woman in the Library
A Novel
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3.8 • 219 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
USA TODAY BESTSELLER * MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD NOMINEE * 2022 BOOKPAGE BEST MYSTERIES AND SUSPENSE * LIBRARY READS TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2022 * CRIME READS BEST NEW CRIME FICTION
"Investigations are launched, fingers are pointed, potentially dangerous liaisons unfold and I was turning those pages like there was cake at the finish line." —Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times must-read books for summer 2022
Ned Kelly award winning author Sulari Gentill sets this mystery-within-a-mystery in motion with a deceptively simple, Dear Hannah, What are you writing? pulling us into the ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library.
In every person's story, there is something to hide...
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.
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.
What readers are saying about The Woman in the Library:
"I loved this intelligent, high tension, addictive, unputdownable book so much!"
"I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!"
"This is a smart, well-written whodunit with an interesting cast of characters and a well-developed plot."
"A murder mystery that starts off in a crowded library full of book lovers? SIGN ME UP!"
"What an outstanding job and literary work in the crime-fiction genre!"
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The historic Boston Public Library provides a beautifully bookish setting for this elaborate literary thriller. Moments before a terrified scream breaks the silence, aspiring novelist Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid is watching three strangers sitting in the cavernous reading room with her, hoping for inspiration to strike. During the ensuing investigation, Freddie and the others—Marigold, Whit, and Cain—each come under suspicion of murder. Sulari Gentill presents this enthralling literary mystery as a story within a story. Freddie’s tale is actually being told by another fictional character, an Australian author named Hannah Tigone, who’s writing a whodunit while in a pandemic lockdown. The Woman in the Library is a wildly imaginative take on the classic locked-room mystery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This thrilling excursion into metafiction from Australian author Gentill (Crossing the Lines) wittily examines the writing process itself. Australian mystery writer Winifred "Freddie" Kincaid has come to Boston after receiving a prestigious writers' fellowship. While she's seeking inspiration in the Boston Public Library, a woman's scream breaks the silence. Freddie seizes on this incident as the ideal start for her new opus, which involves "a group of people united by a scream." Each chapter of Freddie's book includes a letter written to famous Australian author Hannah Tigone by a dedicated fan, Leo Johnson, a fellow writer in residence who offers to be her beta reader. Hannah is writing the story of Freddie Kincaid, who's writing the story of the murder in the library. Leo's emails influence Hannah's view of her characters and subsequently Freddie's story. Leo's emails shift from sycophantic to profoundly disturbing when his novel is rejected by Hannah's agent. The agent dies a few days later, and murders in the two realities begin to multiply. This elegantly constructed novel is intelligent, funny, and profound. Who could ask for more?
Customer Reviews
Interesting premise
Some plot holes and contrivances but the premise of 2 stories is intriguing enough to read it.
Great story, Horrible Ending
This was the first book of the author’s that I have read and because the ending was such a letdown I don’t want to read another of her books. It was definitely an interesting story but a copout and unresolved ending. Set in Boston, my hometown I was also disappointed with all the location inaccuracies, including a misspelling of Allston. Or maybe it was just bad editing because i found a couple of sentences with words missing and some other issues. Anyway I’d really love to know what the author’s intent was with that ending.
Epilogue needed
It ended abruptly and should have had an epilogue from Hannah to neaten it up a bit. Otherwise it was an excellent read.