The Woman In The Library Review

Author: Surali Gentil

Genre: Mystery Suspense

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Release Date: June 7, 2022

Order Link: Amazon

4 Mysterious Hearts

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for an arc.

In every person's story, there is something to hide...

Review:

Hannah Tigone is an Australian mystery writer whose current work in progress is set in Boston. She can't travel to the US and so Leo Johnson, volunteers to be her eyes on the ground, communicating with her through emails and eventually making suggestions of possible edits.  In her book, Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid comes to Boston on a writer's scholarship.  Her research trip to the Boston Library gets interesting when she hears a woman's terrified scream and everyone is told to stay where they are. Sitting at a table with three strangers, she strikes up a conversation with the others and friendships of sorts are formed.  Each person has their own reason for being there.  Could one of them be a killer?  As the book within a book progress, readers learn more about the characters, who they are, what motivates them, who they suspect and who's connected to whom.  It's clear someone is not who they claim to be.  Who's lying?  Confused yet?

The Woman In The Library is an intriguing book within a book.  While I've read books written in this format before, I found this one to be quite unique and compelling.  Four strangers find themselves sitting at the same table in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library. Winifred Kincaid aka Freddie - a writer-in-residence living at Carrington Square, Cain McLeod - a upcoming published writer, Marigold Anastas - a psychology major at Harvard and Whit Metters - who has his reasons for purposely failing Harvard Law School. Freddie sits there observing each of the others while accessing their characteristics and assigning them names as characters in her book.  A blood-curdling scream breaks the tranquility of the library.  A murder has occurred.

The Woman In The Library is a skillfully written who-done-it thriller that will keep readers on their toes throughout.  Gentill takes readers on a complex trip into the perplexing world of friendships where all may not be as it seems.  While I figured this one out, the plot lines and characters are so cleverly disguised that it in no way deterred from my reading enjoyment.  This story is twisted, a bit ominous and highly entertaining.  Fans of mysteries will love this one.  I also recommend it to fans of suspense thrillers.  

Synopsis:

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.