The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

ARC from Sourcebooks and Netgalley for an honest review

Book Blurb:

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill: 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.

My Review: 3.5 stars

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The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is one of a kind – it’s as if the movie Inception and the game Clue had this book for a baby. It’s about a famous mystery writer (Hannah Tigone) writing about a mystery writer (Freddie Kincaid) who—you guessed it—is writing a mystery novel. The chapters of this book are the actual story called The Woman in the Library, told in the first-person narrative through Freddie. Throughout the book, Hannah corresponds with one of her fans, who is giving her real-time feedback to help shape The Woman in the Library.

I loved the concept of a story within a story and thought it was clever to break the chapters up with feedback from a fan/beta reader. That being said, I do think it slowed down the pace of the book. There wasn’t a ton of action, which also made this a slow-burn of a mystery. The characters were enjoyable, although I wasn’t overly attached to any of them since the plot didn’t dig very deep into their backstories. There was enough information for me to be dubious of all of them and questioning their motives.

Overall, I found this to be a lighthearted, entertaining mystery and I enjoyed the read. It didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, but I found it to be a fresh take on an age-old trope.