The woman in the library

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Gentill, Sulari

Physical Description:

265 pages ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Mystery fiction.

Summary:

"The beautifully ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is completely silent one weekday morning, until a woman's terrified scream echoes through the room. Security guards immediately appear and instruct everyone inside to stay put until they determine there is no threat. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers who had been sitting in the reading room get to chatting and quickly become friendly. Harriet, Marigold, Whit, and Caine each have their own reasons for being in the reading room that morning--and it just happens that one of them may turn out to be a murderer.

Subject Term:

Murderers -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Suspense fiction

Publication Info:

Naperville, Illinois : Poisoned Pen Press, [2022]

Subject:

Murderers -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Suspense fiction

Mystery fiction.

Boston Public Library -- Fiction.

Boston (Mass.). Boston Public Library

Boston (Mass.). Public Library

Boston. Public Library.

Public Library of the City of Boston

Homicide offenders

Killers (Murderers)

Murder offenders

Affection

Friendliness

Suspense tales

Tales, Suspense

Thrillers (Fiction)

SAILS ISBN:

9781728261942

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Acushnet Library	MYS GENTILL	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Attleboro Public Library	MYS GENTILL,S	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Carver Public Library	M FIC GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dartmouth - North	MYS GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dartmouth - Southworth	MYS GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dighton Public Library	GEN	1:TOWNHALL	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	MYS GENTILL SULARI WOMAN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fall River Main	FIC GEN	Stacks	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fiske Public Library	GENTILL	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Holmes Public Library	MYS GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Lakeville Public Library	MYS GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Middleborough Public Library	MYS GEN	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Francis J. Lawler Branch	MYS GENTILL	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library	MYS GENTILL	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Raynham Library	FIC GENTILL, S	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rehoboth - Blanding Free PL	FIC GENTILL, S.	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Swansea Public Library	MYS GENTILL, S	MYSTERY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West Bridgewater PL	FIC GENTILL, SULARI	FICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

"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!"

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

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? Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (May)

Kirkus Review

Feedback can be deadly. Sycophantic fan and aspiring writer Leo charms his way into a friendship with successful author Hannah Tigone through a series of flattering letters. In return, she shares a strange incident that happened in the Boston Public Library, where she's working on her new novel, an episode that begins with a scream and ends with this provocative sentence: "And so we go to the Map Room to found a friendship, and I have my first coffee with a killer." This, it turns out, is actually the beginning of Hannah's new novel, sent in morsels to Leo, who faithfully offers thoughts and encouragement after every chapter. Gentill mines similar metafictional territory as in After She Wrote Him (2020), teasing readers with the challenge of deducing which of two narrative threads presents the author and which his or her story. As the mystery unfolds, the book expands into psychological thriller territory, with Leo becoming increasingly unhinged and describing the world as a rage-filled dystopia. Winifred "Freddie" Kincaid, Hannah's mystery-writer protagonist, is as curious and resourceful as Miss Marple, and Hannah's buoyant whodunit provides a bracing contrast to Leo's dark world. Based on their appearances and their behavior in the library, Hannah gives her suspects names like Heroic Chin, Handsome Man, and Freud Girl. Lines blur. Freddie is so caught up in the twists and turns of the puzzle that she feels unable to write. Does Hannah have the same problem? Can Leo help her, does he genuinely want to, and where does he fit into the larger picture? A sharply drawn fictional hall of mirrors sure to tantalize and occasionally frustrate. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Australian author Winifred "Freddie" Kincaid is writing in the reading room of the Boston Public Library when she hears a woman scream. This bonds her to her neighboring patrons, writer Cain, psych grad student Marigold, and failing law student Whit, and when they hear that a woman's body has been discovered several days later, they work together to solve the crime. But someone is sending threatening messages to Freddie, and Cain is hiding a past that makes him look very guilty. In between chapters of the story are letters from Leo, an American offering writing advice to Hannah Tigone, the Australian author of Freddie's story. Soon it becomes clear that Leo is no ordinary critique partner, as he collects gruesome evidence to make Freddie's story more believable. Gentill's latest is a departure from her historical Rowland Sinclair novels (Where There's a Will, 2022). It is a mystery-within-a-mystery, with the clues in Freddie's story becoming more intriguing as Leo's advice becomes more sinister. The two story lines work together beautifully, amping up the suspense before reaching a surprising conclusion.

Library Journal Review

Writer Freddie Kincaid studies the people sharing her table at the Boston Public Library, naming them "Freud Girl," "Heroic Chin," and "Handsome Man." They hear a scream and learn that a woman has been murdered--that's when Freddie says one of them is a killer. The subsequent story is Freddie's account of her growing friendship with those three, attacks on two of them, and the growing awareness that one is attacking the others. But Hannah Tignone, a best-selling Australian author, is actually writing the story of Freddie and her new friends. The story within a story alternates Hannah's writing with letters written to her by a wannabe author, Leo, who suggests changes to Hannah's plot and characters. Freddie's account of trying to discover which of her new friends is a killer is an engrossing mystery. At the same time, Hannah's communication from the FBI allows the reader a glimpse into the life of a writer with a fanatical correspondent. VERDICT Ned Kelly Award winner Gentill (Crossing the Lines) presents a complex, riveting story within a story. The fictional story of an author writing about another writer with messy, complicated friendships and suspicion is an innovative literary mystery.--Lesa Holstine