The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Summary:

And then there is a scream. Ragged and terrified. A beat of silence even after it stops, until we all seem to realise that the Reading Room Rules no longer apply.’

Hannah Tigone, bestselling Australian crime author, is crafting a new novel that begins in the Boston Public Library: four strangers; Winifred, Cain, Marigold and Whit are sitting at the same table when a bloodcurdling scream breaks the silence. A woman has been murdered. They are all suspects, and, as it turns out, each character has their own secrets and motivations – and one of them is a murderer.

While crafting this new thriller, Hannah shares each chapter with her biggest fan and aspirational novelist, Leo. But Leo seems to know a lot about violence, motive, and how exactly to kill someone. Perhaps he is not all that he seems…

The Woman in the Library is an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship – and shows that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

My Review:

This is one book that could so easily slip under the radar, but I have to say I loved it. Read in two sittings. The Woman un the Library (Ultimo Press) by award-winning author Sulari Gentill is a wonderful novel that is compelling and sharp and it is unique and extremely clever. Once you have started reading it’s addictive approach and storyline together with great characters means you won’t want to stop read.

Inside this thriller there is another story so you will need to keep your wits about to keep up but that is just another twist. In the Boston Public library four people are busy doing their own research when there is a scream. So now there is a murder in the library. But who and why and who committed the murder?

The four are now kept in the reading room of the Boston Public Library while a search goes on around them to find the killer. This is when the four strike up an unlikely friendship and there is one called Freddie who also is the narrator of this novel, she has quietly been busy giving names to the other three while they were working. This seems to inspire Winifred to start writing her book and at the same time they all suspects in the crime of a murder in the library. One by one they are starting to talk about themselves and sometimes you just cannot help revealing too much about your past even if you intended not to. We all have secrets some are best kept locked away.

Meanwhile there is a murder to solved. Could one of them be the killer and could they strike again? And so, we come to the other story Dear Hannah… are the email exchanges between a successful writer Hannah Tigone and her biggest fan called Leo who is trying to get an agent and a book out there. Each of the emails at added at the end of each chapter which are all part of building the thriller and makes the story so compelling. Just where is this heading. Well you will have to read for yourself but the ending caught me completely by surprise and that is why The Woman in the Library is such a clever murder mystery and one I am more than happy to recommend.

272 Pages.

My thanks to Laura Creyke (Mark Hutchinson Management) for the review Copy of The Woman in the library by Sulari Gentill and is Published on 15 September    2022 and is now available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org