A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

4.0

‘What are you writing?’

Four strangers are sitting quietly, working individually, at a table in the Boston Public Library, when a woman’s scream is heard. Security guards prevent people from leaving while they investigate, and the four strangers pass the time conversing. Friendships are formed.

Later a body is found in a nearby room. A woman has been murdered. The four strangers, now friends, are on a quest to find out who killed the woman. But some of the four have their own secrets. And the story becomes more complex when one of them is mugged, another is injured in an altercation, and when disturbing messages are sent from a phone which was apparently stolen. What on earth is going on?

At the table meet Winifred Kincaid (Freddie) a young writer from Australia, Cain McLeod, Whit Metters and Marigold Anastas. Also meet (often via correspondence) Leo, an author with a mountain of rejection slips and Hannah Tigone who is working on a murder mystery. Leo makes suggestions to Hannah, and she incorporates some of his suggestions into her manuscript.
A writer is writing a story about a writer writing a story. Nothing is as it seems: the twists and turns kept me scratching my head and wondering ‘who?’, ‘how?’ and ‘why?’

Brava, Ms Gentill!

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith