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. That being said, the story Hannah is writing is in first person (writing as Freddie – who is also writing a novel), and can get a little confusing…a novel within a novel within a novel! A best-selling novelist in Australia named Hannah is writing a new book – and for the most part, what we are reading, are scenes from the novel she is writing, which involve a novelist from Australia, writing a book! We soon find out that these strangers have a few secrets themselves, including possible motivations for murder, and we know from the blurb that ‘one of them is the murderer!

I am a bricklayer without drawings, laying words in sentences, sentences into paragraphs, allowing my walls to twist and turn on whim.To avoid being forced to join the family firm, Whit Metters is purposely failing Harvard Law School. Because neither Freddie or Marigold noticed him right away in the elevator, it gave the impression he was purposely trying to blend in and stalk Freddie until he could have his twisted hero moment. Freddie has decided to spend the day writing at the Boston Public Library (BPL) but she finds herself distracted by the artistic detail of the ceiling and by the three other people who are sharing her table-People she has made notes on, so she could base characters on them later on-giving them the monikers Handsome Man, Heroic Chin, and Freud Girl.

He is thrilled when Hannah decides to set her next mystery novel inside the Boston Public Library and lets him read the story chapter by chapter. We dress our stories up with murders, and discussions about morality and society, but really we just care about relationships. She is in the Boston Public Library trying to gather inspiration and finds herself sharing a table with three other people, whom she dubs Freud Girl, Heroic C

The relationships among the friends are well developed, and, as Freddie gradually falls in love with McLeod, you hope she’s not getting in over her head. so just a very disappointing narrative choice, which unfortunately made me not interested in the book as a whole. But I enjoyed the tangled plot and characters and setting (my mom was from Fall River just outside Boston so I have a fondness for the region, having spent lots of time there growing up). I also loved the reference to “Misery” by Stephen King which is one of my all-time favorite horror novels as well as all the awesome coffee references since I’m a coffee maniac as well. As the story progresses, the four of them become friends and find themselves embroiled in the mystery surrounding the death of the young woman and it is revealed that one of them is connected to the murder.