The Woman in the Library
USA TODAY BESTSELLER * MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD NOMINEE * 2022 BOOKPAGE BEST MYSTERIES AND SUSPENSE * LIBRARY READS TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2022 * CRIME READS BEST NEW CRIME FICTION
"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!"
- Pages
- 323
- First published
- January 1, 2022
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
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Shelved by 4 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished August 28, 2026
This was such a fun read! I really enjoyed trying to figure out the whodunnit as the story unfolded. I was able to guess a few of the final plot points before the end and while I thought the reasoning behind the why was a little dumb, it didn’t really take away from how much I enjoyed the overall story. The book within a book within a book aspect was probably my favorite part. I’ve read plenty of books that use the book within a book setup, but the triple down was something new for me and I thought it was really interesting. It added another layer to the mystery and gave me even more things to question while I was reading. I also really appreciated the way the pandemic was incorporated into the story. This is the first book I’ve read that mentioned it in a way that actually felt interesting and natural without taking over the story or distracting from everything else. Overall, this was an entertaining mystery that kept me guessing and gave me plenty to theorize about along the way. Even though I wasn’t completely sold on the final explanation, I had a great time getting there! Definitely recommend picking this up if you like murder mysteries with layered plots.
Finished August 7, 2026