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… There was a lot of mention of including COVID in the story and explicitly mentioning the race and color of the characters. To be honest I’m not really sure what was the aim here? Was it to explore some issues or raise some interesting book club questions, I’m not sure especially when they came from such a character…

NADWORNY: So from what I've read, you became an author after studying astrophysics at university. And you went to law school. You live on a truffle farm in the Australian Snowy Mountains. How did this come to be? How did you find writing?A story is hidden inside another story about a writer’s building another thriller story: are you confused with the story line reminding us of smart thriller book version of Inception screenplay! At least nobody’s dreaming in this book! It’s only 3 dimensional story so you have to wear your 3D glasses during your read not to get lost! i requested an ARC of this on netgalley with great haste and love in my heart, because it's set partially in the boston public library, otherwise known as the single greatest place in the world.

This mystery is a story within a story that's fun and playful but knowing too much before you begin might spoil it for you. Just know that I was intrigued and pleasantly confused through its entirety. Hannah Tigone is an Australian mystery writer who is writing a book set in Boston. In her book, Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, who is also an Australian writer, has come to Boston on a writer's scholarship. She went to the Boston Library looking for inspiration when she heard a woman's terrified scream. She along with others, who were sitting at her table, begin talking when the library tells them no one can leave right away following the scream. Everyone has their own reasons for being at the library that day. One of them is also a murderer.These Dangerous Women’– an oral history project conducted by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to mark 100 years since its foundation. Freddie is at the Boston Public Library when a murder occurs. While waiting for the police, she strikes up a conversation with others at her table. The four become friends, but could one of them be the murderer? Much misdirection and an unreliable narrator make for a tight little thriller that will have you sure you know whodunnit until you don't. For fans of The Body in the Library, Magpie Murders, and The Hunting Party.”— Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX The clever framing of these two entwined narratives – a device Gentill also employed in her novel Crossing the Lines – is carried off in a voice that clearly reflects the joy she takes in the absurd. It is crafted very well. I do not have anything to say about the writing or the structure of the book. Gentill is very proficient at telling this story, it is just not for me. It also ends rather abruptly, and with there being two characters named ‘Leo’ but who each work in different ways towards the two plots, the ending really left me adrift. Overall, I would recommend this to readers looking for an entertaining and sometimes humorous mystery that balances the right amount of depth without ever taking itself too seriously.

This “story within a story” opens up with a letter from Leo Johnson, a beta reader, to Australian author, Hannah Tigone, a mystery writer, who cannot travel to Boston to research her latest novel, because of Covid restrictions. Although many things can be “googled” there is nothing better than a local who can help with getting the “lingo” right, as well as provide social commentary on current events.

Introduction

Above all I appreciated the aspects of Gentill’s approach that were akin to a masterclass in novel writing, which flows throughout the novel in different forms. For example, not only do we see the way Hannah responds to Leo’s critiques in subsequent chapters, we are also given insights into Freddie’s writing process and how she absorbs her surroundings with the eye of a novelist. A motif throughout is Freddie’s analogy of her process being like ‘working on a bus’: Overall, I really enjoyed this book within a book, but it does take a bit of work on the reader's part to puzzle out what is going on and how everything fits together. This is a unique read and I'm glad I took the opportunity to experience it.

Readers are treated to two expertly crafted mysteries in Australian author Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library. Colton Haynes answers fan questions about his new book, Miss Memory Lane (Atria; LJ starred review), on GMA. I’ve never read anything like this novel before in regards to how it was formatted and let me tell you, it was quite refreshing. Besides that, I loved that the setting does indeed take place in a library with writers, authors, and all the conversations you’d expect them to have as they do what they do best. As a professional sports writer and book reviewer myself, this novel truly hit home for me as it felt pretty real and even creepy to me in some parts. The collection includes UNESCO-recognised women’s suffrage archive documents.In 2011, eight documentsfrom the Women’s Library and the Parliamentary Archiveswere recognised by UNESCO on their UK Memory of the WorldRegister. These include: On the surface, this appears to be everything I'd enjoy. Four strangers are sharing the same table at the library when a scream rends the air. A woman has been murdered. The scream bonds the four strangers and they become fast friends. But as sinister events continue to dog them and they're unable to shake the shadow of the murder, it's clear one of them is hiding secrets. But which one is it?What if they never find out who killed Caroline?' Marigold's voice trembles. 'We heard her scream. A scream is supposed to bring help, and we heard her scream.' But Gentill has thrown in extra layers, weaving in a second, equally entertaining narrative, creating a story within the story in which she explores the art of writing itself. There are several events and situations here that flirt a bit with horror, my favorite reading genre. The main protagonist, Freddie, was my favorite character by far. The way she processed everything through the lens of an author, plotting connections and possibilities as if it were a novel she’s writing was great. 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. GENTILL: It is. I mean, and more selfishly, it's an escape for me. You know, as much as reading a book is an escape, writing a book is in some ways the ultimate escape. So I started writing "The Woman In The Library" when I was evacuated, when everything was on fire and my husband and my son were out fighting the fire with the RFS. And everything that was going on was overwhelming. But I could write. I could disappear into this world and start creating these characters and get worried about them. And it allowed me to stop worrying about my husband and my son and myself and our house and our town for just a little while I worked. I think humanity creates lives that we need to escape from every now and then. It's not an abdication. It's just an escape. It's just giving our souls a little bit of rest so that we can face the next day.