Talk about meta! The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (published 2022) is a novel written as if a writer (Hannah) is writing a novel about a writer (Winifred) writing a novel. While Winifred, or Freddie as she known, is writing her novel, she must solve a real mystery of her own about a about a mysterious woman discovered murdered in the library. Interspersed in the novel is correspondence to author Hannah from a well meaning fan who wants to help contribute to the writing of the novel about Freddie, but he might be a little too vested in the mystery. As a whole, The Woman in the Library is a fun look at the writing process, as well as a fun mystery to unfold.
At first, I disliked the digression of “feedback” correspondence from Leo, the man who writes to author Hannah in between each chapter. I thought it was a strange addition to the story. Instead of being strange, it added the additional layer of “writing a book about writing a book.” It gave a different type of mystery as I considered what things he was suggesting in his letters to Hannah. We didn’t see Hannah’s emails to him, but only the developing story and his responses. His tone changes through the letters and there is a side to him that was not at first apparent.
The first person story about author Freddie was a fun mystery. We don’t learn much about the novel she is writing; we don’t need to know. The main crux of the novel is the mystery that mystery writer Freddie must live through. As she and a table of strangers work in the Boston Public Library, they hear a woman’s scream, and wonder if there must have been a murder in the building. Later, a body is found. Somehow, the event of hearing a scream brings the four people at that table together as friends: Cain McLeod, famous author; Whit, a law student; and Marigold, a psychology student. Together they begin to seek out how the woman was murdered, why, and by whom.
I don’t often read mysteries but this was a good start to the genre. I loved the “meta” book within a book within a book structure, and the mystery remained such until the end. I suspected everyone at some point but in retrospect all the clues do point to the person who did commit murder.
I read this book for my library’s challenge category: a book that takes place in a library or museum.
Get The Woman in the Library at Amazon.
