But as the novel progresses, Leo’s meta commentary becomes increasingly disturbing, taking this subplot in a deliciously sinister direction. Initially, it’s brilliant to see how Hannah reflects Leo’s comments in each successive chapter. This back and forth shapes the novel’s structure: we read a chapter of Hannah’s murder mystery as it unfolds, and it’s followed by Leo’s feedback. It transpires that Hannah sends Leo each chapter of the US-based novel she’s penning and he gives his feedback – whether to offer a US correction to her Australianisms, a critique of her characters, or a promise to scout location details. On one hand, the novel opens with a chit-chatty message to Australian author Hannah Tigone from one of her US fans, Leo. The novel’s main delight is the Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit set-up that brings together a group of strangers with a common interest in exposing the murderous culprit, each in turn becoming a possible suspect.īut 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. Best-known for her Rowland Sinclair detective stories, in this new novel Sulari Gentill puts merriment into a murder mystery.įrom the moment the action kicks off in The Woman in the Library with a scream piercing the rarefied air of the Boston Public Library, there is a buoyancy to the prose that keeps the mood light and the pace steady.
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