By Dennis Fischman

Mystery novels have thrived in the cold ground of Greater Boston. For example, I think of Linda Barnes and her taxi-driving detective Carlotta Carlyle; Robert B. Parker and the Spenser series (turned into the popular Spenser for Hire TV series in the 1980’s); Dennis Lehane; Tess Gerritsen; and even Matthew Pearl and his surprise hit The Dante Club.

But if you’re interested in reading a recently published mystery where the key characters were all born after 1990, then Sulari Gentill has one for you, and it’s a real puzzle.

“The Woman in the Library” by Sulari Gentill
Poisoned Pen Press, 2022, 265 pages

Imagine sitting in the Boston Public Library, sharing a table with three other strangers, when a scream echoes through the building. There’s been a murder. But you are an author yourself, writing a murder mystery, when you hear the scream. Or … is that author a fictional character in a third story? And do the letters from a Boston-based reader to an author writing remotely, during the Covid lockdowns, serve as an amusing distraction and a commentary on writing – or are they the key to the multiple mysteries?

On Goodreads, I only gave this book three stars out of five. Honestly, though, I’d have to tell you I enjoyed this book more than my rating reflects.

Part of my enjoyment was just listening to these twenty-somethings trying to figure out who they are and who they really live, in a Boston setting (I think Marigold was my tenant at some point!). And all the characters spend time in Somerville and Cambridge, to the point that you could probably organize a walking tour to see the sites and eat at the restaurants mentioned in this book.

Another part of what kept me going was the increasingly creepy frame story. Whenever I grew tired of millennials with First World problems, the correspondence between Leo in Boston and Hannah in Australia piqued my interest again. I had to find out what that was all about.

What diminishes my appreciation for the book is first, the feeling that the writer (Sulari Gentill, not her character Hannah Tigone) is too clever by half; second, my disbelief at the actual solution to the whodunnit; and third, my lack of understanding about what the last page is supposed to mean. You can see the storytelling must have been enchanting because, despite these faults, I didn’t want the book to end!

Are you a smarter reader than me? Can you figure out what I couldn’t? Please consider reading this book and then discussing it at the February meeting of the Somerville Public Library Mystery Book Club. The club meets on the last Wednesday of each month (in this case, February 28, 2024), via Zoom, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. All are welcome.

For more information, please contact Kerry O’Donnell at keodonnell@somervillema.gov or 617-623-5000 x2966. Happy reading, and hope to see you online!

Dennis Fischman is a member of the Somerville Public Library’s Mystery Book Club and an inveterate reader.