The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet—until 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. Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling listen with this unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and reveals that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all. - (Findaway World Llc)
Booklist Reviews
An Australian mystery writer is working on her latest book in the Boston Public Library when she's startled by a woman's scream. She and the three others at her table are drawn together as they speculate on the disturbance and agree to investigate. This is where it gets complicated. It turns out that the story of the murder in the library is actually a story within a story, the plot of Australian author Hannah Tigone's newest mystery, set in Boston. The story unfolds as Hannah sends Leo, an aspiring American writer living in Boston, her manuscript chapter by chapter for critique and tips on the Boston setting—a critique that itself becomes increasingly disturbing. Fortunately for listeners, reader Littrell has it under control. She reads Tigone's words with a plausible Australian accent and then shifts to American tones for Leo's commentary. Within the mystery tale, American supporting characters are voiced with appropriate southern and Bostonian accents as needed. The shifts between stories are marked clearly and further delineated by Littrell's careful reading. The result is a clever mystery with an intriguing twist. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.