Freddie is so caught up in the twists and turns of the puzzle that she feels unable to write. Based on their appearances and their behavior in the library, Hannah gives her suspects names like Heroic Chin, Handsome Man, and Freud Girl. Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid, Hannah's mystery-writer protagonist, is as curious and resourceful as Miss Marple, and Hannah’s buoyant whodunit provides a bracing contrast to Leo’s dark world. As the mystery unfolds, the book expands into psychological thriller territory, with Leo becoming increasingly unhinged and describing the world as a rage-filled dystopia. Gentill mines similar metafictional territory as in After She Wrote Him (2020), teasing readers with the challenge of deducing which of two narrative threads presents the author and which his or her story. In return, she shares a strange incident that happened in the Boston Public Library, where she’s working on her new novel, an episode that begins with a scream and ends with this provocative sentence: “And so we go to the Map Room to found a friendship, and I have my first coffee with a killer.” This, it turns out, is actually the beginning of Hannah’s new novel, sent in morsels to Leo, who faithfully offers thoughts and encouragement after every chapter. Who could ask for more? Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.Sycophantic fan and aspiring writer Leo charms his way into a friendship with successful author Hannah Tigone through a series of flattering letters. This elegantly constructed novel is intelligent, funny, and profound.

The agent dies a few days later, and murders in the two realities begin to multiply.

Leo’s emails shift from sycophantic to profoundly disturbing when his novel is rejected by Hannah’s agent. Leo’s emails influence Hannah’s view of her characters and subsequently Freddie’s story. Hannah is writing the story of Freddie Kincaid, who’s writing the story of the murder in the library. Freddie seizes on this incident as the ideal start for her new opus, which involves “a group of people united by a scream.” Each chapter of Freddie’s book includes a letter written to famous Australian author Hannah Tigone by a dedicated fan, Leo Johnson, a fellow writer in residence who offers to be her beta reader. While she’s seeking inspiration in the Boston Public Library, a woman’s scream breaks the silence. Australian mystery writer Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid has come to Boston after receiving a prestigious writers’ fellowship.

This thrilling excursion into metafiction from Australian author Gentill ( Crossing the Lines) wittily examines the writing process itself.

Sulari gentill the woman in the library