The Quiet Librarian - Allen Eskens - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Allen Eskens

GENRE: Contemporary Mystery

PUBLICATION DATE: February 18, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical mystery in dual timeline. Interesting lead character, good story, great historical content. Quite gruesome in the war-related bits. A tad too convenient at times, and the romance subplot track annoyed me (as expected). But on the whole, a worthwhile read.

Plot Preview:

Minnesota. Hana is a reserved forty-seven-year old librarian who keeps her personal life guarded. When a detective comes to her with the news that her best friend Amina has been murdered, Hana knows that her past has finally caught up with her. But as no one else knows who she was or what she did, Hana has to rely on her instincts and her old training to protect herself and also Amina’s eight-year-old grandson who has been left in Hana’s care.

The story comes to us in two timelines, both written in third person. One is the contemporary track from Hana’s point of view. The other is from 1995, set during the Bosnian War.

PSA: The GR blurb contains major spoilers.

Bookish Yays:

🕊️ The introductory note by the author, offering details about the historical setting of the book. With the Bosnian War being at the centre of the historical (1995) timeline, this was very helpful.

🕊️ The implementation of the above war into the storyline. I am not much aware of this part of history except for the bare bones I had learnt thanks to Priscilla Morris’ ‘Black Butterflies’, but the book is informative enough without feeling like a history textbook. The war is not even that historical (It took place just thirty years ago), but it feels like an echo of so many wars occurring today. Humans just don’t learn. 😢

🕊️ The “quiet librarian” of the title vs. actual Hana – what a fabulous contrast! Love how both these aspects of her personality were written convincingly. Also loved Amina’s character though she had just a few scenes.

🕊️ Bonus points for the portrayal of middle-aged Hana, which was realistic instead of making her sound like a senior citizen.

🕊️ The two eight-year-old boys in the story, though in limited roles, won my heart.

🕊️ The use of the alternating timelines in telling this story – very efficient. The plot development is smooth and consistent, and each timeline is strong. The short chapters also help keep the tempo.

🕊️ The Bosnian timeline – informative, tense, heartbreaking, and brilliant. Love the portrayal of how war and war-related trauma affect the human psyche. This timeline is quite triggering, as the depiction of war crimes is quite brutal. But such content is to be expected, and to the book’s credit, the writing doesn’t sensationalise any event.

🕊️ No examples of “Man writing woman” despite there being two key women in the plot. Any male author who writes women like this needs more readership.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

⚔️ The ‘why’ of the murder is a bit farfetched. The ending, though riveting, also feels a bit too convenient and rushed. But such exaggerations and conveniences are de rigueur these days in the genre, so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

⚔️ Unexpectedly, there is a minor romance arc in both timelines (or rather, romance in one timeline and physical attraction in another.) The tracks don’t dominate the main plot, but they are still annoying, especially in the contemporary story where it just wasn't needed.

Bookish Nays:

💣 So unprofessional that a police officer discusses intricate and confidential details of an ongoing case with a stranger (who could be both a suspect and a source of information), and that too, over post-work dinner dates. This part was a major negative in an otherwise strong story.

All in all, this historical mystery is a great read, even accounting for the exaggerations and unrealistic police behaviour. The historical timeline is the most impactful in generating plenty of strong emotions.

This is my first book by this popular thriller author, and I can see why he has so many fans. I would definitely like to read more of his works.

Recommended to fans of mystery-thrillers with dual timelines, especially those interested in reading about a war not often explored in fiction.

This was a library read.