“Five strangers are locked inside New York’s most notorious library.
The famous author. The journalist. The professor. The bookseller. The architect.
For one night only, the library welcomes them for an exclusive after-hours tour.
They expect to see a legendary book. Instead they witness a gruesome murder.
And now they must find the killer among them before morning, or no one will survive the night…”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego. The Library After Dark was published by Bantam Books on 14th May 2026 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of The Library After Dark but that has in no way influenced my review.
I was very much looking forward to reading The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego for several reasons. First of all, I enjoyed the author’s debut, You Are Fatally Invited. Secondly, it’s set in a library and I just can’t resist a library setting (so much so that I ended up working in a library myself!). And thirdly, it promised to be a little more gruesome than other mystery novels. I’m not sure the cover quite conveys that same message. It looks at first glance to be more on the cosy side, but my sources assured me the deaths were grisly and blood-soaked (which they are).
Bookseller Aria is looking for love. After a long, exhausting search, she feels she may have finally found her match in Jasper, a regular customer at the bookshop. Things have been going well, and tonight Jasper is taking Aria out on a Valentine’s Day date to end all other Valentine’s Day dates. Jasper has secured exclusive tickets to an after-hours tour of the Daedalus Library in New York. Both the library and its recently deceased owner, Evangeline Riordan, are infamous in the book world. Riordan dedicated her life to securing and maintaining some of the most controversial books and pieces of literature from across the globe, including the Dark Hearth Tales. The Tales have been delicately restored and are about to go on display to the world for the first time. But before that, a small select group of after-hours visitors, including a bestselling author, an academic, a nurse, and a journalist, alongside Aria and Jasper will be the first to view the legendary restored piece. But things don’t go as planned, and the group end up witnessing a horrible murder. Trapped within the Library, knowing a murderer is in their midst, who will make it out alive….?
The Library After Dark excels in its setting. The Library is beautifully constructed by the author, coming to life on the page. You can feel the ominous nature of the building, the long dark history of its exhibits, which all add to the overall sense of foreboding the reader experiences throughout the book. You may consider yourself a booklover, but you wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, no siree! There are quite a few characters but there is a helpful list at the start of the book which, if you’re reading a physical copy, you can refer back to. I was reading a digital copy, so it wasn’t as easy to access (despite bookmarking it on my device). There’s also a map. Everyone loves a map. Back to the characters. The blurb mentions five people trapped in the library. It’s more than that because there’s a nurse and also the librarian leading the tour. I found myself getting confused a little as the story progressed. I was struggling to work out who was who, who was speaking and what their role was. Which was unfortunately taking me away from the eerie feel of the book.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes, but with some caveats. If you’re looking for an atmospheric read where the setting sings, then The Library After Dark is a great choice. For me, the library and its exhibits were my main focus. I found the story behind the exhibits to be fascinating (not so much with the Dark Hearth Tales, which I found slow and sadly, quite uninteresting). Actually, I think that was my issue with the book. The Dark Hearth Tales are a main plot point and I couldn’t for the life of me muster enough interest. I wasn’t invested enough but I think that was a ‘me’ problem, not the book’s problem. The reader gets to discover the tales for themselves in-between the chapters where terrible things are happening to characters. Even these failed to ignite my interest. I enjoyed the secrets, along with how and when they were revealed. Of course, the cast aren’t being entirely truthful with each other, and the reader only knows a fraction of what’s really going on. I enjoyed how the author revealed the truth over the course of the book. All in all, The Library After Dark will appeal to many readers. I am very much the minority here. I want this book to do well. I’m glad I read it, and despite my small niggles, I will be picking up Pliego’s next novel when it hits the shelves.
I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Library After Dark. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
Ande Pliego began writing stories when she discovered she could actually wield her overactive imagination for good. A lover of stories with teeth, she writes books involving mind games, dark humor, general murder and mayhem, and most importantly, finding the hope in the dark.
When not reading or writing, she can usually be found dabbling in art, scheming up her next trip, or making constant expeditions to the library. Born in Florida, raised in France, and having left footprints all over the globe, she is settled in the Pacific Northwest, USA, with her little son. Ande Pliego is the bestselling author of You Are Fatally Invited and The Library After Dark .
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