Calling all true crime geek bookstagrammers…..someone wrote a book for us - about us?! I thought I was going into a cutesy whodunnit for some reason but this book is actually quite dark and sordid. It steps into the more disturbing side of true crime ‘fandoms’, at times dancing around the edges of hybristophilia and it takes a look at full blown obsession which rears its head in many forms. There’s some serious single white female stuff going down. It did get a tad repetitive in a few places but despite being not what I expected at all, it was a pleasant surprise and a pretty decent read!

A nice easy read. Nothing scary or shocking if its your first time reading a murder/thriller/psychological story, unless you don't like snails or slugs.
Nether of the main characters are particularly likeable and both pretty dysfunctional, but I was intrigued as to what was actually going to happen to them by the end and what really was the story. I do think this does have a slight 'Single White Female' vibe to it at points.
Not sure I'd buy a book from them if they worked in my local bookshop !

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC version in exchange for a honest review.

Oh this book gave me chills. Death of a bookseller was such an unique thriller as the writing style was so engaging and readable. I literally couldn't put it down. Both main characters to me were so interesting and I didn't know what way the story was going to go. As a booklover I appreciated the book references and even the everyday routine of working in a bookstore with books. Excellent book

I wasn’t blown away by this book but found it very intriguing and engrossing to the point I finished this in a day. It was very disconcerting hearing Roach’s story and her obsessive behaviour was disturbing! It was an interesting journey of her thoughts to the ending but it also wasn’t entirely what I expected when picking up this one.

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for suggesting this book. What a debut! This book is creepy, dark and moving at the same time. You will find yourself loving and hating Roach as you flip these pages. Be warned, this book is going to be hard to put down.

Alice Slater tells a dark story while managing to keep it light. You do not feel as if you are consumed in darkness as you flip these pages. She creates characters you will sympathise with while you jump between liking and disliking them. I found myself quickly engrossed and battled to put this book down – despite reading this one during a very hectic time in my life.
Roach is obsessed with death and serial killers, she spends all her free time reading books about serial killers and listening to true crime podcasts. She dislikes the ‘normies’ around her and has long ago given up on trying to fit in. Until she meets Laura Bunting – a new bookseller that joins the bookstore where Roach works. Roach instantly feels drawn to Laura, they have a connection – even if Laura does not realise it. Roach is obsessed with Laura, but when she discovers that Laura’s mother has been murdered by a serial killer. There is no way Roach can stay away from Laura. Determined to get as close to Laura as possible, even when Laura insists on keeping as much distance between them. Roach is persistent and forces her way into Laura’s life with disastrous consciences.
I enjoyed this strange character; Roach is the most unusual woman you could imagine. The author did a fabulous job bringing this strange woman to life. I found myself rooting for Roach despite everything she did wrong. Laura was simply nasty, long before Roach crossed any lines.
While Laura was the vulnerable character, the woman who lost her mom to a serial killer – I did not like her at all. She was nasty to Roach long before Roach crossed any line, and I disliked the way she refused to stay away from a colleague who was in a serious relationship. She drinks too much and she sees herself as better than everyone else. I understand that she must have suffered after the loss of her mother, but that does not excuse the way she treats people. This woman is just horrible.
I found this book to be a different, original read. It was unique and entertaining. I could not read it fast enough. I am happy to add this one to my loved list for 2023.
If you are looking for a unique thriller with lots of talk about serial killers and murder, while at the same time does not cover much bloodshed, a book that is creepy, dark and highly entertaining then you will not want to miss this one.

This is the story of Roach, a crime obsessed bookseller and Laura who despises the nations fascination with glorifying serial killers.

Well what a ride this book was. I can honestly say that I didn't like either character that much and through out I felt a push and pull between who was in the right. This is a slow burn of a story but you want to be there for all of it so it it consumes you the way it does the characters.

This is a great, sinister and funny piece of fiction which asks some important questions of the way we consume media on serial killers at the cost of the victims.

I was really looking forward to reading this debut, which is covered in praise from some fantastic authors and has a great premise.

Death of a Bookseller’s story unfolds told from two perspectives - Spines booksellers Roach and Laura. Roach has been at the failing branch for a while and is obsessed with true crime and soon finds herself drawn to transfer employee Laura. Laura is the opposite of Roach, yet Roach is drawn to a darkness she feels is in Laura who creates found poems from true crime. However she removes all violence from her poetry and reclaims the stories for the women whose voices are unheard. Something which Roach doesn’t understand. It will definitely make you query liking true crime at times!

I found myself drawn to Roach until we hear how Laura sees her, you really feel for her! Roach is disappointed as she learns Laura’s vintage styling is actually high street and she classes her as a ‘normie’ - yet Laura listens to Sufjan Stevens and Patti Smith - in ways her tastes sometimes seemed more alternative than Roach’s own!

Throughout the novel we see how far Roach is willing to invade Laura’s life, and Laura’s descent. We learn of her past and why she doesn’t want to engage with Roach.

Overall I loved this book. It can feel a little repetitive with Roach’s sections - her language of normies, creepy-crawling and obsession with Dark Fruits. But I think this in a way can help show her personality, she’s a little childish in ways, she’s very black and white and has an obsessive personality which is why she’s so hooked on Laura and cannot fathom why she doesn’t share her love of true crime.

Thanks to the author, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
Publication 27 April 2023

I had high expectations for this debut, as the title just sounds brilliant and the cover is fabulous. It certainly delivered, a solid 5 star read for me.

Centred around Roach a lonesome gothic bookseller who's obsessed with true crime and murder, and doesn't like 'normies' and Laura, pretty much the epitomy of a 'normie' who joins the bookshop team. Laura writes poetry and after a reading at a local bar, Roach takes an interest in Laura, a deep and dark interest. It seems Roach has a new obsession!

I loved all the elements to this thriller. As a self confessed booklover it would be my dream to work in / own a bookshop and I really enjoyed the background and behind the scene writing about the bookshop and booksellers. Like a glimpse into the secret bookshop world - the author has a background in bookselling and this shines through.

The true crime fascination has really picked up pace and popularity in recent years, with streams of Netflix documentaries released and binged by many. It made a great basis to the plot and feels really topical.

Roach and Laura the main protagonists are both complex characters, utterly unlikeable, but I couldnt help but feel for both of them in parts. It's a skill to write strong characterision to build a rather horrid character but make the reader still have a jot of empathy for them, and Alice achieves this.

There are lots of popular culture references that are fun to spot, from infamous serial killers, Instagram, literature and popular drinks. I couldn't put this book down and raced through it as I needed to know what happened next - the plot builds and builds, with a real sinister feeling weaved in. Delightfully creepy.

If you enjoy the aforementioned True Crime, love books and bookshops, page turning thrillers, wrapped up in dark contemporary fiction with a bit of fun, then Death of Bookseller is just the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

This kept me reading and I got through the book quite quickly but, oh my goodness, the two main characters are unpleasant. I wanted to know what happened but I didn't care about either of them. I'm interested to see what Alice Slater comes up with next. Good old fashioned psychological thriller. Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

This is a dark and disturbing read of obsession, wrapped up neatly in a bookish tale which will appeal to crime readers. Roach has spent all her adult life working at one of the Spines bookstores in Walthamstow, an area of London I know well. The shop is not doing very well, and a new team are brought in to replace the previous branch manager, including Sharona, her deputy, Eli, and the blonde and perfectly prepared Laura Bunting. Laura is a sort of bookshop Mary Poppins – neat and tidy, always cheerful and polite to customers, able to organise shelves and know the perfect place for every title. Well, she is always cheerful and polite, except to Roach, to whom she takes an almost visceral dislike. Roach is true crime obsessed, her mind full of murder podcasts, her reading material full of murder.

Laura’s mother was a victim of The Stow Strangler, a serial killer who murdered five women in Walthamstow. Meanwhile, despite Laura’s frothy and professional manner, Roach is drawn towards her new colleague, like a moth to a flame, while her obsession with true crime causes Laura to instinctively dislike and resent her. However, despite Laura’s openly perfect demeanour, inside things are not quite as professional as they seem. The author cleverly uses the site of a bookshop and the power politics of the workplace, to write a clever crime debut. The reader shifts from the point of view of Laura and Roach as the story progresses and Roach infiltrates Laura’s life as both women gradually lose control. I really loved this, the creepy references to serial killers, the way that both London and the book trade was used to create atmosphere and the darkness that inhabited both of the characters. Would I read more by Alice Slater? A definite yes from me. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Death of a bookseller is absolutely addictive- the characters are on the brink of nervous breakdowns, drink and smoke too much and live lives full of lies. The main character, Roach, is a true crime obsessive, with a dark sense of humour, a dislike of 'normies' and an equally off beat boyfriend. A character you hate to love but you just can't help it!This is a tense, dark read with a wonderfully clever ending. Absolutely loved it. 5 stars!

Death of a Bookseller is an exceptional book that gets to the heart of true crime obsession - from those who love it and those who have lived it. Dark, unsettling, thrilling with a great humour throughout, you can't help but be engulfed in the story and turn the pages with increased fervour to see where it ends. Will be recommending far and wide. Brilliant read.

If you are going to feature anything book related in a title then you must deliver as my expectations are already high. Luckily for this book it packed a punch. It lulls you into a false sense of security and starts off in what seems to be the style of a contemporary fiction novel.
We meet Roach first of all who is a bookseller at a book shop called Spines, she is a woman who takes pains to not be noticed but is in fact desperate for recognition and is also obsessed with serial killers. Enter Laura, the complete opposite to Roach, all sweetness and light on the outside, helpful, practical and truly excellent in the art of book selling. But Laura is a troubled character and also has an interest in serial killers but for very different reasons, so she is struggling with her own demons too.
Gradually the book turns on its head as both Laura and Roach’s characters evolve and as a reader you become more unsettled and utterly hooked as you can’t see how the final scenes will play out. It literally leaves you hanging on and wanting more. I feel like this book will be a hit and would be a great candidate for a book group discussion, It has a How to Kill Your Family vibe to it and as soon as it is published I am off to tell everyone about it.

An enjoyable book, by an author new to me.

I was intrigued and gripped throughout, and really liked the book.

Thank you, NetGalley.

Not my usual thing- but I was gripped the entire time. I felt so uncomfortable pretty much the whole second half , but I needed to know how it ended. Highly enjoyable read!

I loved it.

A great and unusual story - a true crime addict and a woman on the verge of a breakdown are strangely intertwined, almost at times seeming to become each other.

Dark, a bit creepy (not in the looking over your shoulder way though) and totally addictive. Full of magnificent characters - none wholly likeable but fascinating all the same. These people smoke and drink so much I don't know how they manage to get up for work in the bookshop the next day. But they do - in all their stubbled, sweaty-underarmed, greasy-fingered glory.

And that ending!

It's like meeting a bunch of new friends - well, the type of friends I have, anyway.

Did I say how much I loved it?

Completely engrossing, Death of a Bookseller was a perfect dark story of obsession. Tense and addictive I could not put this down.

We follow two booksellers Roach and Laura as Roach’s true crime obsession spirals in to an obsession with Laura and her life. While it’s pretty dark it’s also full of nods to books and book selling which made for a great combination.

Death of a book seller by Alice Slater

Oh this was dark and I loved it.. it’s a slow burn that has you shouting at both main characters be careful!

Roach and Laura are both booksellers in the same book shop but they are completely oppostite.. Roach loves true crime especially with serial killers (maybe a little too much) and Laura is the daughter of a victim of a serial killer so you can imagine that Roach is invested in Laura, where Laura is repulsed by Roach.

The story creeps along at an unsettling pace and you become more invested in the ladies.. the book goes from Roach to Laura and building the tension between them.. it’s a great story and a its sinister and dark and really quiet delicious.. I loved it


#DeathofaBookseller #NetGalley #creepy #dark #females

One of the best books I have EVER read. This is 2023’s answer to How To Murder Your Family. Utterly brilliant. Roach is an utterly loatheable character and Laura was complicated- fantastically written supporting characters and set in a bookshop, what more could you want. My only tiny gripe is how many times Dark Fruits was mentioned!

I loved this slow-burn, suspenseful, character-driven story. It is told from the point of view of two seemingly polar opposite characters who both work at the same bookstore. "Roach" is the weirdo goth girl and Laura is the shiny new thing who comes into the store to right the ship. Roach becomes obsessed with Laura while Laura is repulsed by her. Wanna-be friend turned stalker, what could be scarier lol