Absolutely loved this book!

Alice Slater you are amazing!

I was hooked throughout and couldn't put this book down.

Thank you for accepting my ARC request.

Great concept, lacking execution.

This book, told in dual POV, tells the story of Roach (a true crime fanatic) and Laura (a much loved bookseller) as they work together. During this time working together, Roach develops a morbid fascination with Laura and is desperate to infiltrate Laura’s life.

This book takes a deep dive into society’s fascination with true crime, and the impact this obsession can have.

Despite a promising premise, I found the book to be repetitive. At around the halfway mark I had lost interest in the plot and both characters. Unfortunately, this is not a must read.

Absolutely brilliant.
I couldn’t put this book down.
This was full of twists and turns, yet steeped in reality. Loved it!

A clever and a really enjoyable read. Both main characters are well crafted and I found myself empathising with both but also disliking them at times. It was a great slow-burn thriller and I desperately wanted to learn what happened next. The lovely literary writing was a bonus not often seen in a thriller. I am very keen to see what Alice Slater writes next. Highly recommended.

When a book takes months to read, it’s never a good sign. I’m a sucker for stories that feature booksellers as I used to be one, but had this book been borrowed from a library, it would’ve been returned after the first few chapters. Neither main character is likeable, in fact, Roach is too detestable to be an interesting study and was just winding me up the deeper I got into the book. I just didn’t see the spark within that others reviewers clearly found. It’s never good when the highlight of the story was the small section when the booksellers discuss the politics of shelves titles.

Overall, I was left disappointed and deflated when I finally completed this story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an E-ARC of The Death Of A Bookseller. After a little trouble with the file on my kindle repeatedly resetting to page one, I am happy to say that I did eventually manage to read this book and here is my review;
I found this a very enjoyable read. It is well written and the characters feel extremely real, which in the case of Roach is a little scary. I was hooked very quickly by the story and was 6% in when I hit a snag with the file on my kindle which halted my reading for a couple of weeks. Luckily I was able to reload it and soon got back into the book. I was easily able to visualise the characters and their environment, we quickly learn their personality traits and more gradually, the reasons behind them. The conversations felt natural and reactions quite genuine.
One thing that has stuck with me is the double sided coin that is the true crime industry, because it clearly is an industry in some respects. I have been keenly aware that true crime has been guilty of almost celebrating certain murderers, without consideration for the victims or their families. Some murderers have fans and groupies and dozens of books about them, detailing their lives from birth. Their victims lives are not given as much space on the page as their deaths, which are often described in detail. This book highlights this disparity but leaves room for debate, recognising that interest in true crime isn't always gross morbid curiosity. It has its uses and an interest in crimes, even murder, doesn't make you a bad person.
That being said, Roach clearly has a warped idea of what is acceptable. She does not understand why Laura does not want to be her friend. Roach's actions are extreme but they are well explained from her point of view and so the plot is not totally unbelievable.
I must say that I really loved the bookshop. I could absolutely picture it, smell it, feel it. I have worked retail during Christmas (sadly not a bookshop) and every bit of it rang true. I was very interested in the behind the scenes knowledge. I really want to go and get a job in a bookshop now.

This clever, character driven novel kept me on the edge of my seat throughout thanks to plenty of tension and dark twists. It features two difficult protagonists and a true-crime obsession that moves from page to reality. I also really enjoyed all of the references to book selling and literature.

I was intrigued by this story and I really enjoyed it. Ive never read anything by this author before but I will look out for more of her books in the future.

Roach, a true crime fiction fan, works in a local bookstore, reluctantly helping the customers with their more mundane book choices. When Laura, chatty and sociable, is transferred from another branch to help with dwindling sales, Roach believes she has found someone who shares her interests. Soon, she discovers that her new colleague might have a true crime story of her own...

Death of a Bookseller is a study of an obsession. I found the topic quite gruesome, but the story was interesting enough to keep reading. Unfortunately, I did not like any of the main characters, but I believe the author could deliberately make her characters unlikeable so that we would accept some of their actions. It is clear from the beginning that there is some darkness within them or in their past that, sooner or later, could affect the narrative.

Overall, it is a quick read with a strong representation of the true-crime fiction genre. Not everyone will enjoy it, but it is worth a look.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for providing the arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was my holiday read and I finished it in three days. I really enjoyed death of a bookseller. It was a good psychological thriller that exposed the worse sides of their characters. Actually it was a bit difficult to find any redeeming qualities about any of the characters. I did find it to be a good exploration of the impact of true crime podcasts and how the line between entertainment and actual life can be very easily blurred.

This isn’t my usual genre, but a book with the word book in the title is always going to appeal to be. The cover is so eye catching and really suits the book. It was creepy, intriguing and a page turner.

Alice Slater is an author to watch out for. Death of a Bookseller is dark in all the best ways.

Slater introduces us to Brogan (AKA Roach) a lonely goth who is obsessed with true crime. We are also introduced to Laura, a sweet character with some hidden secrets. Neither character has been likeable, but we are in a bookshop, with true crime and a dark plot unfolding. What more could we want?

I have been transported, I have felt as though I have been watching the events of this one play out. Slater’s writing will completely immerse you in this one and make it impossible to put this down.

The beginning, has been a little slower than I usually prefer:l. However, this has been needed to introduce the characters and allow the reader to feel that they know their backstory. However, once this gets going it is completely addictive and unpredictable.

Slater has included some humour in this, whilst it is dark there are moments that will have you smiling. This is unique and original, unlike anything I’ve come across previously. I found this a book that I was unwilling to put down.

Death of a Bookseller is completely unpredictable. The characters are impossible to predict and on times I have been completely shocked by their actions.

I have adored this book. This is a must read and one that should be on the TBR. A huge thank you to Hodder for letting the SquadPod share the love on this brilliant debut.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I found this to be claustrophobic, but also oddly cozy. All the bookshop vibes were conveyed so beautifully. I felt the loneliness and also the lively pops of friendship.

Actual compulsive reading, and perfect with a can of Dark Fruits and rain on the windows.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this.

As a book lover, how could I resist a book set in a bookshop? This fast-paced, dry-toned, witty, yet almost shockingly dark psychological thriller that centres around two booksellers is not to be missed.

Meet Brodie Roach, bookseller, loner and true crime obsessive. She doesn't care about making friends, especially not with ‘normies’ she sneers at, all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

Well, it is until Laura joins the bookshop - she, Eli and the new manager have been brought in to help improve the store sales. Still, to Roach, she's just a ‘PSG’ (pumpkin spice girl) type, smelling of roses, carrying cute literary tote bags and enjoying beautiful poetry.

Laura is everyone’s new favourite bookseller, but beneath the lustrous camouflage, there's deep darkness.

Laura cannot abide Roach; she gives her the ick, as do the true crime books Roach obsesses over. To Laura, true crime is purely profiteering from violence against women.

But Roach deludedly believes this darkness is the same as she possesses. They're flip sides of the same coin, even if Laura can't see it. But as Roach’s curiosity builds, eventually morphing into morbid obsession, it becomes clear that she is prepared to infiltrate Laura’s life at any cost, putting both booksellers in perilous situations.

Told in alternating chapters from both Roach and Laura’s points of view, we quickly learn that neither of them is particularly likeable, if for very different reasons. Neither are your typical all-out villain. They're lonely, flawed and blinkered, wracked with their own traumas, searching for some sense of belonging.

I also loved the store setting, discovering a small bit more about the intricacies and the hows and whys of bookselling, that behind the scenes glimpse. Sharona, the manager and the other booksellers are a great crew.

Death of a Bookseller is immensely intriguing and readable, an edge-of-the-seat ride, but the ending let it down a little for me. It never quite reached the crescendo I anticipated. Overall a solid debut which will appeal to thriller and true crime fans alike. 4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in return for an as always honest review.

I love books about books, about writing and about anything to do with book lovers and book sellers! I would categorise this as borderline literary suspense rather than full blown thriller, but it was a fun read.

A really gripping, fun thriller, following two booksellers Laura and Roach.

Roach is a true crime, serial killer obsessed bookseller who has worked in the bookshop for years. Her life changes when glitzy Laura comes into her life and very quickly becomes obsessed with her and desperate to be her friend.

Laura is a passionate bookseller who is stationed to work at Roach's failing bookshop with the dream team to try and sort the bookshop out. However, Laura has a dark past, her mother was murdered by a serial killer when she was younger. Her Dad is estranged to her, only visiting for special occasions, like Christmas. Laura writes poetry, giving a voice to victims of serial killers. She gets on with most people, but she really struggles with Roach and her weird obsession with True Crime fiction. She just finds her weird in general.

This is a story about obsession and how far someone is willing to go to become someone's friend.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What a gorgeous book! The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people. This book has so many gigantic twists in every chapter. And once again I just Loved reading it.

I enjoyed a lot about this book, such as the dual POV's as you followed the story as it was happening from both Laura and Roach's POV, the underlying darkness of each character, both characters are very unlikeable in their own way but you get the sense that this was the authors intentions and the constant sense that something bad was on the horizon however I just felt like something was missing and the ending just fell a bit flat for me.

Brilliant - wonderfully paced, nice and creepy, I loved this a lot - having worked in bookstores previously, I can tell the author has too. Loved loved loved.

I absolutely loved this book.

The narrators, Roach and Laura are both deeply unlikable characters in different ways. Roach is creepy, her behaviour is unsettling and gets increasingly horrifying as the book goes on. Laura is dealing with a lot, but very badly. She treats people around her awfully. There wasn't much to like about either of them, but I was still rooting for them both.

I loved the bookshop setting and how it shows a store being gradually turned from a friendly little local shop to a much more corporate looking one.

Death of a Bookseller is a deliciously dark. It shows the power of obsession and the upset of rejection.

Alice kept me guessing and turning the pages. I didn't want to put it down