2023 Book 12 - Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date 26 April 2023

I received an advance copy of this audio book in return for an honest review.

Oooh this one has everything I love - dual perspectives, a character that slowly becomes more unhinged and embroiled in their own deluded reality, set in a bookshop. What's not to love?

Roach - true crime lover, obsessed with serial killers and all things gruesome, works at the local bookshop. She's a loner, with no real friend except her African Land Snail, Bleep.

Laura - a well educated, well dressed and popular bookseller. She's fun and lovable and has only a slight drinking problem.
No one else knows that her mother was murdered by a serial killer ten years prior, except Eli, and he knows how to keep a secret.

Laura does not like Roach - but Roach is determined to make Laura see that they do indeed have a connection.

It's brilliantly written, with excellently developed characters that breathe life into each chapter and capture your complete attention. A must for any psychological thriller lover.

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Loved this book and was kept on my seat all the way through. The narrative was amazing with the voice changes. Audio is my preferred choice as I can listen while working, this certainly kept me entertained and also informed.

Death of a Bookseller, by Alice Slater

Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

This book is dark, informative, mysterious, sad, tense, fast-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5 /5

This book was a great app sensation of the duality of sensationalising true crime war. I really enjoyed this, and the split point of view from arranged fan, true crime to the daughter of the victim of a serial killer. I thought showing the two ends of the spectrum, and the kind of people get thrown into a case was really important, because with more documentaries and books, coming out, trying to immortalise the crimes of the killer, the people who were truly affected by their acts are often forgotten a footnote in the killers story. This story seeks to change that, and I thought that this was really a great book and would recommend anyone who is interested in learning of the dangers of obsession within the true crime community and how lines are often blurred between feeling as though you are owed, the facts versus the realities of people that it is affecting.

Lets just admit it, we all love true crime, but the main character roach takes it to a whole new level with her obsession and need to find out the truth that she will do just about anything to get there.

I was hooked from the first page and couldnt put this book down until I had finished.

Thank you to netgalley & the publisher for providing this ARC for review. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

Brilliant! So wonderfully weird and creepy, twists that kept me intrigued, but also offered some interesting social commentary on consumption of true crime, the publishing industry, sex and relationships.

I’ve not read anything quite like this before. It could maybe be described as a bridge between Boy Parts and How To Kill Your Family, with flecks of each but ultimately standing out as completely original. This is the kind of book that inspires you to start writing again.

This book is as pervasive as the slugs trailing their way through Laura’s home. I felt sick while listening to the audiobook, turning up the speed to try and find out what was happening as quickly as possible.

I loved the dual narration - I’d not want to hang out with Roach or Laura in real life, but they’re both fascinating characters. This is a dark, twisted, creepy-crawly of a book and I can’t wait to see what Alice Slater does next.

This book sounded like something I would really enjoy. I was drawn in by the title and description of the plot. I loved the bookstore setting and really got excited when I read about some of the locations as they are all local to me. Sadly this was where my excitement ended.

In all honesty this wasn’t the read I was expecting. I was expecting much more action and mystery. Also based on the on the cover I was expecting more blood and a dark thriller read, but sadly I didn’t get any of these things. The plot felt slow and as it progressed things started to get quite repetitive.

As for the characters, well let’s just say I didn’t like them. I know they were written to be intended not to be liked, but honestly I just struggled to connect with them. I found Roach to be weird and Laura was just rude and felt very stuck up in her ways and opinions.

I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook and think the narrators Emma Noakes and Victoria Blunt did a very good job with the narration, they really brought the characters alive.

Sadly this book didn’t blow me away, but many have liked this one so far and will continue to like it so don’t forget to check it out as you might just end up loving it more than me!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers Hodder & Stoughton for my copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

There was a lot going on in this book. Layers of emotional issues and challenging pasts.
The main characters are all book sellers, which was appealing to me. However one is the daughter of a person who was killed by a serial killer and another is obsessed with serial killers. As you can imagine these two don’t get one. There is a very strange ending, which didn’t seem very realist.
All in all this book was ok- it just wasn’t very deep in terms of plot. I was given this book as an audiobook by NetGalley for an honest review. The narrator was good, the story was too, I just wasn’t convinced by the depth of the plot.

This was one of my most anticipated reads going into 2023, and I’m still not sure I have the words to describe it - it’s one of the filthiest, most horrifying and repulsive books I’ve read and I absolutely couldn’t put it down for a second?! 😂 You kind of have to read it to know what I mean!

So obviously it’s set in the bookselling world so huge ✔️ there, and I loved the poignancy of the dying high street which felt all too true. But what’s at the heart of this is two polar opposite women, and what happens when one of them becomes obsessed with the other, mistakenly thinking they share a true crime addiction. I especially loved the way this story put two strong viewpoints about true crime across - one in which the whole world seems obsessed with serial killers and their motivations, and one who is sick of hearing about the killers and wants to bring attention to the victims (usually women). This book definitely says a lot about the rise of true crime books, podcasts, documentaries etc, but it does so in such an original and weird af way! It feels dirty and claustrophobic and is definitely one you’ll want to talk about- I’m still not over it!! An exciting new voice in fiction 👏

I had seen this everywhere and was excited to read it however I’m sure the reason it is being so hyped is because it’s about a book seller (great marketing from the author) and the cover is great!

That’s probably where the positives end.

I don’t think you will be able to relate to 80% of the book unless you are a bookseller or into true crime. Although if you are into true crime you will be made to feel awful for being so.

I can deal with unlikeable characters but these are on another level!

Plot was boring, repetitive. 0 character development, you only learn that Roach is obsessed with true crime and Laura’s mum died and she has a crush on a colleague.

Will probably be up there with my worst books of 2023.

Death Of A Bookseller* by Alice Slater is the very definition of ‘unputdownable’. Bookseller Roach identifies as a goth, a loner and a true crime obsessive. She knows more about serial killers than she does her co-workers or, at least, she used to. When superstar bookseller Laura - pretty, poetry-writing, popular - transfers to the same branch, Roach becomes fixated on her, obsessing over her every move and the secret she is convinced Laura is hiding, the secret she is determined to find out. As creepy and thrilling as the story is, it is the sheer skill with which it was written that had me gripped. It reminded me a lot of In The Dream House, where different styles of writing are employed to tell the story - a clever little bookish inception moment for those who are looking for it. It’s told expertly through dual-perspectives and seeing how differently Laura and Roach process their interactions only adds to the tension. The characterisation is skilled and everyone is utterly unlikeable with Roach painted as an undeniably creepy character, to the extent that it’s very hard to find sympathy for her even when you learn something of her past, and Laura giving off such big mean girl energy that it’s equally hard to give her too much benefit of the doubt. There is also the additional social studies element, exploring how we have come to consume, revere and obsess over true crime. Just a 10/10 perfect book and the narration was impeccable - anyone who can swap so seamlessly and clearly between accents is a huge asset to a book like this.

I really enjoyed this. My Hubbie works in libraries and so anywhere there are books he is. Well he wouldn’t want to be here. Quite good at setting your spine tingling and the hairs in your neck someone up. Loved it.

I really enjoyed this very dark crime/stalker novel. It was slightly different to what I am used to reading. The two main characters were both very different yet captivating in their own way. The air of mystery surrounding Roach was palpable and I was slowly drawn into their story.

The narration was excellent! I throughly enjoyed the audio experience.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I saw a few posts about this book on my feed and then saw it was available on Netgalley and I couldn’t resist.

Laura is a preppy bookseller with a tragic family history. Roach is a bookseller and is a True Crime fan. Although fan might be too gentle a word. She is obsessed with serial killers and death in general. You know a book is well written when the characters slightly creep you out.

I am usually not a big fan of alternating POV chapters but they work really well in this audiobook. As a book it really highlights an interesting quandary on whether True Crime glorifies the murderers and glosses over the victims and whether strangers are profiting off the stories of others loved ones.

As a thriller fan I loved this audiobook more than I thought I would. It’s a must read when it is published next month!

Thank you to NetGalley UK and Holder and Stoughton for the advanced copy of this book

I really enjoyed Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater. The audiobook version helped immerse me in the 2 narrator’s stories: Laura Bunting is a preppy bookseller with a tragic family history and Brogan Roach is another bookseller with a slightly intense interest in true crime… and in Laura Bunting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alice Slater and the publisher for this audiobook ARC!

The audiobook format works really well with this book and the narration was fantastic. The chapters switching between Roach and Laura was really effective in the audio and I think I would have rated it lower if I had read it rather than listened to it.

The story was very unique and as someone who works in a library and has worked in retail, I could definitely relate to life in the bookshop and I enjoyed all the book talk in this. That being said, there were so many chapters that were just repeating the same point with no movement in the story. This book would be great for people who enjoy knowing every detail of what is happening to the characters at all times but I'm not normally a fan of this and this book tells you every single thing that every single character is doing to the point that it's more like a script at times.

Most of the characters were pretty unlikeable, especially Roach and Laura, but the way they perceived each other was very interesting and though I felt quite frustrated with this book and considered DNFing several times I found I couldn't resist picking it up again.

OH AND ROACH FED HER SNAIL THE WRONG FOOD AND IT MADE ME ANGRY

Suspenseful, tense, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining read. It gave me single white female vibes.

Brilliantly written from start to finish. I devoured it in one sitting.

If you enjoy spinechlling, nonstop, suspense drive reads then this is for you.

From the moment I was introduced to the characters, I could place myself in both of their shoes.
The oscillating chapters between their experience of sometimes the same situation were intensely engrossing.
Roach a part-time bookseller, and a full-time true crime devotee.. becomes obsessed with the cryptic life of her new colleague Laura.. a well-spoken, impassive poet, dead set on highlighting the victims of serial killers instead of sanctifying the perpetrators.
Listening to the audiobook, each chapter is read by two voices adding an extra layer to the characterisation.
For me, it highlights an interesting topic of modern times. There are so many podcasts and films and series made about people famous for killing being used for entertainment. While there is often little said about the victims, and probable that their family members won't profit from their loved one's story being retold by strangers.
I wasn't ready for where the story went, but I could totally picture the entire scenario.
It really made me think a lot.
and lock my doors and windows..

Though neither character is likeable, they both intertwine to tell the story and set the plot lines. The story takes quite a time to get to the point, however, it is an easy listen and easy to follow narrative.

This book was zippy read and interestingly uses two characters to embody the various parts of the spectrum of arguments for and against consuming true crime. It was a clippy read, both narrators of the audiobook were dynamic and it kept me guessing till the end who was going to be the titular dead bookseller.