
Death of a Bookseller is a dark, twisted and addictive thriller which will have you obsessively turning the pages. Check out my full thoughts below. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Alice Slater for my early copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Title: Death of a Bookseller
Author: Alice Slater
Genre: Contemporary, Thriller
Publisher: Scarlet
Release Date: 25th April 2023

My Rating:
Wowza! I knew from the synopsis that I would likely enjoy this book. After all, I love watching a true crime series with a cup of tea in hand. This book promised to be a thriller with a nod to true crime and from the very beginning the book is scattered with references to famous crimes and infamous serial killers. This book was addictive and I couldn’t stop turning the pages.
Our two main protagonists are Roach and Laura. Roach is obsessed with true crime and has an affinity for serial killers. Laura seems to the the very opposite to Roach on the outside – a fluffy, children’s bookseller. Roach is drawn to her for unknown reasons but as she uncovers more and more about her, it becomes clear that Roach’s fascination with Laura is becoming dangerous. I didn’t expect her to adapt full stalker mode but that is exactly what happened and I’ll admit that the darkness of it all thrilled me! It was interesting to read from both points of view as both Roach and Laura are far from perfect. They both make a myriad of poor choices and definitely had their faults. I love a book with unreliable and imperfect narrators so this was perfect.
As the course of the story develops I found myself hooked to both sides of the story. Roach’s obsession becomes dangerous whilst Laura’s own behaviour seems risky and dangerous too. The colleagues around them can sense there is something not quite right with both of them and this culminates to a peak at the end of the book. I was maybe left feeling slightly flat by the end of the book which is why this isn’t quite a 5* read but I did thoroughly enjoy my time learning about (and fearing) Roach and Laura whilst spending time immersed in their bookselling world, which of course I loved!
Death of a Bookseller is addictive and chilling. How does one become so dangerously obsessed with another? Pick this up in April and find out!
What are your thoughts on true crime novels? Will you be adding Death of a Bookseller to your TBR? Tell me more!

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I’ve got a netgalley of this too. Sounds like I might need to bump it up my list.
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