This review is written with thanks to pPigeonhole for the opportunity to read and review Death Of A Bookseller.

Blurb:

Roach – bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic- is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.

With her cute literary tote bags and sunny smile, she’s everyone’s favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.

And as curiosity blooms into morbid obsession, Roach becomes determined to be a part of Laura’s story – whether Laura wants her in it or not.

Review:

Death Of A Bookseller starts with an absolutely blistering prologue which really sets the tone for what is to come in the rest of the novel. It’s tense and full of intrigue and the events of the prologue stay in your mind as we build up to the ending. 

The chapters in Death Of A Bookseller are narrated by Roach and Laura. This technique helps us to gain insight into the characters’ lives and personalities, although it is clear that both characters have mental health issues which may mean that their version of events is unreliable at times. Personally, I rooted for Laura. I was deeply touched by her background story and felt a lot of sympathy for her, whereas I found Roach incredibly creepy and at times she made my skin crawl. I love the way that Alice Slater has created characters that were able to provoke such strong reactions in me. 

Being set in a bookshop, there are lots of references to well known books and authors and I loved this! I felt it helped to place the novel in a contemporary environment. 
As I mentioned earlier, the prologue was always in the back of my mind as we approached the ending, so this made me utterly compelled to keep reading to find out what had happened! I could hardly wait for each new stave to arrive. I believe Death Of A Bookseller is a debut novel, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what Alice Slater writes in future, because she is definitely someone to look out for!

Death Of A Bookseller is available from Amazon.