Death of a Bookseller
ISBN: 9781529385328
Description
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.
Reviewed on 27th August 2023
I picked this up during a book-shopping spree, based on the promise of the cover and an expectation of cosy crime.
This is not cosy at all. In fact it was so not cosy that I found I had to stop at about the halfway mark. I was struggling so much to empathise with the characters and found it painful and cringeworthy to read.
This really is the story of two broken people, who happen to work together. One is broken by grief, and trying to navigate through this with the aid of drink, poetry, and bad relationship choices. The other is broken through social awkwardness and obsessiveness, incapable of empathising with her colleague and becoming her stalker.
I couldn’t cope with this level of negativity - I’m into fiction for enjoyable escapism, and for me this book didn’t offer that.