When new employee, Laura Bunting, starts work at Spines bookshop Brogan Roach feels an instant rapport. Unfortunately Laura doesn't feel the same. Over a four month period Brogan does everything she can to get to know Laura better but everything she does seems to push Laura further away, resulting in an unbelievable crime.
The two protagonists of Death Of A Bookseller are the complete opposite of each other. Laura is light, bright, friendly, perfect. Brogan, on the other hand is dark, introverted, brooding, and obsessed with serial killers and true crime. Having two narrators works brilliantly. As the story switches between the two characters Emma Noakes and Victoria Blunt narrate them to perfection so that you have no problem understanding which character is speaking.
It is Brogan's obsession with true crime that makes her believe she has a connection with Laura. Laura writes poetry, some of the inspiration for the poetry comes from true crime. When Brogan tries to ingratiate herself with Laura she uncovers something even darker. This secret drives Brogan's obsession on, little realising that the more she tries, the more she is alienating.
Brogan's obsessive personality is disturbing. The lengths she is willing to go to in order to learn more about Laura are unsettling and when she starts to act in a malicious way you can understand how Laura thinks she's losing her grip on reality.
The title gives a very big clue to the conclusion, but as the story progressed I couldn't quite decide which of our protagonists was going to be the victim, it could easily have gone either way. Author Alice Slater has done an amazing job keeping you wondering right to the end.
Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater will be published on 27th April 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for a review copy.
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