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Death of a Bookseller
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
29 posts | 19 read | 36 to read
In this "utterly unforgettable" debut (Catherine Ryan Howard), a disaffected, true crime-obsessed bookseller develops a dangerous obsession with a colleague. Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favorite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where shes worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks down her nose at the pumpkin-spice-latte-drinking casual fans who only became interested in the genre once it got trendy. But when Laura, a pretty and charismatic childrens bookseller, arrives to help rejuvenate the struggling bookstore branch, Roach recognizes in her an unexpected kindred spirit. Despite their common interest in true crime, Laura keeps her distance from Roach, resisting the other womans overtures of friendship. Undeterred, Roach learns everything she can about her new colleague, eventually uncovering Lauras traumatic family history. When Roach realizes that she may have come across her very own true crime story, interest swiftly blooms into a dangerous obsession. A darkly funny suspense novel, Death of a Bookseller raises ethical questions about the fervor for true crime and how we handle stories that dont belong to us.
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review
thewallflower0707
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Mehso-so

The two things I enjoyed most is that it‘s set in London and that it focuses on a bookstore and its employees. The story is pretty wild.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Sparklemn Gorgeous color 🌸 3w
24 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MeJeMiller
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Mehso-so

The cover is gorgeous. That‘s the nicest thing I have to say. I don‘t hate it. I just struggled to like ANYONE and kept wondering why I care and why anyone does.

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jlhammar
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Mehso-so

Just okay for me. I was invested enough to want to finish, but I felt like it could have been shorter/tighter. And man, the characters were all terrible! Not fun terrible, annoying terrible.

BookBr I hate it when all the characters are unlikeable — makes it so difficult to finish! 4mo
batsy Oh no! I have this tbr. I like terrible characters but if they're annoying all the time it's no fun 😆 4mo
jlhammar @batsy Maybe it was just my mood. I know others have enjoyed it more than I did. Look forward to your thoughts if/when you give it a try! 4mo
62 likes3 comments
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AmandaBlaze
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Chelsea.Poole
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

So many similarities to another I read recently: “How Can I Help You”. This is the British bookseller counterpart to the American library setting of the title I just read a few weeks ago. Both have two women, at odds, one of which is writing crime books about the other, in a bookish setting. This is like catnip for me apparently! But this one was slightly more creepy and a bit more fleshed out with commentary on true crime. The snail 😆 😱

MissyD Ohhh. I saw this one at my local bookstore Saturday. I almost bought it. 7mo
Chelsea.Poole This is the title referenced above 7mo
85 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Lizpixie
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Still reading Times Convert, so thought I‘d post the #BookMail that‘s arrived in the last few weeks. Buckle up, there‘s a few! First up is this gorgeous edition of Alice Slaters debut thriller. Roach is a bookseller, loner, true crime fanatic & parent to pet snail Bleep. Then Laura joins the staff, with her literary tote bags, poetry & trailing rose scent,she‘s Roachs opposite, but there‘s a hidden darkness that Roach is quickly obsessed with.

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PNWBookseller85
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

This was sooooo fun! Surprisingly cozy, in spite of the dark content - takes place in a bookstore in London in the fall. It was spot on in its descriptions of the bookselling business. I really enjoyed it!

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Love that cover 11mo
67 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Emilymdxn
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Panpan

some stuff here I liked but I was put off by how it dealt with class. Laura was such a Nice Middle Class Woman while Roach (literally called roach) was constantly being described as dirty, classless, uneducated, with a horrible working class gross mum etc. It felt very mean about ‘classless‘ women when I think the type of true crime fans she‘s trying to critique are more likely to be middle class anyway? Just felt like an odd choice.

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TrishB
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Mehso-so

I thought it was ok 🤷‍♀️ I got a bit bored, wanted it to hurry up and didn‘t like anyone except the book references.

Ruthiella Yup. Every character was pretty awful. I‘d still give it a pick, though. 11mo
TrishB @Ruthiella I think I‘m getting pretty jaded with the thrillers. 11mo
squirrelbrain Meh! Sounds like I felt about The Guest - bored with that kind of thing now…. 11mo
TrishB @squirrelbrain I didn‘t read that one - probably for the same reason. If someone reviews an outstanding thriller I may go for it. Or if I want an easy read. Or 99p of course. (edited) 11mo
83 likes4 comments
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TrishB
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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I‘m not quite sure what this taste is but I am quite sure I don‘t want to try it!!

Cathythoughts Definitely not!!! 11mo
squirrelbrain Ew….! 11mo
See All 14 Comments
Soubhiville Ugh 😣 11mo
LeahBergen Yikes! 😆 11mo
CarolynM Wow, that‘s a vivid simile! I‘m going to scrub my brain now🥴 11mo
rwmg I think we were better off with “tasted like nivelin“ 😉 11mo
TrishB @Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain @rubyslippersreads @Soubhiville @LeahBergen I did have to read it several times with a puzzled expression. 11mo
TrishB @CarolynM there were several. Some of them felt like an English comprehension test in school. 11mo
TrishB @rwmg 😂😂 👍🏻 11mo
batsy Oh no. That's just bad writing. 11mo
Tamra Omg 🤢 11mo
Tamra @rwmg 😂😂 11mo
Monica5 🤮🤢🤮🤢 11mo
76 likes14 comments
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Ruthiella
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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CASE SOLVED 🕵🏼‍♂️

Thanks for the tip @rwmg to email the author. She responded right away. 😃 It is an error in the text. Presumably it will be corrected in subsequent printings!

ChaoticMissAdventures Oh my! So cool she emailed back that, was fast too. How bizarre, because you said the word was used more than once? 11mo
The_Book_Ninja Good work👏🏼☺️ 11mo
TrishB Brilliant! I‘m reading at the moment and haven‘t noticed it. 11mo
See All 29 Comments
Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures Totally bizarre. It might be a software glitch. I too am impressed with her rapid response. 👍 11mo
Ruthiella @The_Book_Ninja Thanks! 😀 11mo
Ruthiella @TrishB It might only be in the US edition? 🤔 11mo
TrishB I‘ve just read one of those pages and no inexplicable words! 11mo
rwmg Bizarre that the error should affect so many different words. Thanks for the update. 11mo
squirrelbrain That‘s amazing that you got a response so quickly! 11mo
IuliaC Wow, it's great to have such a fast reply! 😃 11mo
Ruthiella @rwmg Thanks again for encouraging me to email the author. It‘s such a relief to know. 😅 11mo
Ruthiella @squirrelbrain @Iulia I know! It‘s awesome she replied so promptly. 😃 11mo
Hooked_on_books What a weird error! And I knew it didn‘t make sense that each instance meant the same thing. I‘m so glad you cleared this up! 11mo
monalyisha Fascinating - & unfortunate! She seems funny! 11mo
Ruthiella @Hooked_on_books I know. It‘s such a relief to know the solution. 😅 11mo
Ruthiella @monalyisha She seems like a cool person. I‘ve also listened to her podcast. https://alicemjslater.com/2018/12/28/the-journey-begins/ 11mo
jlhammar Oh my gosh, thank you! I plan to read this soon. So good to know! 11mo
LeahBergen That‘s so interesting! 11mo
Ruthiella @jlhammar I‘m glad you will know in advance! 👍 (edited) 11mo
Ruthiella @LeahBergen Ah, the vagaries of publishing! 😆 11mo
Tamra Rogue AI! I love that she responded to you with an explanation. 11mo
Tamra Next book should be the Niveli‘s go to Nivelin. 11mo
Ruthiella @Tamra 🤣🤣🤣 11mo
Tamra This has me thinking it might be fun to co-write a book with AI, wherein the AI writes its own AI character. 🤪 11mo
Ruthiella @Tamra Get crackin‘! 😆 I‘ll be your beta reader. 11mo
CarolynM Good for you reaching out to the author, and how nice of her to reply directly to you. I think most authors really do appreciate their readers. @Tamra I‘d read that book🙂 11mo
Ruthiella @CarolynM she does seem to be a very cool person who values her readers. 👍 11mo
Centique How amazingly strange - and I love that you got to crack the case! 11mo
Ruthiella @Centique I‘m so glad I did. Not knowing was driving me crazy. 😆 11mo
73 likes29 comments
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Ruthiella
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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😫HELP! What does “nivelin” mean? This word is used frequently in this book. When I google it, I get only that it means “level” in Esparanto?!?!? It‘s driving me crazy not knowing. Does any Litten know the definition?

monalyisha I don‘t know but might be able to help you figure it out based on a mix of googling and context clues. Can you give more examples? 11mo
ChaoticMissAdventures I have never heard of this word. Is this like reading a Gregory Maguire book where he just makes up words for no reason? I don't think I like that. 11mo
Ruthiella @monalyisha I wish I had the eBook because searching would be easier. I did find this: “I‘m struck by the memory of swigging gin from the bottle, the tonic long gone, and a botanical, niveli kiss, salted with grief.” 11mo
See All 16 Comments
Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures I don‘t think it‘s made up? I think it‘s either a consistent typo or a British term I‘ve never heard. 🤔 11mo
Hooked_on_books I loved this book, but that was something that drove me crazy the whole time. I have no idea what the author was doing with the repetition of that non-word. Contextually, it didn‘t make sense for it to mean the same thing each time. 11mo
rwmg This British reader doesn't recognise it either.

She gives her email on her website. Why don't you ask her and report back?
(edited) 11mo
Ruthiella @Hooked_on_books Glad it‘s not just me! Whew! 😅 11mo
Ruthiella @rwmg Thanks for the tip. I‘ll try that. 👍 11mo
The_Book_Ninja I hope you let us know if you find out what it means😂 11mo
Ruthiella @The_Book_Ninja I will enlighten you all if I ever get to the bottom of it! 😃 11mo
IuliaC Sounds like a word of Latin origin? In French the word for 'level' is 'niveau' and in Romanian it's 'nivel' 😯 11mo
MicheleinPhilly OMG, this drove me UP THE WALL! I looked it up in American and British dictionaries to try to figure it out. I finally just decided to ignore it. 11mo
Ruthiella @IuliaC Esperanto, which is a made up language, is the closest I found via googling. It‘s a mystery! 😀 11mo
Ruthiella @MicheleinPhilly Again, I‘m glad it‘s not just me! I scoured the Goodreads and Litsy reviews and didn‘t see anyone else mention it. 11mo
Tamra How weird!! 11mo
Ruthiella @Tamra Explanation is in my next post! 😉 11mo
66 likes1 stack add16 comments
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Hooked_on_books
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

This engrossing story follows two booksellers in the same orbit as changes are happening at the bookshop. Slater injects fantastic nuance into these characters, making you question who you should be rooting for. I thought this was superbly crafted and can‘t believe it‘s a debut.

55 likes3 stack adds
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MicheleinPhilly
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

I had a hard time putting this one down. A delightfully quirky cast of characters and 2 rather maddening MCs, it was creepy without being scary.

TrishB Oh I nearly brought this on Friday. Sighs, that means I now have to buy it 😁 11mo
TrishB And it‘s now 99p on kindle 😁 woohoo! 11mo
batsy Oh, nice! I've had my eye on this. 11mo
See All 9 Comments
MicheleinPhilly @TrishB Excellent! 11mo
squirrelbrain Ooh thank you @TrishB 😁 11mo
Ruthiella I‘ve got this out from the library now! Looking forward to getting stuck in. 😀 11mo
LeahBergen I need it! 👍 11mo
jlhammar Yay, can't wait to read this! 11mo
70 likes6 stack adds9 comments
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EatSleepRead
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

This book was like watching a screaming train hit a stalled semi...in slow motion. You are compelled keep reading to find out how the heck this will finish. Slow burn. Creepy ending! Great writing and a strong debut. 🐌

LoverOfLearning I've not heard of this one before! 12mo
LoverOfLearning Thanks for sharing! Added to my tbr! 12mo
19 likes1 stack add2 comments
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VanessaCW
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
Pickpick

This is an unusual and unsettling tale. I loved the setting and I liked the literary references. Of the two main characters one of them would scare me to death, though. She really made my skin crawl with her oddities. It‘s quite a slow burner with the narrative building slowly, gradually drawing the reader in, and it has some cringeworthy moments. All in all I found this a dark, creepy and compelling read with a spine chilling ending. #Pigeonhole

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Jemgirl2014
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
Pickpick

Happy Pub Day Alice Slater! Thank you @AardvarkBookClub for picking such an incredible thriller. It‘s one of the best I‘ve read! Top shelf stuff for sure. Aside from the one time where I had to get up and grab a bag of popcorn during a particularly titillating scene 🍿😅, I couldn‘t put this book down. I am pleasantly shocked that this is Slater‘s debut. Looking forward to reading more from her! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤩

AardvarkBookClub 🥰🫶 7mo
17 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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#Aardvark for the win 2 months in a row! Very decent shipping speed to my far flung spot, which I really appreciate! I‘m looking forward to all of these!

AardvarkBookClub 💙💙💙💙 7mo
58 likes1 comment
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VanessaCW
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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nitalibrarian
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Decided to read this book next. #aardvark #currentlyreading

Jemgirl2014 So good so far! 12mo
33 likes1 comment
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MicheleinPhilly
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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#Bookmail is best mail!

LeahBergen I want to read the tagged title. 👍 13mo
AardvarkBookClub Happy reading from the whole Aardvark team! ☺️🤗 13mo
TrishB Look great 😁 13mo
LoverOfLearning 🌳Oh that green cover is awesome! My favorite color is green. 🐛 12mo
62 likes4 comments
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JenReadsAlot
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Love this cover! #aardvark bookmail

41 likes1 stack add
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nitalibrarian
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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My #aardvark pick is here! Another cover winner.

37 likes1 stack add
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Jemgirl2014
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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I just love how creative Aardvark Book Club‘s packaging is! Fast too! I was supposed to get this book on Monday. What a pleasant surprise! 😃

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Jemgirl2014
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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More excited about this month‘s Aardvark‘s picks than BOTM‘s April picks. A rare occurrence for me.

AardvarkBookClub 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 13mo
Jemgirl2014 @AardvarkBookClub 🤗🤗🤗❤️ 13mo
16 likes2 comments
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swishandflick
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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#Aardvark's April picks are up! Their clues had me ALL OVER the place this month but it kept me on my toes I got there eventually. This was my choice, and I love their logo placement, lol

kspenmoll I chose the same! 13mo
MicheleinPhilly I got this and A Likely Story. I had already bought Ruthy Ramirez as it is my book club‘s pick this month. 13mo
AardvarkBookClub Dare I say the clues were the most challenging yet this month! 😂😅 13mo
64 likes1 stack add3 comments
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swishandflick
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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GAHHHH, the #Aardvark clues are giving me WHIPLASH. My guesses are all over the place 🤦🏽‍♀️

kbuggle Okay but I love that they‘re using color palettes for the clues? Amazing! 13mo
swishandflick @kbuggle I know right? It's tricky because you have one guess with an early clue, and then the color palette doesn't match it so you start second guessing 😆 13mo
Breanne1 You are so good at these!!! 13mo
swishandflick @Breanne1 Ha! I got there eventually this month, I was all over the place 🤗 13mo
50 likes4 comments
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Cazxxx
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
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Pickpick

This is a slow burn suspense novel about two women who work in a book shop, one of whom is obsessed with true crime and the dangers of the obsession.
It was intriguing, dark, full of awful people and once it got going I couldn‘t stop listening. Didn‘t expect the ending either
Really enjoyed this one

#netgalley

56 likes2 stack adds
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Preciouz29
Death of a Bookseller | Alice Slater
Pickpick

TBH, this was not what I was expecting when I selected this book. I was thinking something something more comedic, but this was more of a dramedy. That said, I did find the book very engrossing and really enjoyable. We have 2 POVs and let's just say neither of our MCs are perfect. The ending was certainly unexpected for me as well.