Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore

My rating: * * * *

Goodreads Description

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.

But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has inherited his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long-buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. Bedazzling, addictive and wildly clever, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu. My Review

The minute I read the following review by Jess Walter (author of Beautiful Ruins) on the back cover of the book, I knew I was in for a great read:

"With Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, Matthew Sullivan has written - with great panache and suspense - a smart, twisty crime novel filled with compelling characters set in a world that book lovers will adore."

Now, it's no secret that I'm a massive fan of twisty crime novels. And it's abundantly clear that I'm head over heels in love with books. So, it then followed that, all things being equal, I was going to love this book. Well Bookworm's, the good news is that I did, I adored it!

Right from the opening page, with it's clear and precise prose, until the final few lines of this book, I loved every minute of it...okay, perhaps not the epilogue, but more about that later. The story was clever and totally engaging. Lydia's past, and her encounter with the Hammerman was cleverly interwoven into the present day story, being that of Joey's suicide in the Bright Ideas bookstore.

Even though the beginning of this book was a tad slow, it soon picked up pace and I was totally gripped by Lydia's past, the Hammerman, her father, Joey, Raj, and so many other characters and sub-plots in this book. I also loved trying to figure out Joey's cryptic messages, the ones left for Lydia to find inside his books, the broken letters and incomplete words having me stumped on more than one occasion.

This book's cover is also deceptive, and hides just quite how dark this book is, a fact that took me slightly by surprise. This book touches on topics like suicide, murder, physical and psychological abuse and a number of other heavy topics, but the story as a whole is just so gripping, with enough lighthearted moments to make it a pleasurable read without being overly heavy.

My praise is high for this one, but the book wasn't absolutely faultless and if I had to be critical, I'd say that the epilogue let this one down slightly. I found it a strange ending, and not one that I personally would have chosen. But hey, I'm not the author, and he clearly thought that the ending was great. For me, it took this read from 5 stars to 4.5 stars, and because I don't award half stars, this one ends up with a solid, amazing, resounding 4 stars from me! (Okay, this may seem harsh in light of my praise, but when I award 5 stars, I want the book to be faultless in my eyes).

I hope that this review has been enough of a teaser for all of you, and that you rush out and buy this book as soon as possible. I loved it, despite the strange ending, and I'm more than happy to sing its praises.

My Rating: * * * *

Publication Date: November 2017 (South Africa)

Genre: Literary Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author, Matthew Sullivan and Penguin Random House SA for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.