Death of a Bookseller: the instant Sunday Times bestseller! The debut suspense thriller of 2023 that you don't want to miss!

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I appreciated the incisive introduction by Martin Edwards. He places the book in its time and explains its place in the genre of classic crime. It’s almost as bad as making a cereal pouring the milk first then the cereal but instead of the milk it’s just water. I don’t think I’ve disliked a book more, and felt so passionately against it.

I just CAN'T describe how wonderful this grotty, dank, rancid little story was. Such a gripping and modern story of obsession, work relationships, true crime, bookshops, drinking, problematic attitudes....urgh! I really couldn't put this down. I think Slater's execution of Brodie as a character is so well done. Again, I don't want to give too many details here so I don't ruin the book, but she is terrifying and pitiful, a brilliant antagonist force. Character work in general here is very fine. Also, though it is nice that the detective in question finds external collaborators...well, there are some chapters where the protagonist does nothing or almost nothing and it is the others who carry out the real detective work. When Sergeant Wigan stops to escort a swaying reveler home at the end of his later shift, he is spun a tale of the ups and downs of a life spent collecting and selling rare books. His new companion, Michael Fisk, has been celebrating the acquisition of a signed copy of Keats's Endymion, and a trip to Fisk's library is enough to convince Wigan to begin his own collection. After developing a love for antiquarian books and a friendship with Fisk, Wigan is called upon by the C.I.D. when tragedy strikes and Fisk is found murdered in his library. This Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition discusses the inspiration behind the story and writing during a pandemic.I loved as the story took us through the exhausting period of Christmas in retail, anyone who has lived through a Christmas working in a London store knows the slog of the pre Christmas run up, all the staff becoming more and more run down with pallid faces and bags under their eyes existing on Berocca and cheap red wine, reaching for the eucalyptus shower gel each day in a vain attempt to wake up. It's all so familiar to anyone who has done it. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a classic mystery, especially if you are happy to accept that in 1956 people viewed many major issues differently than we do today.

Slater’s darkly comic debut follows the increasingly uneasy relations between two co-workers who have very different investments in true crime.This book got 3-stars from me for several different reasons not necessarily because of the story, but I learned some things of interest. And the unease with which they circle one another coupled with their conflicting opinions on True Crime really injected a sinister layer of tension that had me on edge wondering what would happen next.