Wow! Just wow!

That one weird book you’re drawn to but not sure why; this is the one but oh am I glad I found it.....

This book is seriously one of the most unique books I’ve ever read, it’s an absolute gem to read and I couldn’t bear to put it down for a second. It’s so hard to explain what the book is about; it’s a mystery, a thriller, it’s sad in places, it’s about not been judge mental, childhood tragedy, and more all rolled into one!!!

Basically Lydia world in a bookshop and befriends a homeless guy called Joey who comes in to read books, he kills himself (or does he) and leaves her his possessions (mainly books) but these books are full of codes and secrets and clues to what actually happened and then the story begins.....and what story it will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

Just get the book, if you read anything this year it has to be this!!!!!

Looking back on this novel I have to admit that I might have had some false expectations about the story since I somehow expected it to be a (murder) mystery set in a bookstore and especially the part about clues hidden in books made me believe that “Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore” was some kind of bookish scavenger hunt - which is only partly the case.

Yes, there’s a death in a bookstore and yes, books play a huge role in solving this mystery but I didn’t really have the feeling that this was an especially bookish story despite the setting - and to be honest I am a little bit disappointed about that aspect.

However the book still was pretty entertaining and while I found the first half too be a bit too much of a contemporary novel there was much more suspense in the second half and the case became actually quite addictive. It also reminded me quite a lot of Riley Sager’s “Final Girls” which was one of my favorite 2017 thrillers so the similarities definitely helped me enjoy this book.

All in all I found “Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore” to be a good and suspenseful novel that maybe wasn’t as bookish as I had hoped for but still kept me well-entertained for a few hours and provided an interesting mystery - even though I didn’t find every aspect of it equally interesting.

I loved this book!! I was initially drawn to it because of the title - I thought it was going to be a nice story about a book shop. I really wasn't expecting it to be as dark as it was or to have 2 intertwined mysteries in it. But it was written so well, that it was a wonderful surprise. I have hardly been able to put it down and practically speed read the last few chapters. Matthew Sullivan has done a fantastic job of drip feeding the various elements of the plot and the back story. And when I did finally get to the end, I couldn't wait to write this review and encourage people to read it.

So enjoyed this book loved how books were the key to solving the murders. A ending you would never guess. Really worth reading

Mysteries to solve – quite enjoyable stuff
After a childhood event in which she is involved in a multiple murder scene, Lydia Smith now works at a bookstore in Denver where she encounters more tragedy. The bookstore serves as a port of call for various down-and-outs and lost souls. The plot brings both events together as she discovers more about the present victim.
With a good deal of characterisation of the main characters, this mystery novel is relatively engaging and interesting although the coincidences are a little hard to believe. It is enjoyable and worth a read.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows the main character Lydia, who works in The Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. She has several homeless people who frequent the bookstore to read, chat and get warm. One of her favorite BookFrogs is Joey, over the years she has got to know him fairly well. Then one night around midnight the unthinkable happens and Joey commits suicide upstairs. Lydia rushes to his aid but she is too late. She does find a picture in his pocket of herself and her childhood friend Raj and without any explanation, she is determined to find out why. It's from here the mystery starts and Lydia decipher various clues and with the help of Raj, they discover Joey's secret past. I won't spoil as I think you will want to read it for yourself all I can say is it is well worth a read, an excellent and engaging book!

Sounds like a fun read given the title but it turns out to be anything but. The main character is a drab flop, totally uninteresting and unappealing, the plot is dull, the writing uninspired, all of which make for the most boring of reads. Absolute trash.

A really quirky, charming read , the author writes with a lightness of touch and perception that makes some of the truly awful subject matter palatable. A suicide in a bookstore leads Lydia to confront her own dark past and discover a terrible trail of destruction. This is a book with a heart whose main characters are from dark and difficult backgrounds, who don't fit in with "normal" society but who care about each other. I enjoyed the bookshop setting and literary references, the way that the pieces started to slot together. Altogether a really good read, only not five stars as some of the story line felt a bit forced but otherwise, can't recommend it enough.

This is the story that follows Lydia Gladwell, who works at the 'Bright Ideas Bookstore' where Joey Molina commits suicide. After that event she discovers that Joey leaves her a hidden message, to decipher the message she will have to face the monsters of her past.
I didn't like this story, It wasn't for me.

Complex, evocative, detailed and engrossing page-turning read.
The story centres around the apparent suicide of Joey, a troubled man and ex-con who died in the enormous bookstore when Lydia works.
Lydia soon discovers that Joey has left her a legacy of a trail of clues which lead back to the trauma that she had endured as a child, and the family and friends she once knew.
Well written and supported by a wealth of fine detail, this is a book to be read more than once.

This book just never clicked for me. I didn't buy the tone or style, and wasn't engaged by the narrator. Despite several attempts, I abandoned the book unread around page 50.

I enjoyed this book rather more than I expected. There's something about a book set in bookstores or libraries that often end up a little self-congratulatory, like those of us who read them can pat ourselves on the back for being so well read and just loving books which makes us smart. I tend to avoid them, but this one caught my eye. I was not disappointed. Mystery and drama ensue and it packs an emotional punch. There were plot holes, sure, and some of the character interactions were a little....flaccid? But the general descriptions and the way it was written was engaging and poetic. Was it written to appeal to book lovers? Sure. But it was enjoyable. Did I love it? No. But I can definitely say I liked it.

This book wasn't as I expected. Yes, it is a murder mystery, but it is also to some extent an overview of the social strata of society in the Denver area... but don't be put off. Lydia works in a book shop where some of the local street poeple spend time. She doesn't know them well but she and the staff have names for them all and provide safety, warmth and a friendly ear. One of them commits suicide in the store and leaves his belongings to Lydia. The book tells how she unravels his story, but also unravels a story from her own past.
Not the most dynamic of starts, but well written and worth persevering, good characters, interesting view of society and a good story which draws you in as the tale unwinds.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy to review.

Lydia Smith works in the Bright Ideas Bookstore and her life is turned upside-down when one of her favourite patrons kills himself in the store. She finds a picture of her younger self in his pocket and from there she starts to unravel a mystery of not only her patron but herself. Secrets from the past are brought back to life and Lydia will never see things quite the same.

This debut novel is full of heart, twists and characters that have more to them than you think. It doesn't quite fully pull off the trick its trying to in its telling and its story of families with secrets almost becomes a whodunnit towards the end with a police procedural feel almost creeping in at one point. However, it pulls back from there and brings you face to face with Lydia's findings and her very flawed character. It's a joy to read and flies off the pages but doesn't quite ring as true as it should as it feels a little forced at some key points.

What a wonderful story! Not at all what I expected, but all the better for that. Intriguing, sad but heart warming. Full of characters that are so easy to take to and care about.

I had been looking for some light reading and this book was perfect for me. The Bright Ideas Bookstore is a large, sprawling building in Denver which welcomes (or overlooks) the regular troop of social misfits that occupy it daily. One of these, Joey, commits suicide within the first few pages (so not a spoiler) and the rest of the story is built around Lydia, the main character and bookstore worker, piecing his life together to try to understand why he ended his life in that way.

This is a book about relationships and as such is often quite moving. As a mystery, it is very predictable at times with not all of the revelations coming as a surprise. The premise is original though and it's well written. Again, we have a male author inhabiting a female lead character and Sullivan does this so well that I was surprised when reading the epilogue to be reminded that the book wasn't written by a woman.

4 stars for entertainment and originality.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a review copy.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone publishing in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my opinion or review in any way.

Wow.

I didn't hear anything about this book and didn't know it existed until I saw it on Netgalley. What a wonderful surprise of a gem!

Lydia is a bookseller in a bookstore in Denver called "Bright Ideas Bookstore". She has many beloved 'BookFrogs' who are a motley crew of characters who spend a lot of time in the bookstore.

One day, her life changes when Joey, one of her Book Frogs is found hanging from a noose in the bookstore and is dead on arrival. Even more peculiar is that he bequeaths all of his belonging to Lydia.

"“Joey loved it here,” he said. “Loved it. This place gave him something sacred. Gave his mind some quiet. This was his Thanksgiving table. His couch-cushion fort. He could get lost in here like nowhere else on earth."

A lot happens after this, including demons from Lydia's past coming back to haunt her. Rather than spoiling all this, I will let you read the book and find out for yourself.

There are many things I loves about this book, but here are some that come to me immediately: I really felt that I was a patron of the bookstore. I got a great sense of the bookstore, so much that I could imagine what it smelled like and what the atmosphere would be like. Another this: the bonds of family becomes a strong theme in the book. There are some really poignant and heartbreaking moments here. There's also some comic relief.

This is what a book should be: an escape, but also touches you deeply in a disarming way.

An enthusiastic 5 stars. Read this book, you won't be sorry.

I found this book so underwhelming. It's promoted as unravelling the mystery left behind by a patron of a book store who committed suicide. Well, not for long, because that fast becomes a secondary plot that is mostly forgotten in the aftermath of the actual main plot, which is a long ago murder that Lydia survived.

While both plots intertwine, they took too long to actually get there, and the book itself was really boring and bland. I kept losing interest and putting the kindle down for weeks at a time.

And Lydia, was I supposed to like her? I don't know, but she was such a boring person. Her entire character revolves around a kitchen sink unit. Why did she hate her dad? Surely he must have done something really terrible after moving her to the mountains to make her run away at 18 and refuse to talk to him or even talk about him? All we know is that he turned into a recluse and didn't spend much time at home. The book just built it up to be much more than it was and then it was just that he wasn't affectionate enough and its like... is that it? Nor did I get her relationship with David. Considering how Lydia is effectively infamous in the novel for surviving the murder of the O'Toole Family, why exactly is it a shock that David knows who you are? Why were you keeping it from him in the first place? Their relationship didn't make sense at all during the course of this novel.

Overall, I feel like this book tried to encompass two plotlines and failed to flesh both of them out fully, resulting in an underwhelming failure to execute both. The characters were bland and boring and unable to hold attention.

This is a strange novel about family secrets. The girl in the story works in a bookshop, and one of her customers hangs himself, and she finds the body. She then discovers a tangled web of lies and deceit from her father, her friends and from other people. Why has Josh hanged himself, and what do his cut-out pieces of books mean?
She finds out that her friend Raj was his brother, and then his mother kills his father, when she feels the whole thing is pout of control.
A compulsive plot, with well-drawn characters, amde you want to reach the end to find out what happened.

I enjoyed this book, but ultimately it fell a little short of what it set out to achieve. Weaving a complex web of plotting, sadly some of the character development got lost, leaving me frustrated to understand quite why some of the characters reached the point they did. Lydia's reactions were certain very odd and unrealistic.

But clever, and with promise