[REVIEW] Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

title: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
author: Matthew J. Sullivan
genre: adult fiction, mystery
published: January 9, 2018 by Scribner (first published June 13, 2017)
format: trade paperback, 352 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Fully Booked
rating: 5 / 5 stars
goodreads

When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this “intriguingly dark, twisty” (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel from an award-winning short story writer. 

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’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for 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. 

mystery and books. what a perfect combination!

I love 'books about books' - books that involves bookstores, book readers, and being around books in general. It's an easy sell for me. And I bought this one because of that. I didn't read the synopsis, just that  title - the 'Bookstore' in the title and I'm sold.

"He wasn't there to watch the kids, Lydia, and he wasn't there to read. He was there to watch the families. -p93

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is about Lydia as she follows the clues Joey Molina, a 'BookFrog' who hang himself at the bookstore she works in, left for her. Right from the first chapter, I was instantly hooked. I read this because it's a 'book about books' but it really gave me much, much more. I was so engaged in the mystery and how everything was slowly connected to each other and made every little detail so important.

The narration that alternates between the past and the present in different points of view are very well written. I never felt confused. I was immediately drawn into the story and got so invested to know more about Lydia's past and how she's connected to Joey. There's a sense of excitement each time a piece of the mystery gets unraveled and I always feel involved.

His whole life he had turned to books as his only solace, so it made sense that in preparing to undo himself he would do the same: fall into their pages, -p311

This is one of those books that even though I haven't finished it, I was so sure that I'll have it up there in my fave books. Aside from being completely engaging and so excitingly written, the characters really just had a special place in me as I read this. Knowing their past, especially Lydia's, really had my heart melting for them. It was mostly Lydia and Joey for me because of the backstory for Lydia and Joey's quest (which I'd rather you'd read about). There's also Lydia's father whose part of the story I felt for so much.

OVERALL, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a wholly underappreciated book. I don't see it a lot and I highly recommend this not only for book lovers but to those who enjoy contemporary novels that carries a tinge of mystery in them (maybe something like Liane Moriarty-ish contemporary/mystery). The writing is so good, the mystery is so engaging, and the conclusion unforgettable!

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