When a bookshop patron
commits suicide, it’s his favorite store clerk who must unravel the
puzzle he left behind in this fiendishly clever 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 youngest BookFrog Joey Molina kills himself in the bookstore’s upper level, 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 pages 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 never completely left, as she discovers.
I REALLY liked this book! It's been a while since a book has really grabbed me like this one did. It was intriguing and was a wonderful puzzle to watch come together. The characters were complex and had dimension which just added a layer to the book that made it even better. I was drawn in and then shocked in a way that I love. If you are looking for a good mystery, with great character development, and a plot that was unique - this is the book for you!
* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *
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