Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

61 reviews

linguaphile412's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Stalking, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Drug use

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Stalking, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

readwithloz's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Toxic friendship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Violence, and Death

monnibo's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Police brutality, and Gore

readsbyrobyn's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 did not enjoy this book. I expected SO much more, I was sold by the promise of a physiological thriller but this was boring at best. The characters were all incredibly unlikeable, the pacing was slow and the plot was repetitive and predictable. 

Slater’s writing itself was fine, it was easy to read and a redeeming factor for me was the descriptive settings that transported me into the story. I liked the literary references throughout and the exploration of true crime as a genre.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this but this seems to be an unpopular opinion based on all the other rave reviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Sexual assault

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Stalking

Moderate: Vomit, Alcohol, and Blood

itsalina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Stalking

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Death, Grief, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

nanc_282's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Mixed feelings about this book. The two main characters are both fairly unpleasant people and the peripheral characters are not really developed which only leaves the plot. The basic premise of the book is that Roach, an employee in a tired branch of a high street bookshop chain, true crime obsession twists into real life when she meets Laura. Laura is part of a team of three booksellers who are parachuted in to update the branch in time for Christmas. Laura also writes found poetry about female victims of crime. Desperate to connect with Laura, Roach begins to adopt some of the methods she has studied the true crime genre. 
The story switches narrative voices between the two protagonists. Which works well in this context. It creates sense of a run down part of London well but as most scenes are in the bookshop or bars, the location feels less significant. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Stalking, Alcohol, Grief, and Murder

annamorgan27's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Alcoholism

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, and Death of parent