The was a page turner for me. I loved it. A suicide in the here and now and murders in the past. It had me hooked and desperate to know the outcome. I wasn't disappointed and kept me turning the pages in anticipation to the very end. Beautifully written and a superb read.

This was not the book I was expecting , but I am very much richer for the experience. This is the story of Lydia a bookseller with a nice boyfriend, with a reasonable apartment in an up and coming part of town. A bibliophile, respected and adored at work, but secretly a piece of human flotsam. Running from a childhood trauma she hides in plain sight with the “book frogs”, the disenfranchised homeless and friendless who make the bookshop a home away from home.

The death of Joey one of her young regulars by his own hand, there in the shop where he and Lydia both had found succour and solace,sets off a chain of events that will leave Lydia reeling. Joey’s Sudden and rash act whilst in possession of something he had no earthly business having and the resulting mysterious messages seemingly from the grave that he has left for Lydia embedded in books, bring the vivid and terrifying events of another winter night so many years before into vivid relief for Lydia again.

Lydia and everyone she has sought to avoid or protect are forced into an unavoidable collision, where truths can bring nothing but heartbreak.

I loved this book for its gritty but sympathetic treatment of people kept on the periphery of society. Lydia’s youth was tainted by tragedy, her future is even now foreshadowed because of that and ultimately no-one truly escapes this story unscathed. The cleverly twisty plot provides a satisfying mystery but also asks the reader to examine the true nature of cause and effect. The innocent and the guilty are all scalded by the revelations found within.

I was gripped by this story, where nothing is quite what it appears, It is a quest for a catharsis for Lydia. This journey piecing together the tattered remnants of another person’s trauma so intrinsically linked with her own means she is ends up no longer a helpless child in an adult’s body, but is ultimately a stronger and more emotionally rounded person, ready to embark on life unencumbered by the ominous weight of the past but changed indelibly.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House and author Matthew Sullivan for the privilege of reading this book prior to realease on August the 24th 2017.

"To the inexperienced, many BookFrogs appeared as derelict or homeless, but to the seasoned eye it was clear that they'd shed themselves of the world, rejecting its costumes and rules in favour of paper and words."

This book really surprised me. I thought it would be a cosy murder mystery with a quaint book shop at the centre. But not at all, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore unravels two mysteries with the perfect balance between a cutesy mystery and a goreish shock-fest.

I really enjoyed Sullivan's writing, I found it vastly different from a lot of mysteries out there at the moment. As I said, I was expecting a cosy mystery, which it isn't, but neither is it in your face, blood and gore. Sullivan deals with violence, but manages to get just the right balance, revealing enough to horrify the reader but not so much that it's overkill (no pun intended).

There are two mysteries, why 'BookFrog' Joey commits suicide and who committed the atrocity that Lydia is hiding in her past. Of course, the mysteries interweave and I felt Sullivan revealed the vital plot points at just the right time, not dragging it out until it becomes boring.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Book Store has a lot more depth than your average thriller, it is a very layered book and every time you think you're at the bottom of it another element crops up.

The characters are wonderfully explored, with realistic yet quirky personalities which make them engaging. I especially liked Sullivan's descriptions of people which are incredibly unique.

"David was truly a pure-hearted guy, an upbeat mama's boy with wavy hair and beautiful eyes who just wanted to split breakfast burritos with Lydia until death."

However, I did find that a couple of the secondary characters sort of fizzled out, having fulfilled their purpose in the plot we don't hear anything else from them, and I wanted things tied up a bit.

One of my favourite things about Midnight at the Bright Ideas Book Store is that it is a book that will appeal to book lovers. It's almost an ode to books and the way they can save a life. I'm sure all bibliophiles will recognise elements of themselves in the BookFrogs.

There were a couple of elements though that stuck out for me; mainly that I still had a lot of questions at the end, and I also sometimes found Lydia a little pretentious. But then, you don't have to love a character to love a book. And I did love this book.

My Rating: 4/5

I received a copy of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore via NetGalley in return for an honest review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan starts of by lulling the reader into a false sense of security describing a cosy book store every bookworm would want to visit. I don’t often read the blurb again before starting the book so I went in blind not knowing what the story was about. Big Mistake.
Within the first few pages there is a horrifying scene which will rid the reader of the notion that this is going to be a comfortable read. Having said that, I really enjoyed reading this.
It is around midnight and Lydia is closing up the 'Bright Ideas Book Store' for the night when she hears strange noises coming from the upper store, the sounds of books falling to the floor. Her colleague is pre-occupied with a couple who have descended on the store in order to use the toilets but he suspects they are having sex in there.
Lydia is wondering where he favourite patron Joey is. He comes in most days and she tries to speak to him whenever he is in but today she has been too busy to track him down. Joey is normally accompanied by his friend Lyle but he is alone today and that is an unusual occurrence.
Joey is one of a group of customers that Lydia calls ‘Book Frogs’ because they remind her of a character of Beatrix Potters. A group of mostly unemployed men who spend a large proportion of their time in the aisles of the bookshelves surrounding themselves by books as a barrier against others.
“Joey was the youngest of the Book Frogs, and by far Lydia’s favourite. This wouldn’t be the first time that she or one of her bookselling comrades had done a final sweep at closing and found Joey knocking books off the shelves, searching for a title that may or may not have actually existed.”
Joey is “haunted but harmless – a dust bunny blowing through the corners of the store.” Lydia enjoys his presence in the store and his company so she is devastated when she finds the source of the noise. Joey has hung himself from a ceiling beam in the shop.
Just as horrifying for Lydia is the item he is clutching in his hand; a photo of her taken on her 10th birthday, a photo she hasn’t seen for years. A time in her life Lydia doesn’t like to reflect on. The photo was taken shortly before she and her father fled a hospital in Denver and sought refuge in the mountains.
Lydia arrives home to her partner David and tells him about Joey but despite having been with him for so long she doesn’t tell him everything.
“Her gut was swimming. She leaned against the sink to steady herself and told David all about Joey. Except for the part about the photo. She shared almost everything with David – her bizarro sci-fi dreams, her fears about the future, her shifting rotation of phobias and anxieties – but not the ruins of her childhood. Some things were off – limits, even for the guy she loved. “
As the days pass since Joey’s death Lydia feels old memories and fears from her childhood begin to overtake her.
“A hairy wrist tucked into a white latex glove. A white latex glove gripping a claw hammer. A claw hammer spun through with a girl’s hair. And blood.”
What happened to Lydia when she was younger? And why did Joey have the photo of her?
When Lydia is bequeathed some of Joey’s possessions she finds he has left her a message hidden among the books he owned, a message with clues to what was happening in his life prior to his decision to kill himself.
I felt that Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore deals with some difficult topics in a sensitive manner. Despite dealing with some horrific things I can’t say the book was particularly depressing.
It was a really enjoyable read and I read it within a few hours.

An ingenious story line. A wealth of interesting characters. Not exactly a whodunit or psychological thriller but the novel holds the attention to the end. Thoroughly recommended and a writer to look out for in the future.

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This is a very enjoyable read, a mystery thriller with a plot that moves at a good pace and at times is gripping..

The story is told really well with flashbacks and plot twists, some of which you might see developing but most are quite unexpected. It's a very believable story which also has a well paced ending, all too often the outcome can feel rushed or contrived but that's certainly not the case with this book. There are some rather sad elements to the story, it's difficult to say much more without giving too much away. .

There's a good range of characters with depth that develops through the story. These too are believable and you can really relate to them, they evoke emotions through their behaviour or the situations they find themselves in.

This is a really enjoyable easy read. There is a lot Lydia does not remember about her past and as the story is told we learn it piece by piece. Lydia tries to find out what drove Joey to commit suicide and also who his mother was. The answer is far closer to home than she could have imagined. I was totally caught up in the emotions of the characters. This book is definitely worth reading.

I LOVED this book! I couldn't read it fast enough and then felt lost when I'd finished it!

I fabulously quirky mix of book seller and crime thriller amateur detective Lydia is a character that I want as a friend.

Believable with fabulous flashback writing that maintained pace and consistency a brilliant read for people who love a crime book but not the gore.

I really couldn't recommend it enough a fantastic book.

I found this an intriguing and interesting read. It had a unusual plot that held my interest. I loved the idea of the bookshop, it sounded great.

Bookshop employee Lydia has a secret she does not want to share, but after finding customer Joey’s body in the bookshop, some secrets become too big to bury.
An outcast all of his life, all Joey wants is to belong to his family. Rejected by them again, he takes his own life in the bookstore where he had found some sense of belonging. But why does he have a picture of Lydia’s 10th birthday party in his pocket? What connects them?
This story had me gripped from the beginning, it is very well constructed with many secrets tangled, hidden and just waiting to be discovered.

4 stars! I enjoyed this unique and clever mystery revolving around a past crime which is slowly unravelled through clues within several books. It had a feeling of an old fashioned whodunnit

The main character, Lydia Smith, works at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. Lydia gets to know all of the ‘BookFrogs’, the regular customers whose loneliness is cured by daily visits to the bookstore where they often are lined up before the stores opening hour. I really liked Lydia’s character and all of her quirks. She has a tragic history that she hopes is left in her past, but is always lingering

I thoroughly enjoyed this compelling, suspense-filled, highly entertaining read and would recommend it!

Some books you simply cannot put down... I wasn't overly optimistic about this book at the beginning. I know you should never judge a book by it's cover, but I wasn't really sold by the title, and I only really skimmed over the blurb, without fully taking it in.

I don't know what I was expecting from this title, but it certainly wasn't what I got! I can honestly say that I did not put this book down from the moment I started reading until the moment I finished. I was absolutely gripped. The plot is ridiculously good. There are so many unexpected twists and turns - the whole story is linked together in an extremely clever way. The writing style is completely absorbing, the characters incredible and the and the suspense at some points had me trying to read at super speed.

A fairly dark story, but an absolute must read.

"Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore" by Matthew Sullivan is an exceptional book. It has been a few days since I finished reading and I still cannot help but think how much I loved it!
I was initially drawn to it by its... title! It had an Agatha Christie sort of vibe about it and therefore drew me in. The novel itself is quite different from the above author's works but it is still different from the majority of modern crime fiction novels. Most of which focus on violence, chaos and trying to pack as much action into those 200-300 pages as possible. "Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore" did not require that at all since it's brilliant in its simplicity. If I had a copy of it in an audio version I would like the book to be whispered instead of being read out loud. Yes, I know... that won't happen. But this book has such a quiet, misty vibe about it that I would not want any noise to spoil the mood.
I liked the characters in this book and found it especially easy to connect with the protagonist - Lydia. She's such a bookworm ;)
I also loved how the past and present intermingled and the idea of presenting it this way kept my interest going.
All in all, I cannot recommend this wonderful novel enough.
Thank you so much to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I fancied a change – and Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore was certainly that.

Beautifully written, in a gritty and rather dark way, Matthew Sullivan’s debut had me hooked from the start.
His heroine, Lydia, is unique and engaging and I think the clever way she is written - the words seem so carefully chosen and remain somewhat blank and emotionless - perfectly fits with what she went through as a child when she would have been overloaded with feelings.

At the start of a mystery I always enjoy wondering how the author is going to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. Sometimes it’s straight forward, other times it’s a bit harder to find a fit. In this case, I certainly didn’t see at least one of them coming. At the time it did feel a little bit implausible but then strange things happen in real life so the more I thought about it, the more I thought ‘yeah, I suppose that could happen’.

It is certainly an engrossing story and it moves along at a pace which means you’ll be making dinner one handed because you don’t want to put it down.

Once it all came out, the ending did seem a little rushed. It was like the author thought: “Phew, mystery solved, time to go”. Although I guess once it’s done, it’s done - and it didn't detract from how much I enjoyed the book.

With thanks to Cornerstone Digital for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Book covers are, and are not, my thing. I frequently dismiss a book at first glance on the basis of the cover (photo of a topless guy with a six-pack? woman in a ball-gown? probably not for me). But if a cover doesn't put me off instantly...that's usually the end of its role for me. A book gets a second glance - at the title and maybe the author - and then I either move on, or I pick it up and promptly forget what the cover was like (even more promptly now that most of my reading is ebooks). I'm just far more verbal than visual; video tutorials make me want to tear my hair out.

But this cover drew me in: bright, multi-coloured book spines, set against a dark background. It was appealing, but also intriguing. The title makes this sound like a cosy mystery, maybe something slightly twee. The cover sort-of supports that notion, but there's more there. As it turns out, it's the perfect cover for this book, which begins in a bookstore, which relies heavily on books as plot-device, some of whose main characters live and breathe books...and it's dark and suspenseful and even sometimes gory.

But anyway. On to the words!

There is a solid plot, although it seems to move quite slowly for most of the book, then speed up a lot in the last few chapters. The story is mainly character-driven, with lots of quirky characters who, while entertaining to read, felt a little contrived at times. The main characters are well-written, though: Lydia is complex, although there do seem to be some unexplained gaps in her back-story (why exactly did she stop speaking to her father?), and Raj is loveable and so much more important than he seems - but Joey...Joey is heartbreaking, over and over - quite an achievement for a character who dies almost as soon as you start reading.

This is the author's first novel, and while it doesn't quite have the smoothness and polish of a more experienced author, many more experienced authors don't have that either. In other words, this is pretty good, especially for a debut novel, and this author might well turn out to be one to watch.

Thanks to Net Gallery and Heinemann's for an advanced copy of Matthew Sullivan's latest novel. From the start the reader is drawn into the text - its delightful turn of phrase, its quick introduction to the nature of the tale and the need to find out what happens next.
It is a wonder - I would have said joy but that is the wrong noun given the subject of the novel. A definite enjoyment and the lead to future reads as I look out Matthew's other books.

This was a page turner until I figured out whodunit way too early on in the book. My first thought "oh, it's not that easy is it?" the answer is yep, it's that easy.

I'd settle at 3.5 stars because the overall writing was good and I enjoyed the presentation but I removed stars for the mystery being too easy to figure out. I like a bit of a challenge as a reader.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is an intriguing, dark, clever, and one of the most original and engrossing thrillers we have read. It starts off fast and dramatic and caught our attention right away. It quickly turned into a fast page-turner afternoon with us turning the pages as fast as we could and messaging each other quite often with our theories and guesses until life demanded our attention. Making this the best and funniest Traveling Sister Read we have done so far with Kaceey.

Matthew Sullivan delivers a well-paced and well-written solid story here with one of the most perfect settings in our opinion taking place in an eccentric bookstore with quirky and unique characters. We all loved the feeling with the sense of place and could visualize ourselves walking through the aisles of the bookstore as he described all the areas so vividly. He had us all wanting to visit and explore that bookstore. We were amused by the Bookfrogs and enjoyed how they were part of a community within the bookstore that Lydia and her quirky colleagues would try to protect and embraced them as part of the bookstore.

The clever solid original plot with savvy connections and puzzles incorporated in the storyline had us searching for clues but very little clues were given along the way
for Norma to follow and her detective skills were stalled. So very clever of Sullivan but not clever enough for Kaceey who shocked us and herself with figuring out right away who the Hammerman was but not knowing the reasoning behind it. Of course Brenda is off in left field trying to lure them to join her there with her out of field theories. It really adds more fun to our read with how different of readers we are and how we compliment each other. We could really see that with this book and in this reading experience.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is one not to be missed and we highly recommend pushing this one to the top of your list.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner and Matthew J. Sullivan for a copy to read and review.

I was sadly disappointed by this book. There has been a lot of excitement around the premise and I had been looking forward to reading it. However, the writing was poor, the plot contrived and the characters shallow. The male characters, David and Raj, were superfluous and almost interchangeable. The ending and reveal felt lazy and I was utterly unconvinced and frustrated by the protagonist's response to Maya's actions. Maya's experience as a repressed and abused wife was simply brushed aside rather than examined as a motive for dismissing her illegitimate son.

I expected to be captivated but this fell flat.