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Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

by Matthew J. Sullivan (Goodreads Author)

3.91 · Rating Details · 1,391 Ratings · 443 Reviews

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 ...more

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published June 13th 2017 by Scribner

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Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
by Matthew J. Sullivan (Goodreads Author)

Release date: Jun 13, 2017

A heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu and will keep you guessing until the very last ...more

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Giveaway dates: Jun 20 - Jul 20, 2017

Countries available: US

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May 05, 2017 Chelsea Humphrey rated it really liked it

Recommended to Chelsea by: Larry H

Have you ever been scouring Goodreads and notice a particular book continues to pop up on your feed? Maybe it starts slowly, just a glance here or there, but then turns into a full blown case of THE book everyone has just finished reading. That’s what happened to me with Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. In an attempt to be a good girl and show some restraint of my NetGalley clicking finger, I had passed early on and immediately regretted it. Miracles do happen and I received a second chan Have you ever been scouring Goodreads and notice a particular book continues to pop up on your feed? Maybe it starts slowly, just a glance here or there, but then turns into a full blown case of THE book everyone has just finished reading. That’s what happened to me with Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. In an attempt to be a good girl and show some restraint of my NetGalley clicking finger, I had passed early on and immediately regretted it. Miracles do happen and I received a second chance with a hardcover that was cryptically wrapped in caution tape; I was immediately intrigued and decided that I had to read it straight away. I’m really glad I did, as this was such an intoxicating book; it was the kind that’s eerie aura stays with you long past turning the final page.

Going in, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I had heard from various sources that this was a mystery, a thriller, and many other sub genres, and while it does hold aspects of both, I felt this would be most at home in literary fiction. The story vacillated between bright, intellectual dialogue and dark, graphic plot progression. I honestly cannot think of a single book to compare it to, which is why I was so impressed and found it so wholly unique. At risk of sounding like a sadist, one of my favorite parts of the book was the manner in which the gruesome murder scene with The Hammerman was portrayed; we see and hear events through the eyes of a 10 year old child. This was a bold, risky move and it worked well in progressing the storyline while firmly grasping our attention throughout.

We do spend part of the book balancing past and present narratives, and initially I was more interested in Lydia’s childhood and backstory than in the opening mystery surrounding Joey’s suicide. This quickly changed once the two were intertwined, which also helped the last half of the book progress much more quickly than the first half. The cryptic messages that Joey left behind were a nice touch; I heartily enjoyed trying to solve the pages of broken text before reading the correct answer that followed alongside Lydia and her eccentric acquaintances. I was fully invested in the broken relationship between Lydia and her father; both characters had survived far more trauma than any one person should have to endure in their life. While each character was written in the most excellent form, I felt those two were the shining stars of our tale and I could have read a book solely on the turmoil between the two.

This story was so many things; while it was weighted with a heavy sadness, it was equal parts dry humor and wit. Where it held dark content and depressing plot twists, it also manifested hopeful themes of forgiveness and uplifting lessons of life being what you choose it to be. Finally, while it may have slowed in a few spots, it was a worthy read and one I won’t soon forget. Highly recommended to readers of literary fiction who are wanting to branch out briefly into the mystery/thriller genre while staying within their comfort zone. Sullivan’s writing was moving and convinced me he must be a father himself; I can’t imagine anyone writing such a book without the experience of loving a child to inspire it. With the inside story being as captivating as the outside cover, I think readers will be pleased and moved by how the author chooses to take many timely issues and subtly place them in the narrative for pondering beyond the immediate tale.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy; it was a pleasure to provide my honest thoughts here.

...more

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May 07, 2017 Larry H rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

I'd rate this 4.5 stars. Nearly 5.

How do you select the books you're going to read? Oftentimes I'm drawn to books written by authors I love (and sometimes I decide to give an author another shot), and other times I choose books and/or authors which have been hyped or those about which I've heard good feedback. And then sometimes, it's something intangible, like the cover design catches my eye, so it leads me to read the description, and I'm hooked.

This is the crazy way my mind worked when I deci ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Carol rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, debut, kindle, published-2017, netgalley, read-2017

4.5 Stars! More than just your run-of-the-mill whodunit!

When I first laid eyes on this book-cover, I knew I had to read it, but the shocker of a beginning that leads to an even bigger....much more intense....shocker along the way turned this DEBUT into a downright page-turner for me.

Lydia is a first-rate bookseller and friend to ALL who enter The Bright Ideas Bookstore, but....she has a haunted past....and after the tragedy of a troubled friend, she is left with a saddened heart and baffling mys

...more

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Apr 21, 2017 Linda rated it really liked it

Shelves: net-galley, mystery-thrillers

How do you turn the page on one horrific, mind-shattering experience that locks into your psyche like handcuffs on a wayward criminal?

Or in Lydia's case, make that two.......

Lydia Smith works as a dedicated clerk at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. And no one had any idea of what would await her in the upper level of the store that day. Lydia has her friendly BookFrogs who perch on chairs and seek out favorite niches within the shop on a daily basis. She loves the banter and the warmth of t How do you turn the page on one horrific, mind-shattering experience that locks into your psyche like handcuffs on a wayward criminal?

Or in Lydia's case, make that two.......

Lydia Smith works as a dedicated clerk at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. And no one had any idea of what would await her in the upper level of the store that day. Lydia has her friendly BookFrogs who perch on chairs and seek out favorite niches within the shop on a daily basis. She loves the banter and the warmth of this atmosphere. But one of those BookFrogs, Joey Molina, hasn't come down after the "time to close" warning.

Lydia rushes up the stairs and is struck speechless. Joey has hung himself. While Joey never really interacted with the others, his landlady gives Lydia stacks of books from his apartment. Joey had no family or friends. And Joey had no story.

While flipping through the books, Lydia realizes that there is a series of codes within each book that Joey created with an exacto knife. Once Lydia gets the hang of it, she starts to decode strains of information about Joey. Something is out of kilter here.

And you'll find out something beyond out of kilter in regard to Lydia's past. You'd swear that this episode from her childhood had been penned by the likes of Stephen King in his earlier offerings. There's plenty of sprinkles with a side order of creepy here.

Matthew J. Sullivan presents a story like no other in that pile of books on your own table. There's plenty of mystery, unsolved crimes, searches for identity, family relationships, and a nice round of humor tucked in for good measure. Sullivan's use of Joey's code is a creative one. As readers, we like to work a bit along the storyline. And Sullivan provides that. Oh, dear sir, I am anxiously awaiting your next one and what you might just serve up........

I received a copy of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Shuster (Scribner Books) and to Matthew Sullivan for the opportunity.

...more

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Jul 16, 2017 Kaceey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, traveling-sister-read

Wow! Can I give this 6 stars please!?

This was the perfect book for a traveling sister read with my Canadian sisters Norma and Brenda!! We literally read the entire book together chapter by chapter chatting constantly! The author gave us so many paths to go down and yes, we ventured down each one trying to put the pieces of this mystery together. Loved every step of this journey.

There were so many moments I caught myself smiling, only to be brought to tears in the end. I am so sad it's finished! ...more

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May 16, 2017 Cathrine ☯️ rated it really liked it

Shelves: net-galley

4.5★
I confess to requesting this because what bibliophile can resist a cover with colorful books on it and a title indicating that the pages will turn a story inside an indie bookstore that’s open till midnight.
Right?
I knew almost nothing going in and did not read the preliminary book notes. I was kind of expecting a cozy corner book shop tale with lovable, quirky characters and that is exactly what I did not get.
What I got was a decidedly un-cozy tale of suicide, mystery, murder, more mystery, ...more

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Feb 26, 2017 James rated it liked it

Shelves: 1-fiction, 5-netgalley, 7-read-2017-may

3 out of 5 stars to Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, a new mystery and thriller novel set to release on June 13, 2017, by author Matthew J. Sullivan.

Why This Book
For all us readers, who wouldn't love a book with such a title? And when you read the description, learning about a horrific murder from the past, a suicide in the present, and mysterious connections between all the characters, your intrigue and suspense spidey senses will climax. I found it on NetGalley and thought it sounde ...more

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May 27, 2017 Liz rated it it was amazing

This is a beautifully written book. It drew me in from the first few pages. “Their fighting felt like weather, like clouds had been trapped behind that swinging kitchen door and were presently rolling down from the ceiling”. OMG, I was entranced by writing like that. I wanted to highlight almost every other sentence, because they were like jewels on the page.

I can't believe this is a debut novel. It portrays itself as a mystery, but it's much more than that. Sullivan’s ability to describe chara ...more

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Jul 15, 2017 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Traveling Sisters Review by Brenda, Norma and Kaceey.

5 Shiny, Sparkling, and Bright stars from all of us!

When we first thought about reading Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore we wanted to read it with Kaceey and Lindsay, however, the timing was not on our side and we ended up only being able to read it with Kaceey. We really missed Lindsay on this one and wished it would've worked out for all of us.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is an intriguing, dark, clever, and one of the most Traveling Sisters Review by Brenda, Norma and Kaceey.

5 Shiny, Sparkling, and Bright stars from all of us!

When we first thought about reading Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore we wanted to read it with Kaceey and Lindsay, however, the timing was not on our side and we ended up only being able to read it with Kaceey. We really missed Lindsay on this one and wished it would've worked out for all of us.

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 reads 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 copy to read and review.

All of Traveling Sister reviews along with Norma and my reviews can be found on our sister blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereadi... ...more

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Jun 19, 2017 Susanne Strong rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

4 Stars.

Lydia Smith loves books, she always has. She also loves her job at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. The BookFrogs who patron the store everyday make her job that much more special. You know who they are... the down and out men and women who love to hang out at the store, to sit amongst the books, and talk to the clerks and other patrons and just chill.

One of her favorite BookFrogs is Joey. During the time that she has worked at Bright Ideas, she has gotten to know him quite well - o 4 Stars.

Lydia Smith loves books, she always has. She also loves her job at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. The BookFrogs who patron the store everyday make her job that much more special. You know who they are... the down and out men and women who love to hang out at the store, to sit amongst the books, and talk to the clerks and other patrons and just chill.

One of her favorite BookFrogs is Joey. During the time that she has worked at Bright Ideas, she has gotten to know him quite well - or so she thought. One night around midnight, as she is getting ready to close up, Lydia hears a noise from the second floor of the shop. As it turns out, its Joey making the noise. Unfortunately, Lydia discovers that he’s not sitting upstairs reading,… or talking to his friend Lyle or another BookFrog. Instead, he’s doing something unimaginable. Killing himself .. and Lydia gets there a few seconds too late and is devastated. Strangely enough, at that exact moment, Joey has a picture in his pocket of Lydia and her friend Raj as children, which perplexes Lydia.. and in a desperate act she grabs it before the police arrive. You see, Lydia and Joey did not know each other as children, thus she has no idea how he would have gotten that photograph. She can’t help but wonder how Joey seemed to know about her past – a past that she has done her absolute best to keep hidden from everyone. Including her boyfriend David and all of her co-workers. She has tried her best to forget about her tragic past.. to wipe the slate clean. But that picture proves the opposite – for you cannot escape the past. It always comes back. Upon discovering Joey’s body at the bookstore, the newspapers take photographs of Lydia, which her old children friend Raj recognizes. And thereafter, he does his best to find her.

After his death, Lydia finds that Joey left all of his worldly possessions to her, including his books and a new suit. What Lydia finds upon examining them astounds her. The books have letters cut out of them and she realizes that the cut outs appears to be a puzzle, which she slowly unravels. Joey, as she discovers, left Lydia a message. Lydia needs helping un-coding the message and finding out what Joey wanted from her and that is where Joey’s friend Lyle and her old friend Raj come in. For Lyle knew Joey like the back of his hand, and Lydia trusts Raj more than she has ever trusted anyone (even her boyfriend, David) for Raj knows everything there is to know about her. He knows her secrets, though apparently, so did Joey.

Together, the three of them find out what Joey wanted from Lydia. It is not an easy path for Lydia, nor was it an easy life for Joey. This is a story about learning to let go and trust and the immense power of friendship. Though it has elements of a mystery/suspense, it truly is a character driven novel. And the characters in this novel WOW you. This book steals little pieces of you and it doesn’t let them go. I think it will hold on to me forever.

"Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore" is a very unique and beautifully written novel that is unlike anything I've ever read before. Though the story is sad, it is rich and amazing and I can't stop thinking about it. The characters are lovely and oh so quirky. Every character (from the main characters to the supporting characters) were so well fleshed out and added a lot to the story.. I basically fell in love with all of them (or well, almost all of them). I can't say enough good things about this novel and would recommend it to anyone who loves to read about books, loves puzzles and loves character studies.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner and Matthew J. Sullivan for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon on 6.19.17. ...more

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Jul 02, 2017 Lindsay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4 stars! I enjoyed this unique and clever mystery revolving around a past crime which is slowly unraveled through clues within several books.

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 ...more

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May 19, 2017 Cheri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, colorado, arc, netgalley, 2017

!! NOW AVAILABLE !!

Matthew Sullivan’s debut novel begins in a place that probably all of us are familiar with: a bookstore. That haven from the outside world that offers us a way to bring some of that essence home with us to keep for our very own, and in the case of the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver, it offers a special sort of haven for Lydia’s BookFrogs, those patrons who come and settle in, read, on a daily basis. They’ve become part of the store’s ambiance.

And on this day, at the end of ...more

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May 11, 2017 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

Another debut author who on this his first outing shows a considerable amount of talent. A suicide in a book store of a young man with a short but sorry past, a book clerk with a terrifying event in her ownpast, the return of a childhood friend, and a mystery to solve.

Hard to classify this one because it mixes many different elements of the mystery genre. It starts as a puzzle mystery involving books and then turns into an exploration of the past of both the young man and Lydia's past. It is wel ...more

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Jun 24, 2017 Karen rated it really liked it

4.5
A young man named Joey commits suicide in the upper level of The Bright Ideas Bookstore at midnight one evening. Lydia, one of the booksellers who works there is close to many of the "Bookfrogs" the ones who hang around the store and read. Joey has bequeathed Lydia his belongings, as he has no family, including a lot of books that have been cut up to leave messages to her.
This is really good, in part a mystery, a little suspense, but also a story of friendship, sacrifice, and it's an emotion ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Norma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: traveling-sister-reads

This time around our full Traveling Sisters Review can be found on Brenda's Goodreads Review or on our Sister Blog. Traveling Sister Read with Brenda & Kaceey!

5 Shiny, Sparkling, and Bright Stars! Well that was one impressive and great read!

When I first noticed this book on my Goodreads feed and seen that cover and read that awesome title, I just knew it was a book that I would have to read with my Traveling Sisters right away and what an enjoyable reading experience this was! Our discussio ...more

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Jun 11, 2017 Carolyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: death, mystery, netgalley, contemporary, 2017

Lydia Smith has had a difficult childhood, brought up in isolation in the mountains by her father after she survived the mass killing of her friend and family during a sleepover. Now she has the job of her dreams, working as a bookseller at The Bright Ideas Bookstore. She loves books and loves the job and loves the people she calls Bookfrogs, the eccentric or homeless who inhabit the store all day settling down in comfy chairs to read. Her favourite Bookfrog is Joey, a bright young man who loves ...more

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Jul 19, 2017 Carol (Bookaria) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, mistery-thriller, great-book-covers, 2017

A mystery that begins with a death in a bookstore? Yes, please!

Lydia works at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in Denver. One day before closing the store she finds that Joey, one of the book patrons, has committed suicide in the back room, an event that saddened those who knew him. After Joey's death his possessions are given to Lydia who realizes that he left behind books with strange inscriptions in it. This is the beginning of the mystery as Lydia devotes herself to finding out more about the puz ...more

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Jun 12, 2017 Sarah Joint rated it it was amazing

A book about books! Count me in. Even before I started reading glowing reviews about this story, I was attracted to the cover. It's seemingly tailored to draw a book lover in... and I'm glad it did, because this was well worth the read. I'd recommend it to almost any kind of mystery fan. Final rating: 4.5.

With as many mysteries as I read, I often figure them out far before the end. This book kept me guessing. It's cleverly written and hard to put down. I managed it in two sittings, but if life h A book about books! Count me in. Even before I started reading glowing reviews about this story, I was attracted to the cover. It's seemingly tailored to draw a book lover in... and I'm glad it did, because this was well worth the read. I'd recommend it to almost any kind of mystery fan. Final rating: 4.5.

With as many mysteries as I read, I often figure them out far before the end. This book kept me guessing. It's cleverly written and hard to put down. I managed it in two sittings, but if life hadn't done that annoying interrupting thing, it would have been one.

Lydia is a thirty something with a handsome boyfriend and a job she loves. Sure, it could pay better... but what better place for a bibliophile to hang out than a bookstore? Massive yet still crowded with volumes, Bright Ideas book store is a favorite for many. Lydia has several quirky co-workers, and regulars she affectionately refers to as "bookfrogs". They're simply men looking for a place to be, most of them down on their luck with no place to go. They're mostly quiet and harmless, content to sit and read and don't bother anyone.

Her perfect job changes forever when Joey, Lydia's favorite bookfrog, kills himself in the store. She's the one who finds him. He's always intrigued her, a handsome but closed off young guy who was hard to get to know. Turns out that Lydia was his favorite too... because he's left his possessions to her. The few things he owned are filled with beguiling clues as to why he took his own life. Why would he do such a thing? And why did he choose Lydia?

Tragedy has a way of opening doors we've closed years ago, and his death is making Lydia think about her own past. Memories she's kept buried for years are clamoring for her attention, and several people she left behind are choosing this time to reappear. Her own past is filled with mystery and secrets, just like Joey's. It might be time to stop pretending they don't exist.

Overview kept slightly vague to keep myself from accidentally divulging any spoilers. This book is best enjoyed going in pretty blind. It might manage to surprise you.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Scribner, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased. ...more

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May 09, 2017 Dorie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller, netgalley-feedback

I am a sucker for any book that takes place in a bookstore, involves a bookstore or bookseller, basically anything that feeds into my bibliophile nature. There is one great debut novel that spills out when turning the somewhat ordinary (sorry for that) cover of this book. There are so many good things about the book it’s hard to know where to start.

For me a novel usually entices and then grabs me by the quality of the characters and how well they are defined. A plot can be great but if the chara I am a sucker for any book that takes place in a bookstore, involves a bookstore or bookseller, basically anything that feeds into my bibliophile nature. There is one great debut novel that spills out when turning the somewhat ordinary (sorry for that) cover of this book. There are so many good things about the book it’s hard to know where to start.

For me a novel usually entices and then grabs me by the quality of the characters and how well they are defined. A plot can be great but if the characters aren’t believable or interesting I usually find my myself having difficulty getting into the story. So let’s talk about some of the great characters.

Lydia is a bookseller who is great at what she does and she loves her work. Lydia has loved books since she was very small, her father used to be a librarian and toted her to work with him since she was just a babe. She is a great bookseller because she listens to her customers and is able to discern what type of book they might be looking for. She has a big heart and makes room in the bookstore for those that she calls her “BookFrogs”, most of them down on their luck types who find refuge in the cozy atmosphere of the book store. Lydia enjoys listening to their conversations and befriends many of them. Joey is one of the youngest and brightest of the bunch and she has gotten to know him quite well. One evening after “ the store is closing announcement” Joey doesn’t come down from the upper floor. As Lydia climbs the stairs to check on him she finds that he has hung himself and it’s too late to help him, although they try to resuscitate him and call an ambulance, he is already gone.

Joey has no family and has left his meager belongings to Lydia. As she goes through his things she finds a photo of herself and her best friend Raj taken when she was blowing out the candles on her 10th birthday. Lydia had never even seen this picture. She wonders why and how Joey has this photo and why it was important to him. There are crates of books in Joey’s apartment and upon closer inspection Lydia finds that Joey has cut out windows and linked books to one another in order to leave messages in code. The more Lydia reads, the more confused she is as to what Joey is trying to tell her.

Lydia is hiding many secrets of her own. Something very terrible happened when she was young and afterwards she spent many lonely years in a cabin in the woods with her eccentric father. They moved to this isolated spot because her father was trying to protect her but from what and who?

Raj, one of Lydia’s close friends from childhood, finds her from the photo in the newspaper about the suicide in the bookstore. With some trepidation she invites Raj back into her life and they work together to try to discern how Joey fits into their lives.

Lydia decides to contact the police detective, now retired, who worked on the case from her past and listens as he tells her his suspicions about the unsolved crime. She is unconvinced that what he is saying is the answer, could someone she loves really be the perpetrator of a crime that left Lydia scarred forever?

This book kept me guessing until the end and I was not expecting the outcome at all!! This book is a fantastic read, so much more than a mystery, it is full of emotion and love, even some laughter. The only flaw for me was the ending describing Lydia’s personal life after the crime is solved. I felt it was a little too quickly wrapped up and not quite believable but it didn’t take away from my total enjoyment in reading this book.

I will certainly be looking forward to the next book from this talented author!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. ...more

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Jun 29, 2017 Myrna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

Wow, this debut novel surpassed my expectations. It was a dark, suspenseful, page-turner. The tension and suspense got to be so much that I couldn't read fast enough. Recommended for mystery lovers. Would read it again if I didn't have a plethora of books to read. 4.5★s!

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Jun 25, 2017 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: it-s-a-mystery-my-dear

A solidly entertaining read. A rapid paced storyline that weaves itself into a nicely packaged bow at the end. Sullivan neatly introduces plot twists with the precision of a surgeon. His background as a short story writer more than likely contributes to this. Thoughts are conveyed neatly, poignantly, and thoughtfully. I truly don't think that any part of this book is fluff. Each sentence served a purpose, which I found masterful.
The portions where the message like clues Lydia, our heroine, mus ...more

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Jun 17, 2017 Karen rated it really liked it

Bookseller Lydia has a soft spot for Joey, a destitute young man who spends a lot of time in her library and who Lydia enjoyed having around. She called him “haunted but harmless - a dust bunny blowing through the corners of the store.” When Joey hangs himself in the upper floor of the library one night with a 20-year old picture of Lydia and her childhood friend Raj in his pocket, Lydia is perplexed and makes it her mission to find the answer to why he was carrying around this very personal pho ...more

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May 19, 2017 Sheila rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, read-in-2017

4 stars--I really liked it.

What a wonderful, thoughtful, and devastating book. I couldn't stop reading. From the description, title, and cover, I assumed this would be a twee mystery, but it wasn't--it was a dark tale of violence and regret.

The book's main strength was in characterization. Lydia, Joey, Raj--I saw everyone so clearly, and ached for them. (Poor, sweet Joey.) Lydia especially broke my heart, but it was also inspirational to see her go from traumatized child to gracious adult. The m ...more

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Feb 24, 2017 Linda rated it it was amazing

What a pleasant surprise this book was. I was all set to not like it and it grabbed me from the very first and I didn't want to put it down. I thought I had it figured out but boy was I wrong! Close but no cigar!

A compelling, eerie, bizarre mystery. Highly recommended!

This book is expected to be released in June. Add it to your list!

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Apr 22, 2017 Steven rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-on-books, mystery

Engaging characters (& the bibliomystery angle) grabbed me almost immediately & rarely let me go. Tightly plotted mystery within mysteries all character-driven & essential to the story. The only negative was a nagging want of more detail & Roth on tertiary & some secondary characters, but that would have unbalanced its tightly wound mystery.

FYI I received this ebook via Netgalley.com & the book's publisher free for an honest review.

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Jun 23, 2017 Amy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, edelweis-netgalley_review, own-ebook, from-publisher, arc-copy, read-in-2017

This book is difficult to categorize ... it has elements of so many things - thriller, suspense and even literary fiction. It has it all and yet its not exactly any of those things. It was dark and depressing and yet hopeful and uplifting ... all at the same time. AND IT TAKES PLACE IN A BOOKSTORE (well, partly in a bookstore)! I really enjoyed this one! Overall, this was quite a clever novel. It's nuanced and layered. Well written and interesting. It's so much more than I expected going in. I h ...more

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Feb 22, 2017 Jennifer rated it liked it

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

3 stars

I love books about books (see The Thirteenth Tale and The Shadow of the Wind) so I had very high expectations for Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. I thought, hurray, a book about a book that takes place in a bookstore. Unfortunately, MatBIB came up short.

Bright Ideas really isn’t about books or a book store, to be perfectly honest, and I am not entirely sure that it should even be the name of the book. Yes, the mai ...more

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Jun 04, 2017 Marialyce rated it liked it

A young man hangs himself at a local bookstore and sets this tale of murder, lies, and general mayhem in motion. Why did Joey do it? Why did he leave everything to Lydia, a girl who in her youth was involved with the killing of her best friend and their parents?

Such is the premise of this debut novel by Matthew Sullivan. Lydia had been scarred by her presence at these murders. She tries to ferret herself away later as an adult working at the Bright Ideas bookstore where she and the other Bookfro ...more

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Jul 02, 2017 Holly rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, 2017

I didn't know how highly addicting this book was going to be when I started it. Once I started reading, I didn't stop till I was finished. I wouldn't say that this is a great mystery but it did have a certain way of keeping you entertained. It begins with a death in the first few pages that happens at the bookstore that Lydia works at. You soon find out that there's more to Lydia than you first realize. The young man that dies, leaves clues in books for Lydia to figure out. So the book goes back ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-book

4.5 stars
will write a little something more later

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Around the Year i...: Midnight At The Bright Ideas BookStore, by Matthew J. Sullivan	1	3	20 hours, 34 min ago

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About Matthew J. Sullivan

Matthew Sullivan grew up in a family of eight children in suburban Denver, Colorado. He received his B.A. from the University of San Francisco, his M.F.A. from the University of Idaho, and has been a resident writer at Yaddo, Centrum, and the Vermont Studio Center. His writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and other awards, and has won the Florida Review Editor's Prize and the Robert O ...more

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The 2005 Robert Olen Butler Prize Stories

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“It’s quite a library, anyway,” she said, trying to sound upbeat. “I’ve begun to think of it as more graveyard than library. End of the line, you know. Where book-of-the-month club comes to die.” As” — 1 likes

“If you want to pay respects, by the way, he's at the zoo."
"At the zoo? As in the zoo?"
"Joey liked to walk the zoo on free days. I didn't know where else to put him. I thought about leaving him on a shelf upstairs, with Flannery or Fante or Rimbaud. But I figured there were rules against leaving bodies in here."
"Probably."
"So I put his ashes in a duffel bag and snipped a tiny hole in the bottom and walked the length of the zoo. But I didn't make the hole big enough so there were these tiny pieces left over in the bag. I shook them into the grass. But then all the geese thought he was bread crumbs and started charging me. Horrifying, Lydia, the way they gobbled him up. A frenzy. Joey would've abhorred all the attention.” — 0 likes

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