Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore - by Matthew Sullivan (Paperback)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

When a bookshop patron dies by suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this "shocking, charming, thrilling" (Associated Press) and award-winning debut novel.

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she leads a meticulously ordered existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs--the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day browsing the overwhelmed stacks.

But when a young BookFrog, Joey Molina, hangs himself in one of the upper rooms of the store, Lydia's life comes unglued. Inside one of Joey's pockets is a photograph of Lydia as a little girl. And when she flips through some of 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. The more she puzzles over them, the more they seem to contain a hidden message for her about his final days. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

With "oddball characters and [a] layered plot" (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review), Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is "a smart, twisty crime novel set in a world that booklovers will adore" (Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins).

Review Quotes

"An intriguingly dark, twisty story and eccentric characters make this book a standout." --Kirkus Reviews

"I couldn't resist Matthew Sullivan's Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an appealing first novel. . . . The oddball characters and layered plot make this puzzle mystery both charming and challenging." --The New York Times Book Review

"Quirky characters and a keen sense of place distinguish this multi-generational tale of abandonment, desperation, and betrayal . . . inventive and intricately plotted." --Publishers Weekly, (starred review)

"This book ticked all the boxes for me: an engaging heroine, an intriguing premise, interesting characters and a plot that involved books, readers and the very darkest human passions. A fantastic, assured debut."--Elly Griffiths, author of The Crossing Places

"A quick, enjoyable read." --The Muskogee Phoenix

"A strong debut. . . powerful, intricate tale of broken friendship and family loyalties." --The Seattle Times

"Readers will find that Sullivan had a bright idea, indeed." --St. Louis Post Dispatch

"Shocking, charming and thrilling . . . With compelling characters and rich descriptions, Sullivan's writing is spot-on. Sullivan nails it, delivering a captivating conflict plus masterfully executed prose." --Associated Press

"There is a clever, erudite puzzle plot in this bookish mystery, along with whip-smart writing. Matthew Sullivan's debut is stylish and entertaining."--Ellen Crosby, author of The Champagne Conspiracy

"This quirky debut novel will have particular appeal for puzzle solvers and booklovers." --Booklist

"Though darker than other beloved novels set in bookstores, this story will appeal to fans of Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Katarina Bivald's The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. Mystery readers will also appreciate the clever connections between the characters and the crimes." --Library Journal

"Twisty and dark, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a remarkable debut that will leave readers unsettled and probably yearning to pay a visit to their local bookstore." --BookPage

"With Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, Matthew Sullivan has written--with great panache and suspense--a smart, twisty crime novel filled with compelling characters set in a world that book-lovers will adore."--Jess Walter, # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins

About the Author

Matthew Sullivan is the author of the novel Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, which was an IndieNext pick, a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. His writing has appeared inThe New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Spokesman-Review, Sou'wester and elsewhere, and his stories have been awarded the Florida Review Editor's Prize and the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize. He grew up in a family of eight raucous kids in Aurora, Colorado, and received his BA from the University of San Francisco and his MFA from the University of Idaho. After working as a bookseller at Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver and at Brookline Booksmith in Boston, he spent twenty years as a tenured instructor teaching writing, literature, and film at a rural HSI community college in the high desert of central Washington State. He is married to a librarian and now lives in Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island in the Northwest corner of Washington. His new stand-alone mystery novel, Midnight in the Orchard by the Lake, is forthcoming from HarperCollins/Hanover Square Press.