Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan was not exactly what I was expecting. It's not a thriller, but it definitely has some twists and turns along the way that kept me guessing.

Lydia works at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, where the regular "customers" (which include some people that just hang out there a lot and maybe don't actually buy a lot) are called the BookFrogs. When a young BookFrog named Joey commits suicide in the bookstore and leaves everything he has, including riddles about his life, to Lydia, it reopens old wounds in her life. When Lydia was a child she was the only survivor a vicious attack of her friend's family by a still uncaught killer known as the Hammerman. While she seeks answers about Joey, she also tries to uncover the truth about her past.

I liked this book okay - I mean, what reader wouldn't want to read a book about books? However, everything was a bit too contrived for me. The red herring in the mystery about her past, the timely reappearance of her old friend, Joey's connection to her past... everything fit together a bit too much. I don't like when mystery's are extremely unrealistic, and although maybe this wasn't, it sort of felt that way to me. I also wasn't totally sucked in by the writing, and it took me a couple weeks to get through this book, which is unusual with mysteries.

I definitely think the character development could have been stronger. I think the friendship between Lydia and Joey could have used a bit more time to develop, because he dies almost immediately and you don't really get a chance to know him.

Lots of people highly recommended this book, so don't take my "meh" opinion as fact. If this sounds like an intriguing plot to you, check it out for yourself!