The Bookseller by Valerie Keogh
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 21st June 2025
Published: 3rd March 2025
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Helen wanted to believe the bookshop was a fresh start. But the past had a way of creeping in, whispering through the shelves, refusing to be left behind. 🩸💥📖
Helen Appleby just wants a quiet life. Recently released from prison for the manslaughter of her partner, she's trying to forget her past mistakes – all of them - to rebuild her life and move on.
When she decides to open a bookshop, she’s certain this is the perfect new start. Here, amongst the quiet shelves of her shop and between the covers of her books, she can hide away from the real world and begin again. The world of books is the perfect place to find happiness - even if it is all lies.
But the past can never stay hidden…
As she settles into life as an apparently timid bookseller, it seems that someone is determined to sabotage Helen's new life and ruin everything she's built.
But Helen has killed once before. And to protect her future, she could be willing to kill again...
Don't miss another page-turning, nail-biting read from the queen of psychological thrillers, Valerie Keogh!
MY THOUGHTS:
Can she rewrite her dark and deadly past...?
After devouring "The Mother" by Valerie Keogh a couple of weeks ago, I was keen to rekindle that same thrill and adrenaline rush with this one. But not every book is the same, as I was reminded. One reviewer aptly wrote "She's (Helen) paranoid, sure, but not in a compelling, edge-of-your-seat way. More like a frustrating please just do something way." I have to agree BUT - and it's a big BUT - that is not to say that I didn't enjoy it. I did. In fact more than I thought I would given it's slow-burn-style-of-not-too-much happening. Although plugged as a psychological thriller on that I would have to disagree. While it does have some thriller elements, it's more of a tale of one woman's dark past and her path to redemption through second chances.
Helen has just been released on licence (parole) after serving two years of a four year sentence for the manslaughter of her boyfriend Toby. She is keen to forget the past, to rebuild her life and move on. Her dream since she was a child was to open a book shop. Not just any bookshop but a second-hand bookshop. She's not interested in first editions or rare books but more in the lives books have had and the stories they could tell through their pages and those who have read them. She loves the chance to give books a second chance, just as she had been granted, and to pass on her love of books through the sharing of them - both new and old.
She finds the perfect place and puts in an offer which, after some haggling, is accepted. And thus Helen begins the process of clearing and renovating the dilapidated premises. She advertises for unwanted pre-loved books which she sets about buying and before long, her dream has become a reality. Appleby Books has opened.
No sooner has she opened her doors than she gets a visit from her probation officer who is meant to visit her on a monthly basis but as Helen is to find out, it's whenever Moira likes. In this case, it's every day - sometimes with her best friend vibe and at others in her official voice. And here in her bookshop as if she were soiling her private sanctuary when she is meant to visit her home.
But Moira is just one spanner in the works of her new-found freedom. There's the incessant knocking seemingly coming from the staircase and usually after dark. Then her bookshop is broken into and not long after, her home is too. And the mess left behind is enough to bring tears to her eyes. But she will not crumble.
However, someone is determined to sabotage her second chance. But Helen has killed before...what will it take to make her do so again? And will she, if it comes to that?
Again, I don't think this qualifies as a thriller though there is a certain edge that keeps you turning the pages wondering where Helen's lies will lead us. Yes, Helen has the habit of lying, for which she spends just as even much time covering up or keeping track of the lies she's told. Of course, this could have all been avoided if she could only tell the truth. Having said that, as the reader you still want her to come out on top - of whatever (or whoever) it is she's fighting. And yet despite this, she is still so difficult to like. If only she could tell the truth. Unsurprisingly, Helen finds it incredibly difficult to trust others. Maybe that's why she continues to hide the truth and instead, well, lie.
The supporting characters in her older sister Sarah and incomer student Jess were indeed likeable - despite the diatribe Helen's internal monologue would describe growing up with her sister. Sarah, even if she was hesitant and Helen misread that, was always supportive of Helen throughout her venture. And towards the end a light was shone on the childhood the sisters had shared and the difference in each of their persepctives was contrasting to say the least. And Jess. Well, she entered the story in a rather dubious way and Helen, naturally (as she is always wont to do), distrusted her. And yet Jess says it best. For someone who has been through so much, Helen sure is gulliable. And she is. Maybe she is yearning for that connection she lost with the death of her father. Maybe she feels a driving need to be wanted and loved, as most of us do, but in essence is actually quite lonely. I loved Jess. She went from quiet mousy bookish Jess to fearless spirited sparky Jess!
The unlikeable characters are in the form of probation officer Moira, sneaky Jared Clough and dear old Dilly who doesn't appear to be quite what she seems. There are the cockney twins Alex and Zander from the pizzeria next door who feature from time to time ane Helen is so paranoid she fears they are plotting against her. But are they really? Or is she just paranoid?
The main atmosphere of the book is one of dread throughout. It is a slow burn and feels a little longer than it is probably due to Helen being so difficult to like. The ending was a surprise. I turned the page and there it was! I was kind of expecting a sense of forboding, something unexpected to pop out in a last minute twist...but then if I was expecting it then it wouldn't be unexpected, would it? Still. The ending was just a bit sudden, I found. I thought everything would pan out (particularly with the Hemingway find) and be tied up nicely but instead, even half an hour after finishing, I forget how it did end. Except that it was sudden. Still...I did enjoy the read, as different as it was. And despite her being unlikeable and through her lies, I was still rooting for her to come out on top.
After reading this, should we be lucky to come across a second-hand bookstore (especially in this digital age), we will be checking those books for any finds that could be lurking the pages within...
I would like to thank #ValerieKeogh, #Netgalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheBookseller in exchange for an honest review.
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