Who would have thought that a book about two librarians would be so good? I definitely had reservations before I started reading this but I’m glad I have it a chance.

It’s an original and tense thriller that I devoured in a single sitting.

Margo is a middle aged librarian, she arrived into town and into her role in the library two years ago and is charming, competent, professional and pleasant. Margo loves the library and is settled into her new life but nobody knows that Margo is not her real name and that before working in the library, she was a nurse who left a string of hospitals suddenly, the last one in the middle of the night, leaving a stream of premature deaths in her wake.
When Patricia joins the library staff she immediately is aware that all is not as its seems with Margo, she spots signs of a darker edge to her courteous colleague and when a library patron is found dead in strange circumstances in the bathroom, Patricia's unease about Margo develops into a deep fixation.
I really enjoyed this, a cat and mouse style suspense between two librarians one of whom has a propensity for murder , its a great idea and setting for a book and Sims brings these characters to life with skill and detail. This was well paced, unsettling and hard to put down. Recommend.

A really good thriller featuring the narrative of Margo and Patricia and their intertwined lives in the Carlyle Public Library. A satisfying conclusion to a tense showdown

A fun and weird story of a former killer nurse who "disappears" and starts a job as a librarian and meets a new colleague who starts to uncover Margo's previous life.

I loved the setting (a library ofc) the main characters - Margo & Patricia - and their weird and creepy relationship.

It's best to go into this story not knowing much and watch it unfold.

How Can I Help You was a really fun, slightly psychotic tale about an unhinged character trying to survive in a mundane society - it had a bit of a Nurse Ratchet feeling to it. Jane / Margo was killing patients in her nurse role before she was forced to quit and take a job in a library. While she is trying to live a normal life, the urge doesn't leave her. And her new colleague is very interesting to her.
It was really fun and it was entertaining to read this, I also enjoyed the twist at the end because I figured Patricia was a bit of a red herring from the beginning. She was a bit fixated on Margo and particularly when she unearthed her past.

This book was surprising and original in its oddness. It was well paced but not fast, and the two protagonists were well drawn and strangely relatable. However, the ending for me was unsatisfactory and incomplete - maybe this is a ploy by the Author, Laura Sims, to keep the reader wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers, Verve Books for this ARC.

This book was a very interesting slowburn literary thriller that played with a lot of different ideas and themes.
I did enjoy this book for what it was, but it really didn't blow me away. I didn't like how a lot of it was retelling the same events but from a different point of view. I thought the characters were really interesting, but I did feel like the plot was lacking slightly.
I liked margos chapters much more than patricias, if I am being completely transparent. I found her more compelling.
Overall I would still recommend this but only to a specific person or a specific mood. I wouldn't go into this with thriller expectations, it leans much more literary.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an early copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
A cozy mystery novel that one can enjoy with a warm cup of tea and in a long sitting. I had a fun time reading and guessing what's gonna happen next.

"How Can I Help You" by Laura Sims is like a chilling mystery wrapped in the cozy confines of a small-town library. Meet Margo, the seemingly unassuming librarian with a shadowy past. When Patricia, a keen-eyed newcomer, senses something off about Margo, she embarks on a spine-tingling journey to uncover the truth. Sims crafts a gripping narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat, delving into the complexities of human nature and the allure of artistic fixation. With its taut plot and compelling characters, "How Can I Help You" is a captivating read that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Disgraced former nurse Margo has assumed a new identity as a small-town librarian, but when failed-novelist Patricia begins working at the same library, Margo's past threatens to catch up with her as the two colleagues become increasingly obsessed with one another.

I was immediately drawn to this book's cover and blurb; however, it unfortunately failed to live up to my expectations. I'm a sucker for stories with a dark edge, but for whatever reason, I found Margo's exploits lacking in intrigue. Despite some moments of tension, particularly in the third act, I felt the stakes between the two characters weren't quite high enough.

Patricia's fascination with Margo made for a more compelling point of view for me, and I could empathise with her struggles to make it as a writer. With that said, I did enjoy the dual POVs and seeing how the events played out from each character's perspective.

Overall, How Can I Help You doesn't quite live up to its premise, which reminded me of Alice Slater's brilliant Death of a Bookseller. I might have enjoyed this more if I hadn't already read Slater's debut last year, against which I couldn't help drawing comparisons.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

The plot of this book really intrigued me. It was relatively short and kept me interested the whole way through. The ending maybe felt a little rushed and I really would've liked to have seen more of Margo's back story.

3.5 stars round up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

A librarian with a secret and an unconscious customer…. A book with twists, tension and obsession! What’s NOT to love… a story told from two points of view.

DNF - When I requested this book, I was hopeful that it would be something unique but as I read on I realized I could map the entire plot. I checked reviews & was rather shocked to see that the entire story was as I guessed in the opening pages. This was disappointing.

Margo is a librarian with a hidden secret that she has made her mission to hide. However, when Patricia joins the team and finds margo with a customer who's unconscious , she starts snooping and discovers margos' true identity. Will Patricia do the right thing or use this secret as writers' fuel to feed her newest obsession. A thriller with 2 POVs full of twists and turns. There was an expected assault scene with a corpse, so do check triggers. This book was packed with animosity and twisted tension. A book of obsession, dark desires, passion, and unhinged characters .

This is a book like no other I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read more from this author. Will be recommending to friends.

This book with its bright yellow cover immediately caught my eye when I came across it on NetGalley and the blurb guaranteed that I added it to my TBR. I am new to this author and was not sure what to expect.
This riveting psychological thriller explores the dark underbelly of seemingly ordinary lives. The author crafts a tale of suspense and danger within the confines of a small-town public library. At the heart of the narrative is Margo, a librarian with a carefully concealed past. Her colleagues and patrons see only her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality and charge, oblivious to the fact that she was once a nurse with a trail of premature deaths behind her. The library serves as Margo’s sanctuary, a place where she attempts to quell the haunting urges of her past. The author excels at creating an atmosphere of quiet unease, drawing you into Margo’s dual existence.
The arrival of Patricia, a recent graduate and aspiring novelist, introduces a new dynamic to the story. Patricia, keenly observant, quickly senses Margo’s subtle sinister edge. The tension builds as Patricia becomes increasingly fixated on unravelling the mystery behind Margo’s façade. You are drawn into Patricia’s descent into obsession, making you question whether her relentless pursuit of the truth is driven by curiosity or an innate danger of its own.
The turning point occurs with a patron’s death in the library bathroom, offering a glimpse into Margo’s mysterious past. This event catapults the narrative into a thrilling exploration of secrets, deception and the consequences of unearthing buried truths. Patricia’s quest for answers becomes an all-consuming force, blurring the lines between reality and her own psychological turmoil.
Laura Sims’ writing is razor-sharp, creating an atmosphere that is both chilling and captivating. The pacing is expertly controlled, maintaining a sense of suspense that keeps you engaged until the final page. The characters are well-developed and the author skilfully navigates the complexities of their relationships, adding to the narrative. These two women will make it hard for you to ever look at your local librarian in the same way.
“How Can Help You” is a fantastic psychological thriller that explores the intricacies of human nature and the haunting power of hidden pasts. This novel is a must-read for fans of suspenseful storytelling and psychological depth. I cannot recommend this one highly enough. I cannot wait to get my hands on more of this author's work.

I love the idea of a thriller set in a library and I liked the inclusion of a writer in this. It was weird because I didn’t know who to root for which was fun but strange… I enjoyed the book a lot but think it might fade from my memory,

I was not too impressed or disappointed by this psychological suspense novel. I think the author missed a great opportunity to give a shocking twist at the end, not to say this book doesn't have twists, but the sudden stop at the end just didn't feel right.

“People confess to you all the time. They tell you things they wouldn’t tell someone they knew - you’re a semi-anonymous sympathetic ear. And they think you might have answers.”

The premise of this novel is absolutely delicious; Margo is a librarian hiding a deadly secret, Patricia is a woman who unwittingly stumbles upon the truth. The two become engaged in a game of vicious cat-and-mouse, fuelled by a weird obsession neither of them quite understands. AND it all takes place in a library! Sign me up; I adored Alice Slater's Death of a Bookseller last year, and this has very similar vibes.

I tore through this; I loved the dual POVs and how they re-told the same events through different eyes, and Laura Sims is undenabily a really talented author. That's why it bugged me that while I really enjoyed it, I actually wanted more from it - Sims seems content to skim over the surface of her story & its characters, never digging into their psyche the way I wanted her to.

Both Margot and Patricia were absolutely fascinating but they remained surface level; this was frustrating especially as the narrative dropped hints of darker elements of both characters that the reader never gets to see. Margo's black humour was a bright spot, but for a probably pyschopath, she just felt a bit too normal for me to believe that she had committed heinous crimes. Similarly, Patricia, the library's new recruit, becomes obsessed with Margo, but we're never really told why.For me, the lack of character exploration cheapened the story for me, and left me wanting.

I loved the library setting & the descriptions of weirdo patrons, which elevated the novel from a mediocre thriller to something more fun. But I think if you like your thrillers bookish, you're much better off with Death of a Bookseller, which is both uncannily similar in concept and considerably better in execution.

There wasn't anything I didn't enjoy about this book. Such a fun read and what an ending!
Margo is a librarian with a secret, Patricia is a research librarian/wanna-be author who just can't help but find Margos little back story fascinating, obsessed and enthralled by her. These 2 characters were so easy to like, the whole of the library staff were fantastic. I adored this story