Mystery Bookshop Tour

In today’s episode, Brook and Sarah take a virtual tour of mystery-themed bookshops.

Discussed and mentioned

Mysterious Bookshop: https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/

Chronicles of Crime: https://chronicles-of-crime-your-mystery-bookshop.square.site/

Dead Write Books: https://www.deadwrite.com/dw.html

Mystery Loves Company: https://www.mysterylovescompany.com/browse/book

Whodunit Books: https://whodunitbooks.ca/

Poisoned Pen Bookstore: https://store.poisonedpen.com

Sleuth of Baker Street: https://sleuthofbakerstreet.ca/

Crime in Store: http://www.covent-garden.co.uk/SITES/crimeinstore/

Bodies in the Bookshop: https://bodiesinthebookshop.co.uk/

https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/mystery-bookstores

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Transcript

This transcript is generated by a computer and there may be some mis-spellings and strange punctuation. We try to catch these before posting, but some things slip through.

Sarah	Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I’m Sarah.
Brook	And I’m Brook, and we both love mystery.
Sarah	Hi, Brook.
Brook	Hi Sarah. You know, one of the sad things about not living in close proximity to one another is we’ve never been book shopping together.
Sarah	I know it’s it’s a bit disappointing. And so I thought maybe we could talk about some bookstores that if we were to go on a tour of bookshops around the world, where we would want to go.
Sarah	If you love reading, you probably find joy in visiting a bookshop. And as a mystery fan, it’s even better if it’s a mystery themed store. Even if it isn’t, there is likely a substantial section devoted to the genre.
Sarah	As the weather turns warmer and we think about summer holidays, let’s pack our virtual bags and go on a bookshop tour. Brook and I have compiled a list of mystery bookshops that we’ve visited or would like to.
Sarah	So Brook, where’s first on your list?
Brook	Well, I think that in the U.S. at least, there’s no better place to start a mystery bookshop tour than the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City.
Brook	ah This was opened in 1979 by Otto Penzler, and it is the oldest mystery specialist bookstore in America. Otto Penzler actually worked at Ellery Queen Magazine for Frederic Dannay himself.
Brook	And Dannay, you may remember, is half of the Ellery Queen pen name and the founder of the magazine. ah So spending all that time with Denae and it at the magazine Penzler is an expert himself in the mystery field, and he still works at the bookstore. So we would probably see Otto if we went in. um I will ah say, listeners, you must check out his YouTube videos and Instagram as well, because he just has such great content.
Brook	But back to the shop. The interior ah features rich wooden shelves creating a cozy and library-like atmosphere, and they stock the finest selection of new mystery hardcovers, paperbacks, and periodicals.
Brook	Like many mystery bookshops, it’s arranged in sections by subgenres. You know, there’s the crime section, thrillers, suspense, but they also have a large collection of signed modern first editions and rare and collectible hardcovers.
Brook	Otto Penzler is a huge collector or has been, and in some of his videos, I’ve learned that he has sold some of his rare and collectible hardcovers for tens of thousands of dollars. So… we really better take our checkbooks, Sarah.
Sarah	Amazing. Yeah I would love to visit the Mysterious Bookshop.
Brook	They also have a section that is um filled with Sherlock Holmes pastiche. So that would be a lot of fun, too.
Sarah	Imagine I think it just would be so inspiring. It just sounds like it’s you could spend days there.
Brook	I know. Where would you like to take us, Sarah?
Sarah	So I looked at um several shops in Canada, and a lot of them are actually virtual only. So I’m starting on the West Coast, ah because that’s where I am. um But a little further west is Victoria. And that is where Chronicles of Crime is located. And it was a physical bookshop until a few years ago when it moved exclusively online.
Sarah	There are probably few people in the world who know as much about mystery as Frances, who is the bookseller at Chronicles of Crime.
Brook	I would agree. And of course, Frances has been on the show with us and she is just a wealth of knowledge.
Sarah	So sticking on the West Coast, um I actually was surprised to discover that Vancouver has a mystery fiction bookstore. I have lived in the city for a long time, and I can’t believe that I didn’t realize this. um But there is a shop called Dead Write, W-R-I-T-E.
Sarah	Um, that is co-located with a science fiction bookshop. And I think that’s probably why I didn’t realize that it existed. So, the the science fiction bookshop, and this is the name on the front of the store, is White Dwarf Books. And so I think that’s why I didn’t realize that they also have an extensive collection of mystery books.
Sarah	But what I love about them is that they publish a quarterly catalog of forthcoming titles. It’s a very simple document that they publish. Ah there’s no book covers. It’s just the you know the author, the title, the publisher, and a description. But a really great way, I think, Brook, for us to get some inspiration for you know potential what would you do books or potential um potential themes that we could explore in the mystery space.
Brook	Oh, that sounds fantastic. And I love that shop name.
Sarah	Yeah, there are a few very like punny names that I came across.
Brook	I did too. And I love that, you know, because so many of the mystery titles are kind of punny. So it extends over into the bookshop. So that’s a lot of fun.
Brook	Well, if we were to leave the Mysterious Bookshop in New York, the next stop on my list is only a three-hour drive. So I think we could rent a car, pop in our favorite road trip tunes, and drive to Mystery Loves Company Bookstore in Oxford, Maryland.
Brook	This store is located in a renovated bank building circa 1900. It’s beautiful. it has the big pillars. It’s gorgeous. And it’s located in the beautiful historic waterfront town of Oxford.
Brook	um Aside from all the usual sub-genre sections, Mystery Loves Company also has a vintage paperback collection and a British crime classics selection, and I would love to look through that vintage paperback collection.
Brook	Listeners, if you don’t have time to book a trip to Maryland, the shop also has an online store just like Chronicles of Crime and we’ll list those in the show notes for you.
Sarah	Oh, that sounds wonderful.
Sarah	Uh, so for the next shop that we’re going to visit, up here in Canada, we actually have to board a plane unless you want to drive for a couple of days, but we’re going to fly to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and we’re going to visit Whodunit Mystery Bookstore, which has been open since 1994 and in was actually purchased by customers of the shop to continue its legacy.
Sarah	And it is, I think, the largest specialty mystery bookstore in Western Canada. um And they have a reading club, they have read, you know, readings from authors and and book signings. It sounds like an amazing place ah that I can’t wait to visit.
Brook	Oh, I want to go with you, Sarah. That place sounds amazing. And I love that customers bought it. You know, you can imagine this, the scenario behind that, that either the earlier owners were older and wanted to retire or for whatever reason, but the community came through and kept their mystery bookshop open. So that’s, that’s awesome.
Sarah	Yeah, I think that’s such a nice story. And man, does that ever sound like such a dream, right? To to run a ah ah bookshop and and um just be surrounded by books all day?
Brook	Yes, I’ve often wished that I owned a bookstore.
Brook	Well, for this next leg of our trip here in the U.S., we are also going to have to get on a plane because we’re going all the way to Scottsdale, Arizona, to the Poisoned Pen Bookstore.
Brook	And this shop was founded in 1989 by Barbara Peters. It’s an independent bookstore that carries a wide variety of fiction, but specializes in current and classic works of mystery and thrillers.
Brook	And this shop actually hosted the Left Coast Crime Conference in 1995. And most years, it has its own mystery-themed conference in Scottsdale.
Brook	The shop is very welcoming. It has large antique dining tables for its book displays, and it has signed photos hanging from the ceiling of all the famous mystery authors who have visited.
Brook	They also have a web store. You can even buy signed copies there and um join their Book of the Month Club. So we’ll will link that in the show notes for you.
Sarah	Oh, that sounds great. I love that they’ve hosted conferences.
Brook	Yeah, they seem to be very active in the mystery community. And ah this woman who opened the bookshop and her husband co-founded Poison Pen Press. So they actually have a small publishing company.
Sarah	That’s super interesting because Otto Penzler as well has a ah a publishing arm.
Brook	That’s right.
Sarah	Well, our next stop on the Canadian version of our tour is ah the Sleuth of Baker Street, which is in Toronto. So, we’re boarding another plane ah to get there.
Sarah	um Now, this shop is it has an online component, and that’s probably your best bet because they’re only open a few days a month. Um, and, uh, limited hours on those days. I think the booksellers have been in business for a very long time. And, uh, I’m guessing that this is their like easing into retirement.
Sarah	But they carry new and used books. It sounds like, you know, an excellent place to spend a few hours if you happen to be there on one of the days that they’re open.
Brook	Yeah, that sounds fantastic. And again, such a clever name for a bookstore. I think the Canadian shops win that prize.
Sarah	Well, I have two more on my list, Brook, but these aren’t in Canada. We’re going to have to get our passports and fly over to the UK. Uh, and we’re going to make our first stop at Crime in Store, which is in Covent Garden in London.
Sarah	And Crime in Store, um, specializes in crime and mystery books. Uh, they’ve got new books. I don’t think that they sell used books, but they do focus on UK and US publications um and carry books from ah the Golden Age, as well as books that are being released today. Something really fun about them is they’ve got a puzzle that’s posted on their website.
Sarah	And if you go into the shop and you’ve printed off a copy of that page of the website, you get a discount off of your first purchase and get to find out the answer if you haven’t solved it for yourself.
Brook	Oh, that is a great marketing tactic. I love that.
Sarah	Yeah, I thought that was I thought that was pretty fun.
Sarah	And then the final stop that I have on our tour is in Cambridge. So we’re gonna board a train and journey for a short distance to Bodies in the Bookshop.
Sarah	And this is a bookstore that focuses on crime in the college town or university town of Cambridge. Bodies in the Bookshop is two floors of crime fiction, and they carry new as well as used books and collectibles.
Sarah	And they’re right in Cambridge. So, you know, if you’re going to go and tour around the beautiful um town of Cambridge, you can definitely make a stop at the bookshop.
Brook	Oh that seems so picturesque and bookish. I bet that’s just like a gorgeous setting. I definitely want to go there.
Brook	Well, for any of you who might be looking for a mystery bookstore near you or you want to jump on a plane and go visit a special new one, Sisters in Crime has a great reference page that lists ah bookstores in Canada and the U.S. So we’ll include that for you.
Brook	And if you go on any trips to the any of those stores, we’d love to hear from you. Share some pictures and let us know how how your shopping day was.
Sarah	Well, thanks, Brook. And, you know, I don’t think this will be the only time that we talk about mystery bookshops or mystery tours. I can imagine us going on another virtual road trip at some point in the future.
Brook	I look forward to it, Sarah. But for today, listeners, thank you for joining us on Clued in Mystery. I’m Brook.
Sarah	And I’m Sarah, and we both love mystery.