Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore Move

Murder on the Beach will leave its current location at the end of this month.

Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore, in Delray Beach, Fla., will move next month to a retail space in the Delray Beach Public Library building. The bookstore and the library will have separate entrances, and store founder and manager Joanne Sinchuk said she's hoping for "synergy between the two." The new space is slightly smaller than the current store, Sinchuk said, but has more windows, and is located a few blocks away, on the main avenue through downtown (the current store is on a side street). Because of the smaller space, the store will stock slightly fewer titles, and the shipping/receiving area will be tight, she said. One of the bathrooms in the new space will be turned into her office.

Sinchuk and store owner David Wulf said, "We love Delray and are happy to be able to keep Murder on the Beach in the most fun small town in the USA." Delray Library director Karen Ronald added, "We have a lot in common and hope to make a difference in the community."

The bookstore had been on a month-to-month lease since its lease expired in December, and the site's owner plans to build a boutique hotel.

Murder on the Beach will be closed March 28-31 for the move, and will re-open at 104 West Atlantic Avenue on Monday, April 1. The store's phone number, e-mail, website and hours will remain the same.

Omaha Mystery Bookstore Closing

Sad News. Kate Birkel, owner of The Mystery Bookstore in Omaha, has decided to shut down after 21 years in business.

Read more here.

Mystery to Me: New Madison, WI Mystery Bookstore

A new bookstore, Mystery to Me, Madison, WI, opened last weekend. Joanne Berg bought Booked for Murder's inventory and shelving last February. According to The Isthmus,  "Mystery to Me won't be quite as odd and esoteric as Booked, but by sleuthing some of the challenges the old shop faced, Berg may have uncovered the key to independent bookselling in Madison."

According to ShelfAwareness:

Mystery to Me features bright-green paint, which "makes the store feel more sleek and less kooky than the cheerfully messy Booked for Murder," the paper wrote. "Whereas Booked featured a faux-antique radio set playing big-band music, Mystery to Me has a flat-screen TV mounted on a wall. Berg plans to use it to connect with authors over Skype."
 
Mystery to Me will partner with the nearby public library branch, which may hold events at the store.
 
Mystery to Me is adding sections for young and YA readers. For adults, the inventory is now arranged alphabetically, with separate sections only for new arrivals and signed copies.
 
Mystery to Me will order any book, mystery or not, and for a time, each purchase at the store comes with a free "mystery book" wrapped in white paper.

Read more about Joanne Berg and her ideas for the new bookstore HERE.

Facebook page for Mystery and Me

Portland's Murder by the Book closing

Another venerable mystery bookstore bites the dust. Portland's Murder by the Book will close in April. Very sad. Here's a link to the notice  on their website:

http://www.mbtb.com/

Hat Tip: Jim Fusilli

Partners & Crime to Close

More sad bookstore news. New York City's Partners & Crime has posted the following on their website:

After 18 years in the shop on Greenwich Avenue, Partners & Crime Mystery Booksellers is closing its doors on September 20th. 

We've had a great run and have enjoyed helping a generation of readers find the books they love. 

We've had a lot of fun, learned a tremendous amount, and enjoyed our time with all of you - customers, authors and publishers. 

Stop by, reminisce and check out our THANK YOU sale -- and maybe find that favorite title you really can't live without! Couldn't have done it without you! 

With our great appreciation to all , and a special thank you to Bernard Charles, our landlord, for all their support. 

All of us at Partners & Crime