I found this bookmark in an old paperback I grabbed off my bookshelf a couple of days ago.
When I moved to Austin in 1996, there were three bookstores where a lover of crime fiction could achieve Nirvana–Austin Books, Adventures in Crime and Space, and Mysteries & More. And then time passed.
Mark Finn worked at Austin Books and kept the crime fiction section well-stocked. When he moved on, the owners decided to go 100% comic book and a great resource was gone.
Adventures in Crime and Space had a primo spot on 6th Street. Not surprisingly, selling books to geeks wasn’t enough to pay the rent. It still exists as an online dealer, but that’s just not the same as a brick-and-mortar store that you can walk into and lose yourself for awhile.
Mysteries & More was run by an old couple, Jan and Elmer, who closed it when they decided it was time to retire. Elmer told me he wanted to sell it, but couldn’t find a buyer. I wanted so much to be independently wealthy right then, so I could buy it and run it at a loss as a service to my adopted town and lovers of books everywhere. Alas, not meant to be.
The last time I was at Mysteries & More, only a couple of weeks before the doors were shuttered, Elmer related to me that in the many years that he owned the store, only one customer had bounced a check. That customer later went in to make things right. Apparently, most of us who love double-dealing, dishonesty, and betrayal in our fiction wouldn’t dream of it in the real world. In general, I don’t really think of myself as part of any crime fiction “community.” I’ve never been to a convention, and, with a couple of exceptions, have no contact with the movers and shakers who produce the books that I love. But at that moment, hearing that story, I was proud that I was a part, in my own little way, of whatever community there is.
We’ve gained a lot in the Internet era, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If I’ve got the bucks, I can now find and purchase any book I want, and I’ve probably acquired well over a hundred titles I wouldn’t own if I had to do it by haunting used bookstores. But we’ve lost something, too; something I miss deeply.
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That was a great store, all right. Elmer’s passed away, but Jan’s still going strong, writing short stories and novels.
Bill:
I’m very sorry to hear that Elmer has left us. He was a class act.
I don’t think I ever met Jan, but I’m happy to hear she’s still fighting the good fight. I’ll need to track down some of her work. I’ve never read a novel that takes place in Austin, and would love to.
Here in the UK we can only dream of a crime fiction book store – there was one in London but it closed a while back. But I know what you mean about something being lost in the internet age; it’s great being able to track down so many books so easily (although not ALL books; some are still elusive, even now), but it does lessen the thrill of the hunt, or at least makes the hunt a more sedentary affair.
I’m shocked that London was unable to support a specialty crime shop. Of course, there aren’t many left over here, either, and I’m sure all of them are run much more for love than money.
I rarely have a problem finding a book, but then again, I’m not generally particular about getting a first edition–I just want to read the darn thing. (Which shouldn’t be taken to mean that I’m not delighted when I do score something rare and valuable, like my first printing of The Hunter.)
I could see myself running into this problem if I were to pursue certain interests further, however; for example taking a stab at completing runs of the Shadow and the Spider, where there’s still a lot out there that hasn’t been printed other than in the original pulp magazines. For me to even consider such a path would require the full-time employment that continues to elude me in the current economy, and quite lucrative employment at that. And then I’d probably be afraid to read my treasures!
I don’t know how effective it is for books, but I’ve scored a couple of times on albums using eBay saved searches.
What a fun time! You and the clothes bhgertin up the web’ screen! :) I love that white jacket. A must have!ps-so funny because I have started a post similiar as to why LJ is the only way to go for gals like us. Great minds think alike I would say. ;)
That shop was called Murder One, on Charing Cross Road in central London, where there are a lot of bookshops. I think they still have an online presence, but I guess they just weren’t making ends meet to have a physical shopfront, even in the best known books district of London.
Book collecting does get tricky when you’re looking for particular first editions. Some things just aren’t online at all – like the British Hodder hardback first editions of most the Grofield books, for example. On Amazon UK, there are currently no copies of any of them for sale, while AbeBooks only have a few copies of the Damsel from Australia. The Hodder editions never come up on eBay. I did get a UK first of The Damsel a while back, but I’ve had to switch to US firsts for the other three, and even then they’re not that easy to find at affordable prices.
‘Course, in the final analysis, it shouldn’t really matter if a book’s a first edition or not… but to daft buggers like me, it sadly does.