10 Enchanting Bookstore Mysteries

Miranda Brooks had fond memories of her Uncle Billy and their scavenger hunt adventures. But all she knows is that something happened with her 16th birthday, and she never saw him again. When she hears news of his passing, she discovers that he left her Prospero Books, his bookstore. But he also leaves her with another of his  scavenger hunts that might help her understand why the schism occurred.

I loved this book so much. It was the first fiction book I’ve read that critiques data and data visualization. And it’s a heck of a book mystery. Clay Jannon finds himself working at the 24-Hour Bookstore. All day/night long, strange patrons come just to check out books. Clearly, something is afoot. So Jannon decides to use his skills in web design and the talents of his friends to try to get behind this strange bookstore’s mysteries and that of its owner, Mr. Penumbra.

Ivan and Francesca want to make a bookstore unlike the big bookstores in the world. This is a bookstore with carefully curated literature by a secret committee. But when the owners start getting threats, internet rumors fly, and members of the secret committee begin getting attacked, Ivan and Francesca have to call in police to find out why someone or someones are determined to destroy their bookshop.

Did I mention I have a soft spot for antiquarian bookstores? Daniel grew up around books with his father, an antiquarian bookseller and widower. At age 10, they go to the Cemetery of Lost Books, where Daniel gets to select a single book. His choice is Julian Carax’s The Shadow of the Wind. However, several years later, he meets a man who reminds him of a devilish character in Carax’s book that appears to be on a mission to destroy all of the author’s works. Determined to find out why this man wants to destroy all of Carax’s work, Daniel ends up in a labyrinthine world of post-war Barcelona with its dark and sometimes bloody secrets. There are four books in this series.

I’m ending this list with a delightful YA series that I found in my favorite bookshop in London. Tilly grew up in a bookshop owned by her grandparents after her mother mysteriously vanished. But one day, Tilly starts seeing characters from classical literature, like Alice in Wonderland and Anne of Green Gables, wandering around the shop. They might help her understand why her mother disappeared all those years before. There are three books, with the fourth projected to come out on 10/19/21.