Mystery-Lovers’ Bookstore Dies--the Economy Did It

Sitting in the wing-back chair in front of a crackling, simulated fire, one could sometimes hear the lonely wail of the hounds of the Baskervilles. Big Ben chimed in the distance.

But the dogs and bells, which helped create the mysterious atmosphere of Sherlock’s Home bookstore in Long Beach, were quieted last weekend when the shop’s doors closed for the last time.

The Victorian mantel, claw-foot tables and comfy chairs where customers could curl up with the latest spine-tingler have been sold, ending the 15-year run of the popular mystery-theme bookstore in the Naples area.

“I wanted to create a home for all detectives and enthusiasts,” said owner Beth Caswell. “But I just can’t compete with the discount bookstores anymore. It’s very sad.”

Caswell said she opened Sherlock’s Home out of frustration. She found few knowledgeable booksellers when she went shopping for new mysteries to read--gentle detectives for herself, hard-boiled sleuths for her husband. Only two or three bookstores in the country were dedicated to mysteries, Caswell said.

So, using her love of theater and books, Caswell created the store she dreamed of. The books were identified by category: Victorians, Junior Sleuth (as in Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys), Sherlock Holmes, True Crime, Vampires. The section called Gentle Mayhem displayed books where “someone probably got boshed on the head in the library while someone else was having sherry with the vicar,” Caswell said.

Customers were invited to sit in antique chairs at the hearth, where the sounds of a crackling fire, Big Ben and distant hounds were piped in.

In 1990, on the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birth, Caswell hosted a tea for 250, and hired an actress to play the intrepid detective Miss Marple.

Sherlock’s Home was also where local mystery writers often got their first hearing. Authors such as Gary Amo, Larry Taylor and Wendy Hornsby became regulars. Customers heard excerpts of Jan Burke’s “Good Night, Irene” before publication.

While the store gained in popularity, building a mailing list of 5,000 international customers who snatched up books and memorabilia such as replicas of the Maltese Falcon, Caswell’s bottom line was suffering.

She lost some customers after moving to a larger store on Anaheim Street about eight years ago, Caswell said. She returned to 2nd Street in Naples in 1992, but the deepening recession and new discount bookstores cut severely into her profits.

Caswell hopes to continue a mystery series, aired on the city’s public-access cable channel, where she looks for ghosts, interviews real private investigators and reads. But Sherlock’s Home is closed for good, she said.

“This was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot,” Caswell said. “But I’m done with retail. It’s just too hard a row to hoe.”