I grew up in Palm Springs, CA where the temperature is over 100 degrees multiple months of the year. So, opposite to the East coast winter season but under the same theory, the summer season meant hours staying out of the weather and reading. When we recently drove to Scottsdale, AZ for my daughter and I to attend a program at Taliesin West and the boys to golf, I felt the oppressive heat before I stepped out of the air-conditioned car. But knowing that reading helped me survive the summers, I suspected a good bookstore was in the area, and I was right.
The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale AZ is primarily a mystery bookstore. I’m not a huge fan of mysteries, I’ve read Agatha Christie but I gave up at “C” for the Sue Grafton series. I was relieved when I asked the owner for a recommendation and she handed me The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It was a bestseller in 2005 when it was published, but I never got to it. The owner described the book as a re-telling of the Dracula story that’s suspenseful, but not creepy. It occurs to me that this could be a good complement to the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer that my daughter is reading over and over again.
The store itself is mostly glass walls so it’s sunny and bright (and possibly boiling at times, but it was early in the day and lovely). It has light stained bookshelves lining the solid walls, lots of free-standing bookshelves and several tables scattered throughout the store. One table was reserved for the next author event (a look at the calendar showed a constant flow of authors, so if you’re in the area, check to see if one is occurring), another table had new arrivals (not all of which were mysteries) and a large table with stacks of staff recommendations.
The store has a nice collection of signed and collectible books. Not all of the books were mysteries, nor were they all from author events, it appeared that some of them were sent from other sources. A check on the website confirmed that The Poisoned Pen receives collectible books on a regular basis. The website is terrific; if you’re interested in mysteries head over. There are recommendations, lists of newly arrived collectible books and dozens of interviews with authors. There is a six part interview with Diana Gabaldon that I’m in the middle of and will probably write about soon.
A unique aspect to this bookstore, in addition to being primarily a specialty bookstore, is its association with the Poisoned Pen Press. There are shelves and shelves of mystery books published by Poisoned Pen Press. The clerk I asked about the Press said that it was separate from the bookstore, so I looked on the website (be careful to look at Poisoned Pen Press, not Poison Pen Press which is a press for medieval cookery, a title which isn’t a great recommendation for medieval cookery in my opinion). The owner of the bookstore constantly bemoaned the fact that so many great mysteries were out of print, so her employees suggested she open a press to re-print them, and she did. The Press expanded to printing new works and several have been nominated for awards. The submission guidelines for new works are included on the website. Additionally, the Press runs a Mystery of the Month Club, join it and you’ll receive a new mystery each month.
Now that I’m back home, I wish I had specifically asked for a good mystery, maybe something with a historical fiction angle, I might have discovered a whole new area of reading!
The Poisoned Pen
4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., Ste 101
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Tel: 888-560-9919
Tags: Arizona, Arizona bookstore, book club, mystery, Scottsdale, Scottsdale bookstore, small press, unique
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