Donaghue and Stainer Join the Prime Crime Bookshelf at Britton's

Photo by Amanda D. (Yelp)

As readers of The Overnight Bestseller may recall, I have blogged before about my affection for independent bookstores and how much fun it can be to see my name up in chalk.  In an age of economies of scale, it's increasingly difficult for local businesses to compete with large chains, particularly in the bookselling business where even the large bricks-and-mortar bookstores are threatened with extinction.  That's why I urge people to support their local independent bookstores wherever they are, whenever possible.

You can imagine, then, why I had a smile on my face this Saturday when I walked into Britton's in the Glebe in Ottawa and took a look at the new Prime Crime Bookshelf, the brainchild of Linda Wiken and store owner Ted Britton. For fourteen years Linda owned the Ottawa mystery specialty store Prime Crime Books, which closed in 2010. She is now the author of  the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries as Erika Chase, the first novel of which, A Killer Read, was recently published. It would seem, though, that bookselling was an itch she still longed to scratch, and when Ted Britton decided to expand the small book section in his magazine and cigar store, crime fiction and Linda Wiken presented the perfect opportunity.

As Linda explains in a recent post on her blog, Mystery Maven Canada, the focus of the Prime Crime Bookshelf "will be on Canadian mystery authors, particularly local Ottawans," with the usual suspects such as Stieg Larsson, Michael Connelly, and other bestsellers in their own little ghetto on the side. The objective will be to "give a good representation of what's happening in the mystery/crime field."

How pleased and honoured was I, then, when Linda and Ted agreed to accept the Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series as part of their new venture? And how much fun was it when a loyal customer, Johanne, purchased a copy of Blood Passage and allowed me to sign it for her before the books even made it to the shelf?

On the subject of book signings, I also was pleased to accept their invitation to serve as their first book signing event on September 15, 2012, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. More to follow on that score later.

I should mention that Britton's is located at 846 Bank Street, Ottawa. I should also mention, in the interest of full disclosure, that before I left I bought a nice selection of cigars to enjoy while the weather's still nice outside. And the next time I'm there, I'll probably pick up a fistful of magazines you don't see hardly anywhere else. How perfect is this? Great cigars, eclectic magazines, and crime fiction. The best of all possible worlds, perhaps?