Founded: 1991

Owner: Debbie Mitsch

Mystery Ink bookstore is one of the few remaining independent bookstores in Orange County, and the only one in the city of Huntington Beach (my home town).

As suggested by its title, this bookstore is dedicated to everything mystery, crime, and horror. From Agatha Christie to Reese Bowen to Stephen King and everything in between.

The store itself is located in a shopping center on Warner and Magnolia, tucked in a corner on the back side of the building. Finding the store may be a bit like solving a mystery itself, but it is part of the fun and personality of the bookstore.

The interior of the store resembles a small living room. It is a cozy space with first editions shelves as well as best sellers and discounted books. You may even meet Carly, the beautiful shepherd that roams the halls or Jonesy the skeleton who also lives among the mysteries. The other two rooms are filled with paper back crime novels as well as classics such as Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

I brought my grandma with me when I visited Mystery Ink for she has read A-Z of the mystery sections in both the Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley libraries. She recognized almost every author and title you can imagine, impressed by Mystery Ink’s wide selection. When browsing the shelves, make sure to take advantage of Debbie’s expertise!


THE STORY

Debbie Mitsch opened Mystery Ink Bookstore in 1991 in Laguna Beach, California. During that time, Laguna was experiencing devastating mudslides that took out a majority of shops and homes in the area. Luckily, her bookstore survived, but as a consequence of the damage to the surrounding areas, there were very few visitors to the store.

Debbie lived in Huntington Beach and decide to relocate to her home town. Unfortunately, all the bookstores were going out of business in the late 90’s and early 2000’s so she did not re-open her current location until five years ago.

Debbie has loved mysteries ever since she was a little kid. She grew up reading Nancy Drew and has read through every single Agatha Christie novel. She is an expert on mysteries and hosts many outside events including Friends of the Library conventions, the Festival of Books in LA, and provides books for the UCR Palm Desert Masters writing program.

Mystery Ink is extremely involved in the writing community and Debbie even started the Orange County chapter of “Sisters in Crime” almost 30 years ago. This organization is devoted to promoting women mystery writers and Debbie hosts their “Ladies of Intrigue” event each year that invites a panel of authors to speak about their work and meet their fans. They’ve even hosted Tom Sawyer, author of “Murder She Wrote” series, and interviews with Michael Brandman, who is directing the “Jessie Stone” television series.  

There are other mystery organizations such as Southern California Writers of America that hand out the “Edgar Allen Poe” award each year which is equivalent to an Oscar for mystery writers. In addition, Mystery Ink provides authors and books for a monthly reading at the Starbucks across the street, engaging the surrounding community by allowing readers to meet and talk to authors, which is one of the greatest aspects of their community involvement.

NOTABLE SECTIONS

Inside of the genre of “mystery” there are multiple variations and styles of story-telling. There are “cozy” series, in which setting and character development are of utmost importance. Cozy series also avoid graphic violence. Debbie “loves books that give good settings, when you actually feel like you’re visiting a country without actually going there.” A good example of a cozy writer would be Reese Bowen and Mystery Ink carries all of her series! 

Mystery Ink also has a classics, non-fiction, and children’s section, as well as hard boiled and thrillers. A few other great mystery authors you might wanna check out while you’re in Mystery Ink are Ellen Byron, Wendall Thomas, and Vaseem Kahn whose latest series follows policemen in India.  

Used Books: ✓

New Books: ✓

Rare Books: ✓

Cafe: ✕

Wifi: ✕

Pets: ✓

Visit their website and social media for updates on new arrivals and awesome community events!

Website: http://www.mysteryink.com/

Facebook: Mystery Ink

Share your experience with @everyotherbookstore !