Today, as I was reading The Columbus Dispatch, I came across an article about the Foul Play Mystery Bookstore (the picture is the two owners inside the shop; I do not take credit for the photo), a privately owned used bookstore in Westerville, which is about a 15 minute drive from my house. My mom and I decided to go and check it out.

What we found was fantastic.

From floor to ceiling, the place was packed with shelf upon shelf of mystery novels, some new, but mostly used. Books. Everywhere. The store is on the first floor of an old house; the owners live upstairs. Because it was an old house, the wooden floors creaked only like those of an old house with character can. Books surrounded the fireplace and the mantle, and the old-time furniture looked especially inviting. I could have easily spent all day here. In the end, I had to restrict myself to buying only four books. I bought two novels by Harlan Coben, one by Michael Crichton and one by John Grisham.

Overall, I’d say that it was definitely a very successful trip, and I’ll be back for sure!

To make things even better, just around the corner is Schneider’s Bakery, where the smell hits you just as you walk in. It was great. The sweet smell of sugar combined with baking bread was absolutely heavenly. I ended up eating a fresh chocolate doughnut that had been baked right there in the store. It’s for sure one place I’ll be sure to visit again!