Roger Mifflin owns a bookshop. A haunted bookshop. He says that it’s haunted by all the books he hasn’t read yet, but recent events have made those around him wonder if the bookshop may be haunted by something more. One book in particular seems to disappear and reappear with surprising frequency.

When advertising man Audrey Gilbert shows up at the bookshop to try to convince Roger to try some advertising, Roger insists that it isn’t necessary for a second-hand bookshop to pay for advertising and instead starts telling Audrey about the benefits of spending one’s life surrounded by books. They strike up a friendship that keeps Audrey coming back several times to listen to Roger talk books. And when a local businessman, and a client of Audrey’’s, places his daughter Titania in the bookshop to learn about the real world, then Audrey is even more keen to spend time at the bookshop.

But Audrey’s curiosity about the missing book and all the other things about Roger and his business (and about Titania as well) puts him in danger. One night as Audrey is walking home, he is struck from behind and almost thrown off of a bridge. It was the quick thinking by a passerby who saved him, and Audrey knew what he had to do from there. He started to stake out the bookshop and try to find out everything he could on that quirky bookseller. He had to keep Titania safe, no matter the cost to him.

What could possibly be going on at that bookshop?

The Haunted Bookshop was first published in 1919 by Christopher Morley, and it’s just as fascinating today as it was then. There is a lot of information about books and selling them, so if that’s not something you’re interested in, then Roger’s soliloquys will become tiresome. But you can always skim over those if you feel the need and focus on the action, which there is plenty. It’s clearly a little dated, but it’s also a lot of great fun for cozy lovers who don’t mind going back in time about a hundred years.

I listened to the audio on this one, and narrator Victoria Bradley brought this story to life for me. It may not have been the most professional or polished of deliveries, but there is no denying her respect for the material. It may have taken me a little time to get into the story originally, but once I got hooked, I couldn’t stop. I’m going to have to add Morley’s first book about Roger Mifflin, Parnassus on Wheels, on my list of books to read soon.