The Haunted Bookshop

"The Haunted Bookshop" is a so called "bibliomystery" (a mystery story set in the world of books) from 1919. It is the story of the eccentric owner of the Haunted Bookshop, Roger Mifflin, who some readers might remember from "Parnassus on Wheels". This second-hand, Brooklyn bookstore is "haunted by the ghosts of all great literature."

It is set around the time of the end of World War I. A young man, Aubrey Gilbert, stops by the shop, trying to sell Mifflin advertising copy. He fails but is intrigued by the proprietor. Later, a certain volume mysteriously disappeared from Mifflin’s shelves. This is a lively and often humorous tale. It is full of intrigues and is generously sprinkled with liberal doses of Mifflin’s unique philosophy on literature and book selling. Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was an American author, poet and journalist from Pennsylvania. His father was a mathematics professor and his mother a violinist. The family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1900 and he later studied modern history at Oxford. After getting his degree, he moved back to America and married Helen Booth Fairchild, with whom he had four children. Morley was a prolific writer and is remembered for novels such as "Parnassus on Wheels" (1917), "The Haunted Bookshop" (1918), "Thunder on the Left" (1925), and "Kitty Foyle" (1939).