The best bookstores offer a sense of community. You want to feel like the staff has read everything in the store and can predict what you're in the mood for just by getting a whiff of your cologne. When it comes to books about death and intrigue, store manager Joanne Sinchuk is the bookseller of your dreams (er, nightmares?). Murder on the Beach specializes exclusively in mystery novels, and Sinchuk was even the former president of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association back when, she remembers, there were between 60 and 70 mystery-only bookshops in the nation. Now, there are barely 30. "We had to disband the association two years ago," she says morosely. But her passion for the genre hasn't waned. There's no better place to dig into a good mystery novel than the beach, and if you're a collector, Murder on the Beach sells signed books online to people all over the world. "We've got a big client in Finland," Sinchuk says. Luckily, you won't have to travel that far to get your fix.
Readers' choice: Murder on the Beach Bookstore