The Haunted Bookshop

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley, published in 1919, is a charming mystery set in Brooklyn, New York, in the years following World War I. Though not about literal ghosts, the bookshop in question is “haunted” by the spirits of great literature and ideas. The story follows Roger Mifflin, a passionate bookseller, and his young assistant Aubrey Gilbert, who becomes entangled in a political conspiracy involving missing books and a suspicious customer. Blending literary commentary with elements of espionage, the novel is both a love letter to books and a lighthearted thriller. Morley’s writing is witty and thoughtful, filled with references to classic literature and philosophical musings. The plot, while suspenseful, is often secondary to the novel’s celebration of the bookshop as a haven of knowledge and imagination. It is a sequel to Parnassus on Wheels and continues the adventures of one of literature’s most endearing bibliophiles.