My Biz: Bookstores specializes in mysteries

Owners: Todd Meyer

Company: Mystery Cat Books

Address: 112 32nd St. Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids

Phone: (319) 363-2179

Website: www.themysterycatbooks.com

Elevator pitch: Hardbound first-editions, my dear Watson

CEDAR RAPIDS - Don't let the name by the door fool you. Mystery Cat Books doesn't sell just mystery stories centered on cats.

Mystery Cat is Iowa's largest bookstore that specializes in mystery, detective and crime fiction, with an emphasis on signed copies.

“We currently have over 600 signed first-editions in stock,” said owner Todd Meyer, who opened the used hardcover book business 6 years ago this December with his wife, Ruth. This is a town replete with used-paperback stores.

In addition to mystery and suspense genres, the store also carries more 4,000 hardcovers in general fiction, non-fiction, science fiction/horror and juvenile series books as well as vintage pulps, magazines and paperbacks. One room caters to nearly 300 vintage cookbooks with culinary-flavored murder mysteries added to the mix.

Another book display features only Iowa authors.

Meyer, who describes himself as a “diseased mystery collector” and one of two original owners of the Irish Democrat Pub, decided to transition from the restaurant business he'd enjoyed for 25 years to his other passion - hardcover mysteries and collectible books.

“A bookstore, for 95 percent of the people, is a destination location. We wanted a shop that was fun,” he said, crediting wife Ruth's decorating prowess.

From crime scene tape and a meat cleaver protruding from a picture on the wall to stuffed toy black cats or grinning alligators perched around the shop - the affect is pleasurably quirky.

What's white hot right now? Vintage young-adult books, Meyer said.

“It's the stuff you or your parents grew up with,” he said, pointing to the room devoted to the likes of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys from the 1930s and '40s.

While books throughout the store cover a range of prices, several racks at the front contain more than 1,300 copies that sell at $10 for 5 books.

“We don't necessarily deal in a lot of brand-new books, with the exception of those by well-known Iowa authors Max Allan Collins or Ed Gorman,” Meyer explained. “We've sold over 1,000 Ed Gorman books, and probably in excess of 800 by Max Allan Collins.”

Mystery Cat has hosted book signings for them both.

In April 2010 the business expanded to online selling via eBay. Meyer contended he knew nothing about eBay and considered himself extremely lucky to hire one of his customers, Tom Rutledge, to assist with the task.

But Meyer still enjoys that contact with in-store customers.

“We can help them find the specific books they want. If they come in wanting something different from what they've been reading, I can lead them to other authors,” he said.

“It's a nice feeling when I get to help somebody step out of their comfort zone and try some different things to read and have them come back and tell me how much they enjoyed the book.”