Yes, sprawling existential fiction, in which characters reflect on their lives and nothing much happens until one moment of epiphany, has its place. But sometimes you want to read a book with a plot. When the mood strikes you, your best bet is I Love a Mystery. Independent bookstores on the Kansas and Missouri sides have been struggling over the past few years, but I Love a Mystery has done so well that it had to expand a year ago. That's not only because of its exhaustive selection of mysteries, thrillers and the like — it's just a fun place. There's something about a blood-spattered sign, randomly laid daggers and a copious number of skeletons that warms your heart the way Halloween did when you were young enough to trick-or-treat. And the Victorian library setting is just where you'd expect to find a corpse with a caved-in skull and a bloody candlestick on the floor. The atmosphere is put to good use during the store's events, which include book clubs, a weekly game of Clue and regular visits by authors.
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