Another Bookstore Snuffed Out in Greenwich Village

From the Villager: Nearly two decades of poisoning, shooting and other assorted mayhem in New York are coming to an end. After 18 years of life, a West Village bookshop chock-full of mysteries and crime novels will be interred next month.

Partners & Crime Mystery Booksellers, located since 1994 on Greenwich Ave. at Charles St., is shuttering its doors. Sleuthing out the reasons for its demise does not require the skills of Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple.

“It’s been hard times for independent bookstores,” said Maggie Topkis, a co-owner.

Its demise adds to the heap of defunct mystery bookstores in the city that have closed in the past decade, including Murder Ink, on Broadway in the W. 90s, and Black Orchid Bookshop, on E. 81st St., whose parties sometimes extended into the street. The three owners of Partners & Crime got to know each at Foul Play, on Hudson St., another mystery bookstore that was rubbed out.

Otto Penzler, founder of the Mysterious Bookshop, on Warren St., said mysteries sell well, but that mystery bookstores, like all independent bookstores, have struggled. He said one of the specialties that keep his bookstore going is the number of signed copies it sells.”

Steven Viola, daytime manager at Partners & Crime, said the authors who came to read there were a highlight of working there. He mentioned P.D. James, Colin Dexter, Lee Child and Michael Connelly as some authors who were particularly pleasant.