The Word On: Murder One

Murder One, the independent mystery bookstore that has occupied several locations along Charing Cross Road ... will shut its doors at the end of January ... Co-owner Maxim Jakubowski [said] the shop would be going into voluntary liquidation, and that all bills to publishers would be paid .... "I would rather close the shop now and go out voluntarily with my head held high"...this is still a huge loss to the mystery community ... Charing Cross Road will lose yet another shop... the indie bookstore world's light shines a bit less brightly.

Sarah Weinman (sarahweinman.com)

Bookshop businesses are ... highly vulnerable to economic stresses ... I'd hoped that Murder One would continue to survive, and I'm sad that it hasn't. But it's worth paying tribute to Maxim for his vision in setting it up, and for keeping it going for almost 21 years.

Martin Edwards (doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com)

If ever there was a bookseller who deserved to be in business for ever it was Maxim Jakubowski ... Still, I am by nature an optimist ... Running a bookshop in the uber-depths of the countryside ... is not for the faint-hearted, but what makes it work is the commitment of our customers, many of whom hover satisfactorily on the borderline between bibliophilia and bibliomania.

Sheridan Swinson (thebookseller.com)

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