Mystery-romance bookstore opens in North Center amid rise of specialty shops

During COVID, Jeff Morse realized reading could be an excellent way to cope with the doom and gloom of the pandemic shutdown. He dove deep into the world of mystery, horror and thriller novels with the encouragement of his wife, Amanda Morse, an avid romance reader.

The couple's combined book tastes have culminated in the opening of the new North Center bookstore, Partners in Crime. Fittingly, the romance-mystery bookstore at 4105 N. Lincoln Ave. opened to the public on Valentine’s Day, with a line out the door throughout the day.

Jeff and Amanda moved to Chicago from Dallas the day much of the city shut down, in March 2020. Amanda, 39, and Jeff, 35, turned to reading during the pandemic amid remote work.

But it wasn’t until Amanda was laid off from her job and faced an unfriendly market in 2024, that the couple decided it might be time to pivot to a longtime dream.

“I had always talked about wanting to have a bookstore,” Amanda said. “We kind of talked about it more and more, and we're like, ‘well, now maybe it's the time for this dream to come true.’"

The two are the only employees working at the genre mashup bookstore, and Jeff still works full-time as a copywriter.

“We are the partners in crime,” Jeff laughed.

The niche business theme mirrors growing trends in bookstores. The number of indie bookstores increased by 18% in 2024, the American Booksellers Association reported.

Specialty bookstores were projected to lead the global distribution market with 37% share in the global book market in 2024, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights.

But genre-specific bookstores have been brewing for a while.

A mashup of personal tastes

Mystery bookstores were prominent throughout the 1970s and the 1980s in the United States, with the first opening in New York City in 1972.

In 2016, the first romance book store, Ripped Bodice, opened in California, the first in the Northern Hemisphere; the only other was located in Australia.

Others soon followed. In Chicago, The Last Chapter Book Shop, a romance bookstore also in North Center, opened in 2023. Afterglow Books in New York, which combined the romance and fantasy genres with a Taylor Swift theme, opened in 2024.

While other genre bookstores have opened — such as Chicago’s own horror store Bucket O’Blood Books & Records — the popularity of the romance and mystery genres has prevailed.

The mystery and romance genres have dominated the book market industry in recent years, a key reason the Morse couple tapped into the mashup.

"I love romance, but there's already romance bookstores ... [we thought] maybe we need to find a different niche ... I love romance, love a happy ending, but then when I need a break, I'm like, let's go to gruesome true crime,” Amanda said.

The couple noticed a growing trend that they thought could pave the way for Partners in Crime.

"We've noticed there's definitely been a kind of mashing of the two genres ... it's a romance story, but also a mystery,” Jeff said.

And the urge to create a space the couple themselves wanted to shop at contributed to the decision.

"If we're gonna make a store, we have to make one that we can both shop at,” Jeff said. “And so many couples have come in and done that, husband will go over here and [the wife there]."

Destination for the neighborhood

Since opening, the 1,500-square-foot space has been a destination for families. A corner of Partners in Crime is dedicated to children’s books.

“It was important for us that we were still a bookstore for the neighborhood,” Jeff said. “Because, not everyone reads romance, not everyone reads mystery, but we hope … since we've got true crime, nonfiction, a young adult section, a kids' section. … There’s something for everyone.”

Amanda was excited to platform many indie writers — self-published and from smaller publishers — who are often overlooked.

“I gravitated toward a lot of the indies and the smaller authors, just because there are a lot of people that aren't out there, that we're not hearing their voices,” she said. “There are so many underrepresented Black authors and things like that. And I'm just like, we want your voice. We want to hear you.”

And in Partners in Crime, the two genres are broken down even further into subgenres, such as romantic suspense, cozy mystery and romantic fantasy, making it easy for readers to find what they're looking for.

"The big bookstore chain... [is] just focusing on stuff that sells really well, which then ultimately, I think, hurts readers, because they're not going to bump into a lot of books that are mid-lists,” Amanda said.

So far, business has been positive and encouraging, Jeff said. A book club is planned, as well as other community events.

"I'm just happy it's doing well enough that I'm like, OK, we can stay open... we can pay our bills,” he said.

Throughout the store are stickers, postcards, candles and notebooks tailored to book lovers. Seating in the back was chosen to make all customers feel welcomed.

"And that's because that's the big thing about romance, is that anybody can see themselves in it,” Amanda said. “And everybody's represented."