More than 25,000 books of espionage and romantic mystery find short shelf life here. Devoted customers quickly pluck the works of Martha Grimes, James Patterson, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Texas's own Sandra Brown and Kinky Friedman. Add to those names Dean James, the store's former manager, who now is a writer and winner of two Agatha Awards for short story and nonfiction. He's built his own fans among longtime customers.

"Ma'am, how long have you been coming to Murder by the Book?" asks David Thompson, current assistant manager, of a loyal reader. She ponders and replies, "Martha, how long have you been open?"

First Editions and Toy Soldiers
Jim Taylor owns The Book Collector in a former firehouse at 4106 South Shepherd. He surrounds himself with antiquity of print and play in this combination shop of rare books and toy soldiers. His voice booms regally, his face roses up at an inquiry from a curious customer, and the antiquarian stacks surround him like a make-believe fort.

Behind his cozy desk, his shelves are lined with classics such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. A rare, first-edition copy of The Great Gatsby, a set of first editions of Ian Fleming's Bond novels, and dozens of history volumes cast an air akin to that of a china shop.

Jim holds a signed first edition of Hemingway's Torrents of Spring. "This one is $24,000," he says. He then launches into a lengthy soliloquy about the store he loves so much. He is equally enthusiastic about his antique toy soldiers as part of a store within a store, The Toy Soldier & Old Tin Soldier Shoppe.

Jim displays an excellent array of children's literature, too, including his line of first editions of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince. He taps a Mother Goose volume. "Humphrey Bogart's mother, Maud Humphrey, was its illustrator. Did you know that?" He moves on to the rare Texana shelf. "Ranching, Indian wars, the Alamo," he announces, tapping the bindings with his finger.

For half an hour Jim spins stories about writers in Paris and World War II, like a good grandfather with the youth of a proud boy. "If someone reads to a child, 99% of the time that child will grow up with the love of books," he states. His eyes widen, and he dots his point in the space between us. "Read, read, read."

With good booksellers such as Jim, Houston's generations-to-come will.