Mystery writer Mary Tant talks about the bookshops throughout the country which she enjoys the most.

An invitation to read…

Devon

Ashburton, Devon

Bovey Tracey, First Draft Books

This little bookshop recently celebrated its second birthday. Tucked away in the corner of the larger shop of Grace and Favour on Fore Street, it was once, for a very short time, a secret known to only a few people. Now it’s become a hub for people interested in books – buying them, reading them, talking about them, writing them.

Cross the main shop to find the little passage that leads to a small room lined with books that is First Draft Books. It may be small in size, like so many of the new independent bookshops, but Leslie, the owner, makes a big impact with the range of books she stocks and with the number of events arranged through the bookshop.

Storytelling, author talks (with an impressive history already of interesting authors), writers’ social for aspiring authors, literary suppers, discussion groups.

Much of the focus is on community, coming together for enjoyment in a mutual interest in as many ways as possible. And providing what good writers have always done for their readers, and a stimulus to curious minds.

First Draft Books is going from strength to strength, reaching beyond Bovey Tracey with an outlet in the Zero Waste shop is Moretonhampstead and into other parts of South Devon. So Happy Birthday to a successful venture, and may it long continue to thrive.

A major new event for this year is the first Bovey Book Fest, this time for children. Packed with lots of exciting authors to meet and things to do at venues across Bovey. Don’t miss it. Saturday 14 March 2026, 10am to 5pm For further details, see the bookshop’s website: firstdraftbooks.co.uk

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Dartmouth

In Higher Street, aptly named as it's higher than the quayside, is the Dartmouth Community Bookshop. It's small, but well stocked with fiction, although the crime books tend to be predominantly Kate Ellis's Tradmouth-based series. Not surprising, when stock has to be carefully chosen in such a limited space. The new books were an interesting variety, and there are local history and children's sections, as well as a second-hand area.

The bookshop deserves to do well. It's a chiefly voluntary operation, established after the closure of the Harbour Bookshop founded by Christopher Robin Milne in the 1950s. His memory is kept fresh with the provision of Winnie the Pooh books.

When I visited recently there were people looking at the window displays, and people inside searching the shelves. The shop itself is ideally situated. Buy a book here and cross over to the black and white half-timbered Cherub Inn, whose upper storey overhangs the narrow lane. Or go down the wide cobbled stairs beside the inn to the riverside below and settle on a bench. Otherwise do what I did, carry on along the lane, go round the church and into the Dart Café to start reading your new book.

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Totnes, Devon

The castle mound rises steeply up in an almost vertical green slope, crowned by the pale stone walls of Totnes Castle itself.

The street that runs below is named after it, Castle Street. It’s a quiet narrow thoroughfare winding through old houses and cottages, quite different from the bustling High Street climbing the hill at one end.

And here is the second-hand bookshop that Belle Collard founded more than 40 years ago. Belle, Book and Castle, she summed it all up neatly. Inside there’s just the one main room, with a neighbouring space like a large cupboard. It may be small, but all the categories I’m interested in are to be found here – crime fiction, history, topograhy, nature, biography. And there are also the ones that don’t draw me quite so much, like transport.

I’ve never come here without finding a book to buy, and I hope I’m going to have the opportunity to carry on doing so. For Belle Collard died recently, and volunteers still man the shop, waiting to see what will become of it, for it and the house it’s in are now for sale.

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Dorset

Sherborne

The light bright interior of Winstone’s bookshop is especially appealing as soon as I step inside. So too is the selection of books that fills the pale wooden bookshelves lining the walls and are also piled on tables in the room. Most categories are covered, with a good general fiction section and an interesting display of local titles.

Further back in the shop is the children’s section, complete with rocking horse and toys for those who aren’t yet engrossed in books, and a soft squishy sofa to sink onto with a possible purchase. Or for more grown-up style, head for the two tables at the front of the shop to sit over a coffee and start to enjoy the book that’s just been bought.

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Hampshire