Lakewood resident Jay Setliff’s forte is murder.
Setliff is the editor and publisher of “Mostly Murder”, a free, bi-monthly paper that reviews mystery novels.
“Mystery is one of the healthiest fiction book markets out there,” Setliff says. “With the sheer number of mystery books published each year, the aim of ‘Mostly Murder’ is to keep mystery fans up-to-date on what their favorite authors are doing. It’s also a perfect vehicle for mystery publishers to reach their readers.”
“Mostly Murder” is published in our neighborhood and can be found in most Dallas bookstores. But the paper is not just distributed here: More than 240 bookstores throughout the United States and Canada carry the paper.
About 40 writers contribute reviews of the latest mystery releases, but the advertising, editing and production are done out of Setliff’s home office. Neighborhood residents Dianne Blackwell, Terry Mayeux, Lyn Armstrong, Margaret Ryan and Joseph Madden work with Setliff to publish the paper.
Setliff graduated in 1980 from North Carolina State with a bachelor’s degree in physics. His connection to the publishing world was originally peripheral. While working on his graduate degree, Setliff worked in bookstores to make ends meet. But eventually, Setliff grew restless, left school and headed for Texas.
“I was in danger of becoming a perpetual student,” he says. “I was in grad school and trying to decide what to do. Some friends of mine were moving to Dallas, so I thought: Hey a bigger city, opportunities, maybe some fun.”
In Dallas, Setliff continued to work in bookstores. He eventually came to work for Barbara Unger, who co-owned the House of Books bookstore, formerly at Preston and Royal. Unger started “Mostly Murder”, publishing the first edition in January 1990, and Setliff helped her.
“She noticed the mystery genre was growing faster,” Setliff says. “We had a mystery club, and we were all flabbergasted by the number of books mystery readers would buy.
“On the first (issue), I wrote a couple of reviews and did some editing, and really, by the time we put the second issue together, I was doing billing and customer relations. In a small business, everyone has to be versatile,” Setliff says.
When Unger retired, she gave the reigns to Setliff, who now produces the paper full-time.
Eventually, publishing houses realized the value of advertising their new mysteries in “Mostly Murder”, Setliff says. Over the years, the paper has achieved a following. It became bi-monthly this year; originally, it was published quarterly.
“Our average reader buys eight mysteries a month,” Setliff says. “That comes to 100 a year. They’re fiercely devoted to their authors. Our job is just to get them the information, and they’ll do the rest.”
