Couple returns home to buy Mystery Lovers Bookshop

Natalie Sacco and her husband, Trevor Thomas, have solved the case at Oakmont's Mystery Lover's Bookshop.

They recently bought the 25-year-old bookstore from owner Laurie Stephens, a sale that will officially be announced May 2, also National Independent Bookstore Day.

The shop will be closed May 4 for inventory and then reopen the next day with few changes, Thomas and Stephens say.

The current owner will be on-hand through the summer to smooth the transition, she says. Thomas says the changeover should be easy because there will be few differences.

He and his wife plan “a little expansion” in the children's, music and games area as well as a broadening in the types of mysteries offered.

“That's part of the allure of mysteries,” he says. “There are so many niches in the umbrella.”

They are not disclosing the price for the shop, but Stephens says the more important issue is that an “iconic community landmark” is remaining in the borough.

She has owned the shop since 2012, when she bought from the store's founders Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Goldman.

Sacco grew up in Oakmont and Thomas in Murrysville, and had lived in New York City and Cleveland before returning to purchase the store.

They now live in Oakmont, which allows Thomas to “take the kids to day-care and then walk to work.”

Bob Karlovits is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7852 or bkarlovits@tribweb.com.