The Mystery Company, a bookstore devoted to crime fiction, has just opened in Carmel, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis.

The Mystery Company sells both new and used books. While the store stocks a range of mysteries, thrillers, espionage and suspense titles, it has a focus on writers who are not yet bestsellers and on books from small and independent presses. In this spirit, the store opened with a large display featuring the full line of vintage mystery reprints from the Rue Morgue Press, which co-owner Jim Huang described as "one of the new publishers who are making mystery reading and bookselling so much fun right now."

Among the store's plans are a mystery discussion group, special programs for younger readers, a service that matches up travelers with mysteries set in their destinations and frequent author appearances. Eileen Dreyer, author of With a Vengeance, a thriller published this month by St. Martin's, visited last week.

The Mystery Company is owned by Huang and his wife, Jennie Jacobson. They formerly owned Deadly Passions Bookshop in Kalamazoo, Mich., from 1992 to 1999. Huang began his bookselling career at Spenser's Mystery Bookshop in Boston, Mass., where he worked as the new book buyer from 1987 to 1991. He also served as director of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association from 1997 to 2001.

Since 1982, Huang has edited the Drood Review of Mystery, a bimonthly newsletter about mysteries, and he owns the Crum Creek Press, a publishing company devoted to books for mystery lovers; its titles include 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century and They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated and Forgotten Mystery Novels.

In February, Crum Creek launched a new imprint that uses the Mystery Company name. It will feature fiction; its first title is Kate Flora's 1994 first novel, Chosen for Death. Plans call for five or six more Mystery Company titles this year; it will eventually publish originals as well.

The Mystery Company is located at 1323 S. Rangeline Road, Carmel, Ind. 46032; (317) 705-9711, 800-643-6737; www.themysterycompany.com.