Mystery Guild is one of the most recognizable brands in the discount book club domain today, and, with over half a million members, probably the #1 resort for the fans of the mystery/thriller genre. The club has been around since 1948; it has survived several ownership changes and is today a part of Bookspan, a parent company to about 40 or so US based book clubs.
Mystery Guild Book Club relies on what could be called a standard operating routine for book clubs: an enticing introductory offer is combined with an obligation to buy a certain amount of books within a certain amount of time at a discounted price, and spiced with an attractive catalog that helps the members sort through the abundance of reading choices.
The choice of available books is the first thing to be considered before joining a book club. Great introductory offers, special deals and low prices, all that is pointless if the club doesn't have what you're looking for.
Mystery Guild Book Club actually features two different selections. Initial selection is intended for prospective members: it is available for everyone to search through and browse. This is where you choose your six introductory books from. Member selection expands on this initiatory library significantly, and is accessible to active members only.
Initial Selection
To potential members, Mystery Guild offers an extensive assortment of best selling fiction and non-fiction – mostly hardcover editions – from what is probably the most popular genre in the world. Latest bestsellers are predominant: the club features all the best stuff that rules the nation's most prominent best selling lists. Legal thrillers by John Grisham; suspense novels with a spooky and "odd" feel by Dean Koontz; psychological thrillers by Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, David Baldacci, Jonathan Kellerman, Iris Johansen... techno/science thrillers by Michael Crichton; horror tales by Stephen King, John Saul or Anne Rice; forensic mysteries by Patricia Cornwell; crime stories with a romantic and sometimes supernatural touch by Nora Roberts; police procedurals by John Sandford; military thrillers by W.E.B. Griffin; everything from suspense mysteries to young adult fantasies by James Patterson... and so on.
There are entire backlists by most of these outstandingly popular authors available – an added bonus, seeing that the majority of these books aren't widely present in bookstores (not the hardcover versions, anyway). What's more, they often go for bargain prices ($7.99 or so).
Mystery Guild is not just about the latest bestsellers though. Specialized categories that are less present in the public eye but still have masses of followers are also well represented. Cozy fiction is the best example here, the popular Murder, She Wrote series by fictional character Jessica Fletcher and ghost author Donald Bain being the most famous representative of the genre – but along with it you'll also find a plethora of authors who maintain this literary direction, names not so widely celebrated, perhaps, but still well known within the scene: Carolyn Hart, Joan Hess, Laura Childs, Nancy Martin with The Blackbird Sisters Mysteries, Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swensen Mysteries, and plenty more.
Classic mysteries, on the other hand, are underrepresented. You can find a few titles from grand masters of mystery such as Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes novels), a Mike Hammer collection by Mickey Spillane, some work by Dashiell Hammett (author of The Maltese Falcon), Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason mysteries), perhaps a few titles more scattered around everywhere but in the "Classic Mystery" category, but that's about it. Somewhat underwhelming, actually, you'd expect more from a book club specialized in mysteries.
Non-fiction is another not really strong point of Mystery Guild Book Club, or at least that is the impression one gets from the number of books located in that category on the club website. However, as is the case with the classics, many a non-fiction book is actually placed under some other category, deemed more suitable. This, however, makes these titles more difficult to find if non-fiction is what you're looking for specifically.
Member Selection
Members have a much wider selection of books to choose from. They have access to all the books carried by other Booksonline.com clubs (over 70,000 titles), such as Doubleday Book Club, The Literary Guild, Book-of-the-Month Club (for a bit more "literary" selection), One Spirit Book Club (spiritual and inspirational books), The Good Cook, Science Fiction Book Club, Rhapsody (romance books), Children's Book of the Month, Black Expressions (books by, for and about African Americans), History Book Club and many others. Note that all the same rules apply to these books (a purchase counts toward member's commitment obligation etc).
Joining
Joining Mystery Guild Book Club is quite easy: it takes only a few minutes and can be done on the club web site. Not even a credit card is necessary. To each new member Mystery Guild extends a great introductory offer: 6 books of your choice for 99¢. Simply start shopping and add six books to your cart. When done, you will be taken to a page where you can review the contents of your shopping cart. At this point you can still remove an item if you change your mind and continue shopping for another one. You are also offered an opportunity to buy one more book for $4.99 (look in the upper right corner) and thus reduce your commitment right away to only 2 more books in the next 2 years. It's a fair offer, so you might want to take it.
At the next stage you will need to enter your personal information, which includes your name, shipping address and e-mail address. Phone number is optional. It is also required that you pick your communication preference (e-mail or postal mail). That done, you will be prompted to choose your billing method. You can either pay by credit card, or select the “Bill Me” option in which case you will be sent an invoice to the address you provided on the previous page.
The last step requires you to set up a password which you'll need to access the members only area. Setting up the password will also confirm your membership. And that's it. You're in.
Modus Operandi
As a member you will receive the free Mystery Guild Club Magazine approximately once every 3 weeks. Each issue of the Magazine features two Selections, new books chosen by Mystery Guild Book Club editors as the must-reads of the moment. In addition, there is over 180 other books for you to consider.
The Magazine offers real value. There are tons of mysteries and thrillers being published each month, so the editors have to cut through a lot of titles to present you the ones you should consider. The Club Magazine, therefore, provides a great way to keep current with the happenings in the crime fiction domain, find out about the latest titles from your favorite authors, discover some fresh new talent. Many people actually keep memberships in different book clubs mainly for this reason: to receive recommendations on what's hot.
The current Main Selections will be sent to you automatically, unless you tell the club otherwise. You can do so online, via the club web site, or by returning the Member Reply Form (included with the Magazine) through regular mail. This practice is known as “negative option” or “advance consent” marketing and it has been utilized by book clubs such as Mystery Guild for more than eight decades. Some people consider it a nuisance, a relic of the past, others find it convenient.
While we are inclined to agree with the former group, in all fairness it needs to be said that these days the hassle really is reduced to a minimum: it's just a matter of logging in to your account on the club's official web site, selecting the “Main Selections” tab and clicking on the “Don't Send” button. And that's it. You're done. It only takes a minute or so of your time once every three weeks. The important thing is not to forget to do it, and Mystery Guild Book Club will even assist you in the matter by sending you a reminder e-mail before the Selection is shipped.
Finally, if you do happen to forget to cancel the Selection, you can always send it back if you really don't want it. You won't even have to pay for the return postage so long as the package was not open.
Managing Your Account Online
In this respect Mystery Guild Book Club deserves much plaudit: the web site makes it easy and convenient to manage every aspect of your membership online. View detailed order and payment history; check the account balance, remaining commitment, and the shipping status of all recent orders; respond to the current Main Selection or view older Selections; change your billing and shipping address and other personal details including payment method; choose shipping method, and, of course, browse or search Mystery Guild's entire library and place orders.
You might also want to participate in Mystery Guild's online community, where you can share your own book reviews and recommendations with other club members.
Mystery Guild membership is not exactly a “till death do us part” affair. Once your commitment is fulfilled, you are free to cancel your membership. The process, not surprisingly, is a trifle more difficult than joining. You don't have an option to simply close your account online, but instead have to send an e-mail to Mystery Guild customer service, or a written cancellation request to the Member Service Center. A bit of a complication, in our opinion not entirely necessary. But then, perhaps we are being too finicky here. It is, after all, just one simple e-mail.
It goes without saying that you will always be welcome back should you decide to rejoin. You can do so simply by visiting the club web site and enrolling again, as described earlier in this review. However, there might be an even better way to do it. If you don't cancel your e-mail subscription as well, you are likely to receive periodic invitations from Mystery Guild to rejoin the club; usually there is a special offer attached to such an invitation, and these offers are often even more advantageous than the standard one available on the web site (lower commitment, for example).
From the great introductory offer, via club discounts to various special offers, savings are undoubtedly one of the best things about Mystery Guild Book Club and for many probably the #1 reason to join. This being such an important subject, we have put together a separate page with detailed information on it and a real-world example.
Shipping Rates
A word or two on shipping charges as they are somewhat complicated. With the initial order the cost is $5.74 for the first book and $1.99 for each additional book. Somewhat high, but we suspect this goes some way toward recouping the loss Mystery Guild has to be generating by giving you first 6 books for practically nothing. With subsequent orders the charges are $3.99 for the first book and $2.49 for others. If your total order exceeds $25, Mystery Guild Book Club will charge you $2.49 flat shipping rate for the whole package.
Free shipping would have been better; it certainly has a nicer ring to it, plus all decent online book stores are offering it. That said, with online retailers not each and every item is usually eligible for free shipping, so you might end up having to pay for it anyway. Mystery Guild, on the other hand, will ship you everything you put in your basket for $2.49 as long as the total of your order exceeds $25. So, all things considered, this is not a bad deal.
For credit card orders, Express Delivery is available. Express orders incur an additional $5.99 per shipment. State sales tax will be added if shipped to NY, PA, IN, TX, TN, NJ, or SC.
Payment
Mystery Guild gives you an option to pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express), or be billed later. If you choose to pay by credit card, you will be charged when your order ships. Otherwise, the bill will arrive with the shipment and you can settle it either by using your credit card, or by sending in money order or check.
In order for this to work, the club grants you a certain amount of credit. Each time you pay on time, your credit increases, up to a maximum of $500. Note that you might be charged a late fee (approximately $4), if your bill is not settled on time.
Billing methods are part of your profile and you can add or change your preferred method as you like. You will also have a chance to change the method during the checkout process. If you don't, the method specified the last time you ordered from the site will be used.
If you are a book enthusiast with a penchant for mystery and suspense – especially latest best selling fiction – then joining Mystery Guild Book Club is certainly worth a serious consideration. You get first 6 books for next to nothing, up to 60% discount on all subsequent books you purchase, plus a shiny magazine in your mail every three weeks or so with book reviews, author interviews, and book-industry related articles.
Since you are not required to part with any money up front (if you choose Bill Me Later® option at the enrollment), joining is completely devoid of risk. If for whatever reason you don't like the introductory package, or if you simply change your mind, just return the package to Mystery Guild within 20 days and that's that. No strings attached.
The only real downside to the whole deal is the somewhat awkward business model the club employs, which requires you to take action if you don't want to take action – that is, buy the proposed book. In our opinion, however, just getting a free magazine with recommendations on what to read outweighs this inconvenience.
Anyhow, even if you feel the practice is an absolute deal breaker, you can still take advantage of the incredible introductory offer of 6 books for 99¢ if it tickles your fancy. How? Join, take care of the commitment at once and cancel. You can walk away with 9 hardcover mysteries/thrillers for less than $50, and that includes shipping charges. Hardly a deal you will find anywhere else.
