Once Upon A Crime

Once Upon A Crime Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Once Upon A Crime, Book shop, 230 East Market Street, Smithfield, NC.

Criminal suspense is our specialty, but we’ll happily ruin your sleep with any genre:
🖤 Thriller 🖤 horror 🖤 Sci-Fi 🖤 cozy mystery 🖤 historical fiction 🖤 fantasy 🖤 dark romance 🖤 fiction 🖤 romance

I went to the Smoky Mountains this weekend to relax, enjoy nature, take in the views…Instead, I spent most of it stress-...
08/18/2026

I went to the Smoky Mountains this weekend to relax, enjoy nature, take in the views…

Instead, I spent most of it stress-reading a Freida McFadden book. 🫣🔪📚
10/10 vacation planning. No notes. 😂
Her newest re-release dropped TODAY with a brand new cover, and let me tell you… I. COULD. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN.

The Smoky Mountains: “behold our majestic beauty”
Me: “SHHHH. SOMEONE IS LYING.” 💀📚🏔️

Nature: ignored.
Vacation: hijacked.
Book: devoured.
Danielle: UNWELL.
Exactly as it should be. 🤣🫶📚

Due to a conflicting appointment, we will have a delayed opening tomorrow 🖤 thank you!!
08/17/2026

Due to a conflicting appointment, we will have a delayed opening tomorrow 🖤 thank you!!

🖤 We have some absolutely KILLER thrillers releasing this week and frankly, I have concerns about all of our sleep sched...
08/16/2026

🖤 We have some absolutely KILLER thrillers releasing this week and frankly, I have concerns about all of our sleep schedules.
Dark underworld: ✔️
Suspicious spouses: ✔️✔️
Jaw dropping twists: ✔️✔️✔️

POV: today your local bookseller behind the counter “working”…And by working I mean aggressively stress-reading My Husba...
08/12/2026

POV: today your local bookseller behind the counter “working”…
And by working I mean aggressively stress-reading My Husband’s Wife while occasionally looking up from the book like 👁️👄👁️
Customers: “Are you okay?”
Me: “NO. I DON'T KNOW WHO ANYONE'S WIFE IS ANYMORE.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Loved it. No idea what happened. Couldn’t put it down. Would definitely recommend.
Did I understand the ending?
Absolutely not.
Difficultly level: IRS audit
At one point I considered grabbing a notebook, three different colored highlighters, and possibly contacting law enforcement.
10/10 entertainment.
7/10 comprehension.
3/10 chance I could explain the plot to another human without yarn, pushpins, and a corkboard.
And somehow… I’d still recommend it.📌🧶
Alice Feeney, you absolute menace. 👏👏👏

🖤 NEW RELEASES HAVE ENTERED THE CHAT 🖤 Apparently authors kept releasing books this week even though I personally feel l...
08/10/2026

🖤 NEW RELEASES HAVE ENTERED THE CHAT 🖤
Apparently authors kept releasing books this week even though I personally feel like we’ve all done enough. 😭🤣
But alas… the shelves must be fed.
Fresh new releases are arriving, my bank account has once again been disrespected, and I have absolutely no regrets.
Come see what’s new this week! 🖤📚

Apparently we host ONE book signing and y’all start crossing state lines. 😭😂🖤Today was our very first author signing and...
08/08/2026

Apparently we host ONE book signing and y’all start crossing state lines. 😭😂🖤
Today was our very first author signing and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the turnout. We had people come from near, far, and LITERAL STATES AWAY to spend their Saturday with us.
Like… excuse me?! 🥹

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out, bought books, chatted with us, laughed with us, and made our very first signing one we will never forget. And of course, the biggest thank you to our wonderful author Michele Leathers for have a signing with us 🖤
And a special shoutout to her AMAZING sister, who somehow got promoted to Official/Unofficial Photographer without applying, interviewing, or receiving a paycheck. 🤣📸 🖤
I think it’s safe to say…
We’re gonna need to do this again. 👀📚
First book signing: COMPLETE.
My heart: FULL.
My list of future chaotic bookstore ideas: unfortunately growing. 😂🖤

You all have spoken… and tbh I don’t enjoy getting up that early, so please note: our Saturday hours have changed! 🖤 10a...
08/07/2026

You all have spoken… and tbh I don’t enjoy getting up that early, so please note: our Saturday hours have changed! 🖤 10am - 4pm 🖤

🖤 time to make your home library just a touch more magical 🖤 huge shout out to Printed Plot Co. for always creating exa...
08/06/2026

🖤 time to make your home library just a touch more magical 🖤 huge shout out to Printed Plot Co. for always creating exactly what I imagined!
🐉Dragon bookend set $85 each
💀Skull bookend $45 each
‼️LIMITED STOCK‼️

I have a tiny problem...Every time I get an idea, I immediately think,"How can I make this extra?"So instead of putting ...
08/05/2026

I have a tiny problem...
Every time I get an idea, I immediately think,
"How can I make this extra?"
So instead of putting murder mystery games on a shelf like a normal person... I naturally started wrapping them like classified evidence files.
You're welcome.
(Or I'm sorry. I'm honestly not sure anymore.)
🫆Game night just got interesting🫆

Address

230 East Market Street
Smithfield, NC
27577

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 6pm
Wednesday 11am - 6pm
Thursday 11am - 6pm
Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

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