No Alibis

Brilliant bookstore and another place I’ve to thank my brother for introducing me to. No Alibis deal mainly in crime fiction, mysteries, thrillers and American books. However I have spotted some great art books in store too (Irish and American artists). It’s a pleasure to visit as due to the rise of Amazon and Kindles there are so few independent book shops left. There’s nothing better than a rummage through a great bookshop. Although I’ve never been to one I hear No Alibis host some great events which include author book signings, readings and talks.

Huge range of crime novels in a wonderfully friendly independent book shop situated in busy Botanic Avenue, the owner even included a few postcards of local Belfast attractions to use as bookmarks! Definitely worth visiting if your in the Botanic area

The selection of books available in No Alibis is criminal. See what I did there, it’s a specialist crime book shop, and it is awesome!
Crime fiction is my thing, and this is like Mecca for me. Unlike the big chains who may have a section with a few James Patterson on a table, this place is a buffet where you just don’t know where to start. The owners are on site, and their knowledge and passion is infectious. They also hold events both in store and off site such as readings with authors and even music gigs.
I cannot stress enough what a great wee place is, and if you even like reading at all but not sure if crime is for you, you should check it out.

This place is a gem. Great stock of crime fiction and really does its best to get authors to visit.
Very friendly staff only too willing to help. I am a regular.

Do you know how rare it is to find a good, friendly independent bookstore anywhere these days? Especially in the current economic climate, when the supermarkets are dominating the paperback market.
No Alibis is such a place — a gem among gems. Have you been? No? Why not? Go, run, visit it as soon as you can if you love books. They specialise in crime fiction and American studies publications. If you’re looking for a novel, book or publication in the crime genre e.g. true life or fictional crime stories, thrillers, whodunits, mysteries, police and detective stories then you’re in the right place. No Alibis has a welcome, this isn’t just a shop atmosphere. David who has owned and run the shop for 12 years it is witty and helpful, but non-​intrusive if you just want to browse.
Sometimes there’s tea on the go, maybe cake. Sometimes there’s wine, a book-​signing, a book reading or even a debut album launch. You can tell by now that it’s definitely not your average book store! Local author Colin Bateman has recently published several novels with ‘a man who owns an independent crime fiction bookshop in Belfast’. A tribute indeed to a shop we should all support when we can.

No Alibis is the stereotypical intimate bookshop and for that I am more than grateful in this age of Amazons and Waterstones making the shopping for books experience a faceless and homogenous experience.
My first main experience with this place was when I had to get an accounting textbook out of here that wasn’t stocked in the official shop due to an apparent falling out between the shop and our lecturer! Once I was here getting my book I was able to have a good old explore around the shop.
The staff here really care about books and there is a really interesting selection of all books. There are regular event nights here with local writers and guests which is a very good thing for reading enthusiasts, though I have to admit I am a bit of a reading slacker!
Hopefully this place will continue to progress in the face of the Kindles of this world threatening to do to books what IPods have done to music stores!

I like No Alibis a lot, not just because they stock my book and therefore have exceptional taste, but just because. David, the owner, is truly lovely and once gave me a free copy of The Tin Drum when he was manager of the Bookshop at Queens’ (it had a tiny dogear on the cover, bless him). So he’s been on my Do Not Kill list for years, and I love the way the shop has open book signings and gigs and has just generally become a little hub of Belfast coolness.
Obviously most people these days (including me — sorry David) buy books online these days to save even two quid, but now that I’m finally solvent I’m resolving to buy more books at lovely little local places like this. It’s been going for years now so seems to be doing all right — and the staff are always lovely and helpful.

I have read news articles that detail the death of the book and the rise of the eReader (iReader, possibly — I don’t care what it’s called, I will never own one) that make me quiver with rage.
How can the giants of technology be so deluded to think that people will ever want to give up their beautiful books, all musty-​smelling and tactile paper, pages marked with their beloved bookmarks, for a small electronic device containing a thousand classic novels on a silicon chip? Muppets.
Having said that, I do fear for the future of independent bookshops such as No Alibis. I like it very much, even though they seem to limit their stock to the crime fiction variety. It seems odd to me that you’d want to narrow your potential customer base like that, though I have been able to pick up a couple of Vonneguts. All books are brand spanking new so expect to pay the full whack for the newly-​published.
I’ve never been to any of the local writer /​reading evenings which I hear are very enjoyable. I shall have to remedy that.

This bookshop was a place that I walked by for a long time without even really knowing what it was. I think I just thought it had an interesting front door.
Ok, I’ll admit it! The last time I read a book let alone shopped for a book without having too for some university task was ‘yonks ago’. So why would I even attempt to write a review for a bookstore? The answer would be that I think this bookstore is so much more than a bookstore.
I first ventured into this shop not to check out the latest ‘John Grisham’ but to go to a little gig. It was then that I walked through its doors to see it in its full glory. i’ve since been back and if your in the area it is definitely worth calling in. You can also grab a coffee while you have a browse.

No Alibis is Northern Ireland’s only specialist crime bookstore. They are based on Botanic Avenue, in the centre of Belfast.
They specialise in crime fiction and American studies publications. If you are looking for a novel, book or publication in the crime genre e.g. true life or fictional crime stories, thrillers, whodunits, mysteries, police and detective stories then then you have come to the correct place.
If you are looking for American studies books, both factual and fiction, then No Alibis is the major clue in resolving your search. Their bookstores offer everything that you would expect from an innovative company. They have signed editions and special bookshop events including visiting authors. Bookmark the website and check the News page regularly to see what events are coming up and what special offers we currently have in the stores.
A class wee book shop that gives a brillant change from the Eason and WH Smith dominated nonsense that most people read. Well worth checking out.

A unique bookshop in this bustling area of Belfast. Specialising in crime and noir fiction the atmosphere is set as soon as you walk in. Down the length of the long book lined shelves hang wonderful paintings of classic (and not so classic) pulp novels and movie posters.
This well stocked shop boasts an attentive staff that are helpful to point you in the right direction of any first edition or author signed copy you may be after. There’s also a large poetry section and plenty of cards, prints, posters and calendars if you’re after more than the written word.
It’s not all hardboiled detectives and gritty dialogue as tucked away in one of the corners is a smallish section of kid’s books and some more ‘esoteric’ reading. There also are regular readings by authors and the occasional ‘acoustic’ gig in the evenings.
One of a kind. Visit and enter another world.
Pros: Quiet, very specialised with knowledge staff.
Cons: A lot to look through, give yourself at least an hour to browse.

Ok so, No Alibis is a bookshop but it’s a bookshop with a difference. The owner is such a nice man who chats happily to each person and makes each person who walks through the door feel welcome and not in a ‘I’m watching you, you wee thief kinna’ way. He will chat, advise and suggest… if you want, or leave you to browse if he feels that vibe from you.
They hold a great mixture of local authors such as Seamus Heaney as well as a large collection of crime fiction, popular fiction and children’s books. I picked up a few little basic alphabet books for my nephew in here a while back.
NOW, the real reason I love No Alibis — every now and again the bookshop becomes a rather cosy little auditorium for local and not so local musicians. He also runs book launches and interviews/​question and answer sessions of authors. I went to a very intimate gig recently with maybe thirty people in total all seated with a drink listening to some funky folk music. I was able to pick up a signed copy of an album I love after the gig — all on a rainy Wednesday in Belfast — fantastic! Definitely worth a look!

Ever read a book by Colin Bateman called Mystery Man? Well, basically it’s about a man from Belfast who owns a bookshop called No Alibis… that specialises in crime books… sound familiar?
Clearly, Bateman has taken his inspiration from this little bookshop on Botanic Avenue, and who can blame him?
Bookshops by their very nature are full of character (as anyone who’s watched Black Books will attest to!), and No Alibis is no exception. Other reviews are right when they say the staff could use some customer service training, but that’s not what a bookshop is about. I think I’d rather be served by someone who would rather be reading than serving me! (Does that make me a little strange???)
Being close to the university, they stock lots of books for the students (pays the bills probably), but the heart of this place is in the crime literature and in the community spirit.
Almost every week they’ll have some sort of reading or performance by a local artist or writer. And platforms like that are so important to people trying to get themselves noticed in a crowd.
With bookshops in general dying out, independent stores like No Alibis become important. We need shops like this so we don’t all end up just reading what Richard and Judy tell us to!

When I was an English student at QUB, No Alibis was one of the few places where I could get all of my course textbooks. While I’m a big fan of independent bookstores, this place always slightly irked me. It makes a fantastic contribution to the local literary scene in Belfast by bringing over well-​respected crime fiction authors to give talks and do book signings, but two things aggravate me: the prices and the staff. The prices were a rip-​off and while I really liked the owner, I didn’t like some of the people he worked with. I think you’ll know the type I’m talking about; book snobs, ‘I’m holier than thou because I read Dylan Thomas’ entire collection of poetry every night before bed. Do you know who Dylan Thomas is?’ They always reminded me of the staff in the show BlackBooks; with one really nice employee (played by Bill Bailey) and the rest being tossers.

I love independent book stores! I’m not sure if it’s an unhealthy obsession with the show black books or that it’s just such a rare sight these days.
No Alibis book store is something special. They say themselves that they specialise in crime literature and are your one stop shop if that’s what your looking for, and their right. But what I love so much about this store is the events they host.
No Alibis often plays host to singer song writers, poets and authors in the evenings, where you can sit in an amazing place and enjoy artists that wouldn’t be seen in the regular live clubs and pubs in Belfast.
Recently I went to see a singer song writer called John Smith. I had never heard of him, but having a spare tenner and a free night decided to go. The guys at No Alibis really create an enjoyable environment to sit back and take in some little known talent. These little nights have became small adventures into the unknown. Sometimes their good, others their terrible. But they are always worth a try.

I’m an English student so any bookstore is a good bookstore as far as I’m concerned. This one however is independent of Queen’s but has a very close relationship with the students and the staff. Despite there already being a bookshop owned by Queen’s, many would recommend you try here first as if they don’t have it, they will guarantee you it with their next delievery. It could be either that or the fact the people (whose names escape me yet again) are exceptionally friendly and have a real passion for their job. I have been in browsing before and soon i was sitting down with some friends having coffee and discussing books… pretentious possibly, but it’s almost certainly the bookstore that makes me want to sit and drink coffee and talk about books. I dont even like coffee either.
Very very very helpful, very friendly and a must for anyone who requires a good book

Another discovery from my student days. I’m in heaven in a bookshop, I don’t know if it’s being an avid reader from an early age, or because I’m an English teacher, but books actually excite me… don’t be filthy, I know what you’re thinking. No, I really am in my element in a good bookshop — even in a crap bookshop. I’ve been known to spend literally hours trawling through the shelves and usually come out with my wallet a little lighter and my shopping bags a little heavier — and it’s always the way when I go to no alibis. It specialises in crime writing, and the staff are helpful and obliging, an it has a lovely atmosphere — Jessica Fletcher would love it. And so do I.

If you’re up near queens this wee store is definitely worth a visit. You can also grab a great coffee while you have a browse.

A very quirky little bookshop with a very attentive owner. Regular talks by different authors and always the offer of a free coffee. Very friendly atmosphere.