Eventually, Shirley Beaird offed all four of her children, some more than once.
The “murders” would happen during one of Beaird’s murder-mystery events, which she loved to stage at hotels and dude ranches.
The longtime owner of Murder by the Book, a store on South Pearl Street, died at a Douglas County hospital Feb. 17 after a long illness. She was 72.
“I was bumped off with poison, during a dinner, one time,” said Cindy Lively of Denver, one of Beaird’s three daughters. “I had to grab my throat and pretend I was dying,” she said, laughing.
Beaird used her children in the dinner or weekend events “because we were handy, I think,” Lively said.
Each such event took a year of planning, from writing the story to getting friends, family and customers lined up to write, rehearse and dress for the roles.
Beaird once hosted a trip to England to see places such as the home of Agatha Christie and the settings of Sherlock Holmes’ mysteries.
Murder by the Book, which Beaird and a partner, Nancy Wynne, opened first in Littleton in 1980, became a hub for murder mystery fans, whether they were buying or just stopping buy to gossip and chat. Beaird became the go-to person about murder mysteries, often appearing on local radio and television shows and being a judge for national mystery-writers’ contests. She remembered details of every mystery, Lively said.
Beaird had five partners in the store over the years. It was one of the first all-mystery stores in the nation, said Lauri Verschaure, the partner who has run it since Beaird’s retirement five years ago.
The store, now at 1574 S. Pearl St., also hosted authors who became big names, including the first book signing for Sue Grafton after she wrote “A is for Alibi.” Others included Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.
The signings became parties. Beaird would have a cake frosted to resemble the person’s book cover, according to author John Dunning, and she often cooked a meal to go with the author’s home town or the setting of the book, such as Cajun food for a New Orleans writer.
Beaird’s own taste ran to “cozy” mysteries, rather than “hardboiled” or real-life mysteries, her daughters said. She read thousands of books and had more than 28,000 in the store and its basement. She often recommended books and became friends with the authors. But she never recommended a book in which children or animals were murdered, Verschaure said.
She never wrote a book, “but was great at plotting,” said Betsy McElhinney, another of Beaird’s daughters.
Her favorite book was “Alice in Wonderland,” and she collected thousands of Alice memorabilia – figurines, stuffed animals and calendars. “I got to dust it all,” said McElhinney, who also “got to” plant most of her mother’s garden outside the bookstore, housed in a Victorian home. Beaird lived above the store.
Beaird was the person many of her childrens’ friends came to with their problems. “We’re all very close,” Lively said. “My siblings are my best friends.”
An outgoing person who was razor-sharp with one-liners, Beaird had only a few pet peeves – loud and ignorant people, bad grammar and people who turned down the corners of book pages or used books for coasters, McElhinney said.
Beaird was a crossword addict and even designed some that were published. She loved New Orleans, and following her lead of hosting Mardi Gras parties, her children continued that theme at Beaird’s wake, complete with gumbo, colorful beads and Dixieland music, said her daughter Susy Wilson of Highlands Ranch.
Shirley Flemming was born May 19, 1933, in Dallas and graduated from Hockaday Prep School there. After two years at the University of Texas, where she majored in math, she married Patrick Beaird, who was in the oil business, and they moved to Denver. Though separated for many years, they remained friends and she took care of him through his final illness.
Beaird had heart problems for years and had two heart surgeries. Near the end, when she knew nothing could be done, she said, “I want everyone to know I had a great time,” Wilson said.
In addition to her three daughters, she is survived by her son, John Beaird of Tampa, Fla., and seven grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
