Salt Lake City Book-Themed Running Route: Explore Sugar House with a Queer Murder Mystery Twist
Looking for a fun and unique running route in Salt Lake City? This self-guided tour takes you through the charming Sugar House neighborhood, blending charming cottage-filled streets with literary intrigue—perfect for runners who love books, local history, and a touch of murder mystery.
by Allison Yates
The queer-friendly, small business-filled Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City—named for the sugar beets planted here by its original settlers—is front and center in CJ Connor’s Board to Death: A Board Game Shop Mystery. At Read & Run events, we use movement and stories to explore where we live, and Board to Death is the perfect way to explore Sugar House.
Queer Mystery Meets SLC: About Board to Death
The novel—a campy, humor-filled murder mystery— is the first in a delightful new series. The story follows Ben Rosencrantz, a sarcastic and reserved English professor who returns to his hometown after a divorce from his ex-husband, Shane. Moving back in with his dad and helping run their quirky family-owned board game shop, Of Dice and Decks, Ben is just beginning to settle into his new routine—and a potential romance with local business owner Ezra—when a board game collector named Clive is murdered in front of him...on his birthday, no less. As suspicion starts to circle around Ben, he and Ezra launch their own amateur investigation, stumbling into a string of hilarious situations along the way. With sharp wit, endearing characters, and vivid nods to Salt Lake City’s cultural quirks and neighborhoods, Board to Death is the perfect read for anyone who loves their mysteries with a side of snark and board game banter.
But through all the humor, this book is at its core about belonging. The humor-filled plot and subtle romance really asks questions like, "Where do we fit in? Where do we feel at home? What if “home” isn’t where we fit in? Almost all of the characters grapple with these questions–all while trying to solve a murder.
About the Route: Running Through Sugar House
Read & Run hosted a fun run inspired by this book in March 2025 in partnership with The King’s English Bookshop. Missed this one-of-a-kind Salt Lake City fitness event? If you love running in Sugar House, use our self-guided route and stops below to run (or walk, cycle, skateboard, scooter, race wheelchair, etc.—all forms of movement valid!) this story on your own and bring the book to life.
📍Start/End: King’s English Bookshop
↔ Distance: 3.6 miles
↗ Elevation gain: 213 feet
Buy the book and lace up your sneakers: it’s time to run routes built by stories.
What You’ll See Along the Way
Along this book-themed running route in Salt Lake City, explore local businesses, Sugar House park, and the Commons—all inspired by Board to Death.
Start: King’s English Bookshop
Readers & runners inside the King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood.
This indie bookstore has been a neighborhood staple since 1977. Welcoming everyday readers and some celebrities—hello, Michelle Obama!—you’ll find everything from new releases to niche Utah nonfiction and a stunning, nature-themed children’s section, complete with a treehouse. Start and end your self-guided route here.
Stop 1: Game Night Games
Readers & runners at Game Night Games in March 2025.
Game Night Games is our fill-in to represent one of the most iconic locations in Board to Death: Ben and his dad’s beloved board game shop, the fictitious Of Dice and Decks. Once a cozy three-bedroom cottage from nearly a century ago, the building—like many in Salt Lake’s Sugar House neighborhood—was renovated into a storefront with a kitchen by the time Ben’s dad began leasing it in the 1980s. Now, it’s a quirky, lived-in space filled with shelves of games, a café offering “healing potions” (herbal teas) and “power-ups” (caffeinated drinks), and the comforting smell that Ben adores—though he jokes that some of their Mormon patrons eye the coffee “like a vampire in a blood bank who had sworn off drinking the stuff.”
The shop has always been a central part of Ben’s life, owned and run by his loving, if occasionally stubborn, single father, who’s now battling serious health issues. Despite a slow start in accepting Ben’s queerness, his dad is unwaveringly supportive, and their witty, heartfelt banter is one of the book’s emotional anchors. Unfortunately, Of Dice and Decks also becomes the unexpected scene of a murder—when Clive, a shady collector attempting to peddle a dubious copy of The Landlord’s Game (the precursor to Monopoly), turns up dead, setting the mystery in motion.
Discuss:
For Ben, Ben grew up in this shop, knows its loyal customers, and always found comfort here. This is one spot that for him has always been sacred–the place he could come back to and know he belonged. Where is that place for you?
Hungry on the way? Make a quick stop at Empanadas.Co, one of the newest additions to the Sugar House neighborhood.
Readers & runners at Empanadas.co in Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood.
Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this family-owned Argentine-inspired empanadas eatery serves up classics like beef, chicken, and cheese, while experimenting with seasonal favorites.
Stop 2: Salt Lake City Flower Delivery
Readers & runners outside of Salt Lake City Flower Delivery in March 2025.
This flower shop represents Ezra, one of the key characters in Board to Death and the romantic interest of our main character, Ben. When Ben returns to Salt Lake City after a painful divorce, romance is the last thing on his mind. He’s withdrawn, emotionally raw, and unsure if he’s ready to open himself up again. But then he meets Ezra, the gentle, scruffy local florist whose shop is filled with warmth, wit, and carefully arranged bouquets—flowers that become a recurring and tender motif in their slowly blooming relationship. Described as “tall and wiry” with a band tee peeking out from beneath a slightly askew apron and curls slipping from a blue scrunchie as he focuses on his craft, Ezra exudes quiet charm. He never pressures Ben, offering instead a steady presence and becoming both confidant and co-investigator when things take a turn for the murderous. Their bond also gives space for deeper conversations about queerness in Salt Lake City—navigating identity, community, and what it means to return "home" to a place that may not fully embrace them, but still shapes who they are.
Discuss:
Has there been an Ezra-type character in your own life story? Who has been your steady rock and accomplice through life?
End: King’s English Bookshop
Finish up any pending book shopping—and say hi to the friendly and knowledgable staff at this queer-friendly bookshop in Salt Lake City.
BONUS: The Dough Lady
Cinnamon Rolls. Courtesy of The Dough Lady.
In Board to Death, two dear family friends of Ben’s own a fictitious cinnamon roll shop in Sugar House called Nice Buns. While no cinnamon roll shop exists in the neighborhood (Nice Buns would be a fantastic addition), Salt Lake City pastry feigns love The Dough Lady’s melt-in-your-mouth creations. Stop by their storefront just a few miles south of King’s English Bookshop to round out your self-guided experience in the most delicious of ways.