Genre: Cozy Mystery
After the death of her husband, Penelope Thornton-McClure moves to Rhode Island to help her Aunt Sadie manage a mystery bookshop, Buy the Book. What she doesn’t know is that Jack Shields was murdered in that bookstore in 1949 and continues to haunt the bookstore to the present day. His murder remains unsolved. To add to the mystery, she’s the only one who can communicate with the ghost.
Pen is very excited to get a bestselling author, Timothy Brennan, for their first book signing at the store. Things quickly take a bad turn when the author announces it will be the last book in his popular series. As the crowd tries to absorb this shock, the author falls over and dies.
It’s not long before the police determine that Brennan was murdered and Pen becomes the prime suspect. If she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life in jail, leaving her young son parentless, she must solve this murder and fast. Fortunately, she has a live-in ghost, who used to be a private investigator in 1949, to assist.
I’m a huge fan of cozy mysteries and have had this book in my TBR for years. I don’t know how I could let it just sit there. This book is wonderful. The characters are loveable (some, not so much but they aren’t supposed to be), the story is fast-paced and the setting is so quaint.
Alice Kimberly also writes as Cleo Coyle, author of the Coffeehouse Mystery series. I’ve read a couple of the Coffeehouse mysteries, which I’ve enjoyed, but this series has surpassed that one to me. First of all, I love the idea of a mystery bookshop and the addition of a live-in ghost is priceless. The interaction between Pen and Jack is delightful. This was a quick read for me and you know I’ll be reading the rest of the series.
If you’d like to read them, here is the order they should be read in…
1. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
2. The Ghost and the Dead Deb
3. The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library
4. The Ghost and the Femme Fatale
5. The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion
Of course I’m also giving it the Socrates’ Great Book Alert medal. The third book in a row that I’m giving it to…I’m on a role!
For Reading Challenges…
A to Z Reading Challenge
Mysteryreadercafe Reading Challenge
Read Your Own Book Reading Challenge
This has been on my list for a while, but for some reason or other I just never get around to it. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteYou sure like these books :)
ReplyDeleteI think I will tell a buddy about them
It does sound like a great one.
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