Customer Reviews

The Ghost and the Dead Deb (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off I should say that I'm not a frequent reader of any mysteries--particularly not of the contemporary series that are so ubiquitous now: mysteries for foodies, coffee drinkers, pet lovers, garderners, piano tuners, lion tamers--you name it--it's been done. I've dipped into several of them, and usually I'm disppointed by generically "quirky" characters and, especially, contrived dialogue and/or predictable situations. Still, I'm a lover of classic films and ghost stories, as well as getting into the mystery mood by a recent re-discovery of the exceptional "Mr. and Mrs. North" series of the 1940s. How gratified I was to find that after impulsively buying "The Ghost and the Dead Deb" at my local mystery bookshop it's just as worthy an effort as the better books written some 60 years ago.
The author manages to create believable characters--both living and dead, and even work in a frisson of romance--just enough to be wonderfully satisfying. It's been a long time since I've found a lead female character who doesn't irritate the heck out of me by her shallowness or unreal behaviour. This one is carefully drawn. The mystery itself is tops, but most importantly you just plain care about these people. Here's a real writer! Looking forward to more.

i enjoyed the first book in this series a lot, and was a bit worried about the second, since so many second books don't match the first. but this one is as enjoyable as the first.

the plot is pleasantly twisty, and the denoument is handled not only dramatically, but also sensibly and effectively--our heroine does not place herself in unnecessary danger, uses her wits, and is finding more strength of character in this outing. the byplay between her and jack, the ghost of a private investigator, is amusing. both of them are believable personalities, and most of the supporting cast is also well drawn.

there are a couple of spots in the supernatural part of the story that are farfetched, even for the supernatural, but that's a minor problem.

this is an enjoyable cozy, with more depth than most of the genre, and the characters' identities and relationship are evolving nicely.

i certainly hope there's less time between this book and the next than there was between the first and this. and i hope the publisher puts more effort into promoting this series than the paltry synopsis suggests.

I love this series! I was iffy on the first book wondering just how the author was going to convince me that there was a palpable heat between a ghost and a very much alive young woman, but she did, and now I'm into this series for the long haul. The frequent glimpses into Jack's past were enjoyable and the construct of Penelope joining him is an interesting twist with room to grow. This entry was a great deal more enjoyable than the series entry, though the first wasn't bad, quite the contrary. The main characters, both living and dead, have become fleshed out and three-dimensional. The plotline involving a tell-all is relevant to today's unfortunate influx of people who are famous for simply being omnipresent, young, and wealthy and the ridiculous gossip they generate to keep themselves in the spotlight. I love the shots the book took at some of these celebutantes and their unnecessary and tiring antics. The secondary characters are also coming along nicely and the quaint setting is simply delicious. I highly recommend this series, especially if you love the movie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, this is a must read for you, in fact it is just a must read.

I ran across the first title in this series, The Ghost and Mrs, McClure, in my local library. After finishing it, I made a trip to my used bookstore and was lucky enough to find both titles in stock. I am now anxiously awaiting the third. Penelope and her ghost private detective Jack must solve another mystery. This one has some overtones which remind Jack of one of his cases from 1940s. Jack uses dreams to show Penelope what his life was like. The quirky townspeople are back as well to lend a hand in solving the mystery. Fans of 1940s film noir and fans of cozy mysteries will definitely love this book.

Penelope Thornton-McClure is back solving another mystery. She has young author Angel Stark speak about her latest novel, true crime, in her bookstore Buy The Book that she owns with her Aunt Sadie. Angel's book is about the unsolved mystery surrounding a debutante found strangled to death. There are juicy details pointing fingers at a lot of people in the dead deb's circle of friends. Many of them are at this event and speak out about Angel's new book.

Then when Angel ends up strangled to death, too, Penelope begins to investigate things. She is assisted by her bookstore's resident ghost, hard-boiled PI Jack Shephard. Fifty years ago, he was shot in the bookstore without knowing who shot him. He has been stuck there ever since.

Can Penelope and Jack discover who the killer is without anyone else becoming a victim?

I normally don't like mysteries with ghosts, but I love this series. It is such a great cozy and the ghost is so well written that I often forget he is a ghost. He always shows up at just the right time with just the right words. He often helps Penelope, but sometimes he flusters her with his words.

This is the second book in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, and I hope there will be many, many more. I always enjoy reading them. I highly recommend this book and the series.

I'm enjoying this series -- no obvious fake red herrings, enough believable suspects to keep the reader guessing, and a strong but not annoying female lead. The forties-type ghost who's the second character is a good match for the lead, and the beginnings of a "he's here and now" but "he can bring her into his past" is leading to some interesting heat. The contrast between Newport society and the rest of the world was well drawn, too.

Angel Stark makes an appearance at Penelope Thornton McClure's bookstore to promote her true crime novel "All My Pretty Friends". Not everyone is happy about Angel's book, which is about the murder of a debutante, Bethany Banks, including the victim's sister who interrupts Angels' speech. Someone then tries to run Angel over and shortly after that she disappears. Pen, along with the ghost of Jack Shepard, a private eye who was murdered over fifty years ago, are investigating angel's disappearance when Pen stumbles over a body that turns out to be that of Bethany's sister. Is there a serial killer on the loose?

I love this mystery series. The relationship between Jack Shepard, the ghost of a hard-boiled detective and Penelope, a modern day widow, are what makes the book work. Alice Kimberly deftly weaves one of Jack's old cases with the modern one, writing Jack's case using the jargon of hard-boiled detective literature and Pen's case in modern day language. It's particularly amusing as Jack explains the jargon used in his time and Pen tells him about modern day conveniences such as cell phones and who people such as John F. Kennedy, Jr. were. Readers will chuckle, perhaps uneasily, as Jack wonders why anyone would buy bottled water. Not too many authors could write believably about the attraction between a live person and a ghost, but Kimberly does it beautifully.

The mystery itself is reminiscent of the Kennedy-Skakel case with plenty of suspects and twists and turns. The identity of the murderer will come as a surprise to many readers but is believable. Kimberly throws in a nice way of Jack being able to leave the bookstore to help solve the mystery, which is great, because it allows the characters to interact and sole mysteries in several locations rather than be confined to the bookstore.

I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

Alice Kimberly has once again piqued the entertainment quotient of the reader. She has the ability to cause out-loud laughter, particularly in the dialogue between her central character, Penelope Thornton-McClure (bookstore owner) and her ghost PI, Jack Shepard, who mysteriously died in 1946. Although her romantic notions are a little bit of a stretch, you, as the reader, cannot help but read on....knowing the farce is provided as a "fun-filled scenario".

The quirky characters, written for background, includes help-mates for Penelope and suspects for the crime. Sometimes, the reader is not sure which is which and that provides the happiness is....... meter count for the reader.

If you have a rainy Saturday afternoon - or a quiet no-one-is-available-to-do-anything evening - pick up Alice Kimberly and I promise - the hours will go quickly because of a pleasurable book.

Penelope Thornton-McClure is a widowed mother of one who took her husband's life insurance and bought a half interest in a run down and failing bookshop owned by her aunt. She fixes the old place up and adds a community events room where among other things she plans to host author appearances. Unfortunately for Pen the first author who comes to her store drops dead right there on the stage and she is one of the chief suspects. Fortunately for Pen her bookshop is haunted by 1940s PI Jack Shepard who was killed in that very building many years ago and with his help Pen clears her name.

In this second entry to the series Pen has another big name author appearing at the shop and the place is packed. Angel Stark has written a tell-all book about her life as part of the moneyed elite that includes the lurid details of an unsolved murder that took the life of the young queen of the spoiled Newport set. Needless to say the old money families mentioned in the book aren't at all happy and several of them show up at the reading, some with confrontation on their minds.

As you would expect it isn't long before dead bodies start showing up and although Pen isn't a suspect this time the nephew of a close friend is and Pen once again enlists Jack's help to solve the crime. An interesting twist to this story is the fact that her late husband's snooty family is involved in this case up to their eyeballs and that causes an already tense situation with the in laws to flare up into a near all out war.

As with the first book in the series this one is very well written and the characters, while not being the wacky denizens often inhabiting the pages of this genre are still an interesting lot and are very believable. Pen has already learned a lot from Jack and is becoming quite the detective in her own right but she still leans on Jack when the times get tough. The elements of noir fiction that Jack brings to the story are also extremely enjoyable and somehow this author makes this blend work and work well. She even manages to throw in a little romance to liven up the plot at times.

So far I have been very pleased with this series that I accidentally stumbled over one day and I look forward to reading the further adventures of the bookstore lady and the dead PI.

The Buy the Book Bookstore in Rhode Island, co-owned by genteel widow woman Penelope Thornton McClure and her Aunt Sadie, is haunted by the spirit of Jack Shepard, a private eye who was killed there fifty years ago while working a case. Pen is the only one who can communicate telepathically with the ghost in her dreams.

She is excited that true crime writer Angel Stark is giving a reading at her store from a book she wrote about the death of her friend Bethany . At the reading, Bethany's sister Vicky makes a scene before being escorted out by friends and Angel flirts with Sadie's friend's nephew Johnny. The next day Angel's body is found in the water a rope around her neck. Pieces of the same rope were found in Johnny's truck. During the same time period Vicky goes missing. Johnny is the number one suspect especially since he disappeared but Pen doesn't believe he is a killer and with help from Jack, she sets out to prove it.

Although it sounds paradoxical this is a hard boiled cozy; Jack is a Philip Marlow type while Pen is like Miss Marple. This is a beguiling and bewitching mystery that will enchant readers as an old fashioned protagonist partners with a gruff ghost amusingly trying to blunt his sharp opinions in order not to offend Penelope's sensibilities. Alice Kimberly is a talented storyteller who allows the reader the fantasy of believing a ghost can be confined to a bookstore and fall for the present owner. There are plenty of separate twists and turns and red herrings that will maintain reader interest in the who-done-it, but it is the ghost and the bookstore owner who make the tale.

Harriet Klausner