Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Addicting Series, November 14, 2006
An old friend of bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure's Aunt Sadie gives her a rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe's complete works. Shortly after giving Sadie the collection, Peter Chelsey is found dead. The police say it was an accident. Pen has her doubts, but doesn't want to get involved in yet another murder investigation. But when someone turns up dead shortly after buying one of the books in the collection, Pen is accused of stealing the book back since there is a rumor going around that there is a code contained in the collection that leads to a treasure. Pen wants to clear her name and sets out to do so with the help of the ghost of Jack Shepard, a hard-boiled PI who died in the 1940's. When she and then a friend of hers who is trying to solve the code are attacked, Pen knows she needs to find the killer before someone else is murdered.
I love this series by Alice Kimberly (the pen name of husband and wife team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi). The idea of having a ghost help a living person solve mysteries is a refreshing touch and Jack and Pen have a nice chemistry together. Kimberly slides effortlessly from Pen's modern point of view (in the first person) and Jack's 1940's point of view (third person). The supernatural touches are just right - Pen can communicate with Jack both inside the bookstore (where he was killed) and outside, but outside she needs to carry a buffalo nickel to communicate with him and his awareness of what is going on is much more limited. Pen can travel into Jack's past cases through her dreams which is a nice touch, especially since his past cases always add clues to her current case. There's a nice sense of humor throughout the book. The mystery itself is well plotted, with a huge nod to "The Da Vinci Code", and the identity of the murderer will come as a surprise to most readers.
I highly recommend this addicting series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Shamus and Edgar Allan Poe, October 29, 2006
Bookseller, Penelope, is back with her ghost, P.I.Jack Shepard. This time with the mystery of the "Poe Code" and someone who will stop at nothing to find the treasure. Peter Chelsey,an ex-lover of Aunt Sadie's, calls the two booksellers to his monstrosity of a house to give them a rare set of Poe's works. Penelope forgets her purse and when they return they find Peter dead. The police say it's an accident but of course Penelope knows otherwise. She proceeds to find the answer with a variety of mishaps that turn murderous.
A campy and entertaining series and using Poe, the first author of detective fiction, in this story is perfect. I'm looking forward to the next installment.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is there a secret code hidden in the books?, October 25, 2006
Penelope Thornton-McClure and her aunt Sadie own the Buy The Book bookstore. They head out on a stormy night to look at some old books of Peter Chesley, an old friend of Sadie's. Turns out to be an extremely rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe's complete works.
There is a rumor that there is a secret code hidden within the books' leather-bound pages, and that it leads to buried treasure. Bad thing is that as Pen sells off various valuable volumes, everyone who has bought one is murdered.
PI Jack Shepard, the resident ghost of the bookstore that only Pen can hear helps her work on solving the case. The police believe most of the deaths were accidents, but Pen and Jack are certain that isn't the case. Can they discover the identity of the killer without putting Pen in harm's way? Plus what about the secret code and buried treasure. Is there anything to the rumor?
I love this series. Pen and Jack are such likeable characters. Usually I have trouble with mysteries with a ghost, but this series is so well written that it doesn't bother me in the least. The bookstore setting is so natural and so is the fact that Pen gets involved in unraveling the mystery. The additional people in the story are well written and add to the story.
I highly recommend this book and the complete series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
