Customer Reviews

The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This series with Penelope Thornton McClure and her ghost of a dead PI Jack Shepard is truly unique, and the stories are good also. In this book Penelope and her aunt Sadie are given a rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe books, and Penelope begins noticing that deaths and attacks seem to be happening to anyone that is connected with this rare book collection. She sets out with some help from Jack as well as her live friends to find out what's happening. The mix of cozy with the hard-boiled genre again occurs in this book, and it's an appealing combination. I also enjoyed the Edgar Allan Poe trivia that is found throughout the book. It would be safe for me to say that these books are addicting. I can't wait until the next one comes out.

I hadn't read the other book in the Alice Kimberly series, but, after reading this one, I am definitely sold on the idea of buying some of the others.

In The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library, the bookstore owner, Penelope McClure, has to tango with a series of mysterious murders after her aunt is given a rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe's works. It seems that those who buy the books, or volumes, end up dead.

One of the refreshing aspects of Kimberly's style is her ability to create many facets in one work--there are mystery, noir, dark comedy, intrigue and supernatural elements all intertwined. She also uses a very ingenious and unique way of going about solving a mystery, which the use of a ghost who is inside the head of the protagonist, Mrs. McClure. Not only that but there are plenty of jabs at the Da Vinci Code (always a good thing), as one of the characters insists there is a code within the volumes of Poe's works that is an intricate part of solving the mystery.

Perhaps the most interesting and unique character is the one that isn't even alive. That's right, Private Investigator Jack Shepard, who was murdered many years past, seems to show up right when things begin to get interesting in this book. He definitely adds spice to this novel, and gives a little comic relief to the story's plot, coming up with witty one liners all the way. He is right there with Pen McClure in every step of the mystery, and he has the feel and sounds as if he were right out of an episode of Dragnet. The dialogue between him and Pen make for some of the funnier and unique moments of the book.

In another respect, this book is just a fun "who done it" with mystery and adventure involved. You follow each lead and clue and are right there with the characters trying to solve, and figure out motives for each of the murders.

All in all, this is a quick, fun, easy read, and is great for a rainy day, or any time for that matter. Mystery and suspense, and all this drama in a book store owner's life: who would have thought it possible?

Alice Kimberly's premise for all of her stories is not an easy one to maintain over sustained story production but she does it. In her latest book, The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library, she has written another good entertaining story while keeping her main characters consistent and interesting. The plot is complex but not so much so that a reader gets lost. I complement her on being able to move between the "gumshoe days" of Mickey Spillane and earlier detective stories and current times while developing two story lines to a great resolution. In a nutshell, this book is a good "read" and a keeper for re-reading.

Alice Kimberly continues her Haunted Bookstore series with this enjoyable novel. When Sadie receive a call to remove and sell off books in Peter Chesley's library through Buy the Book, Pen and Sadie are in for a mysterious ride when certain volumes begin to cause the death of the customers who purchase them. Pen will need all of ghostly Jack Shepard's help to solve the case...and stay out of jail.

Like her previous novels, Kimberly draws the reader into the story from the first chapter. Easiest to follow if one has read her previous stories, the book could also stand alone. Penelope, Spencer, Aunt Sadie, and Jack, among the regular characters, have continued with their lives since the second book. I like how the author does not pick up each book where the previous one left off, but rather has her characters continue to develop and grow.

What is appealing in this book are the range of relationships that are explored. Penelope and Jack move forward with their odd present/past tense romance. We learn more about Aunt Sadie's past. Penelope and Spencer also adapt as only mother and son can. Penelope finds her voice after all these years of being a pleasant 'yes woman.'

The mystery moves along somewhat predictably, but I found it taking back stage to some of the other side stories. They proved more interesting and captivating. Overall, a good read in the series.

I agree with all the praise for this series. The characters are fun and the writing is light and breezy. Most definitely waiting for the next installment!

The female-sleuth of this series is Penelope Thornton-McClure and she lives in the small town of Quindicott, Rhode Island. She is a widowed mom of a 10-year old boy named Spencer. With her aunt Sadie, she runs a bookstore in downtown Quindicott called "Buy the Book".

The interesting thing about "Buy the Book" is that it has a resident ghost in street-smart private investigator Jack Shepard. Jack was murdered in the bookstore many years ago and has never left - that is, his spirit has never left. And only Penelope can 'hear' him. At first she thinks she is going crazy but eventually she learns to accept his presence. In fact he has helped her solve a couple of murders.

"It was a dark and stormy night. No, really." This statement appears in Chapter 1 of this book, which is the third in the series. Penelope and Aunt Sadie are on their way to visit an old beau of Sadie's, Peter Chesley. Peter lives in the old Chesley family mansion that Penelope describes as being creepy! This mystery revolves around some rare and valuable old Edgar Allan Poe books he gives them to sell. With the help of her ghost Jack, Penelope solves the mystery.

I'm pretty fascinated by the idea Ms. Kimberly came up with for this series and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her books.