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A review by krisrid
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Cleo Coyle
4.0
The first book in the "Haunted Bookshop" series is buckets of fun!! Newly widowed Penelope Thornton-McClure has taken her son Spencer and hightailed it out of NYC and away from her rich, over-bearing in-laws, to return to Rhode Island to become co-owner with her aunt Sadie, of "Buy the Book" a mystery bookstore that's been in the family for years.
Pen is just barely making ends meet and hits on the idea of holding author readings to bring people into the sleepy little store. Doesn't it just figure, that the first author she gets - famous mystery writer Timothy Brennan - drops dead in the middle of the reading in front of a store full of people AND two camera men filming the whole thing?
Then, when it turns out the death was murder, and the apparent murder weapon - a bottle of water - was handed to the author by Peneope, on film no less! well, Pen's in hot water.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the main character in the books written by Timothy Brennan, Jack Shepard, who's been dead for more than fifty years happens to be haunting Penelope's bookstore and somehow is able to not only hear her thoughts but talk back to her inside her head?!
This is a delightful romp of a book! Penelope starts out a little wishy-washy, having just seen her husband commit suicide and having to battle her nasty in-laws to keep her son with her and relatively unspoiled so she's a bit battered. But once Jack gets ahold of her, she gets her moxie back in a hurry, which is a good thing, since she needs to solve the murder in a New York minute if she doesn't want to find herself locked up in the big house!
The book is very much an homage to the traditional gum-shoe, private eye, film noir genre and while the Jack Shepard character spouts cliches out the wazoo, he's so funny and clever you really don't mind. Each chapter starts with a quote from either a film noir movie, or a private eye book or author which is also fun.
All in all a fun, fast moving read with likeable characters and a good plot. You can even try to figure out whodunnit, if you want to!
Pen is just barely making ends meet and hits on the idea of holding author readings to bring people into the sleepy little store. Doesn't it just figure, that the first author she gets - famous mystery writer Timothy Brennan - drops dead in the middle of the reading in front of a store full of people AND two camera men filming the whole thing?
Then, when it turns out the death was murder, and the apparent murder weapon - a bottle of water - was handed to the author by Peneope, on film no less! well, Pen's in hot water.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the main character in the books written by Timothy Brennan, Jack Shepard, who's been dead for more than fifty years happens to be haunting Penelope's bookstore and somehow is able to not only hear her thoughts but talk back to her inside her head?!
This is a delightful romp of a book! Penelope starts out a little wishy-washy, having just seen her husband commit suicide and having to battle her nasty in-laws to keep her son with her and relatively unspoiled so she's a bit battered. But once Jack gets ahold of her, she gets her moxie back in a hurry, which is a good thing, since she needs to solve the murder in a New York minute if she doesn't want to find herself locked up in the big house!
The book is very much an homage to the traditional gum-shoe, private eye, film noir genre and while the Jack Shepard character spouts cliches out the wazoo, he's so funny and clever you really don't mind. Each chapter starts with a quote from either a film noir movie, or a private eye book or author which is also fun.
All in all a fun, fast moving read with likeable characters and a good plot. You can even try to figure out whodunnit, if you want to!