Penelope Thornton-McClure manages a Rhode Island bookshop rumored to be haunted. When a bestselling author drops dead signing books, the first clue of foul play comes from the store's full-time ghost - a PI murdered on the very spot more than fifty years ago.
ALICE KIMBERLY is a pseudonym used by New York Times bestselling authors Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini. They first used it to launch their Haunted Bookshop Mystery series in 2004. Alice and Marc now write the series under their primary pen name CLEO COYLE and their Alice Kimberly titles have been re-released under their Cleo Coyle name. To learn more, visit their CLEO COYLE page here at Goodreads, as well as the pages dedicated to their two bestselling, long-running mystery series:
Alice/Cleo’s Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, hailed as a highly original and "utterly charming" (Mystery Scene) blend of cozy and hardboiled genres, features an earnest young New England widow who catches criminals with the help of a gumshoe ghost, the irresistible spirit of a tough private detective who’d been gunned down in her bookshop decades before.
Cleo’s Coffeehouse Mystery series, celebrated for pioneering both the “urban cozy” and "coffee cozy" mystery genres, follows the adventures of amateur sleuth Clare Cosi, a single mom with a complicated love life who manages a Greenwich Village coffeehouse and a quirky crew of baristas while helping the NYPD solve perplexing crimes.
In addition to their critically acclaimed mysteries, Alice and Marc have written multiple works of fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. They are also accomplished tie-in writers who have created bestselling properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM.
Originally from Western Pennsylvania, Alice and Marc live in New York City, where they haunt coffeehouses, hunt ghosts, wrangle rescue cats, cook like crazy, and write independently and together.
Ahhhh how I have missed cozy mysteries! It's been so long! It felt like coming home after a long, exhausting vacation.
I wanted something spooky and supernatural, because duh, Halloween, but wasn't in the mood for gore or despair, and this was my perfect answer.
Penelope is a protagonist you find yourself rooting for, even though she is flawed. Namely, she lacks much of a backbone. By the end of the book, you witness her really coming into her own, with the help of a ghostly friend. The mystery kept me guessing and it was fun to watch it unfold. I also appreciated that it lacked the common damsel-in-distress scene we so often get with females confronting murderers! I'm looking forward to more of this series, learning more about the characters and enjoying living vicariously in small-town New England running a bookstore!
I read the first five books in the Haunted Bookshop series more than 10 years ago and fell in love with the characters. I was SO happy in 2018 when the author started adding new books again! Then the audio books popped up on Audible+, so I decided to revisit the series from the start! I have the whole series in paperback on my keeper shelf, and now I can enjoy having them read to me! Woot!
The basics: Penelope McClure is recently widowed. She decides to start a new life, moving to Rhode Island to help her aunt run her bookshop. Just when things start looking up, a best-selling author drops dead in the middle of a book signing and Penelope discovers the bookshop is haunted by the ghost of a long-dead detective, Jack Shepard.
I love this series! I love ghost stories and cozy mysteries -- and this is a fun blend of both. The humor and a big dose of old time detective-speak make these stories entertaining. Penelope and Jack make a great crime fighting duo!
Narrated by Caroline Shaffer and Traber Burns, the audio book is just over 7 hours long. Shaffer and Burns do a great job of voice acting! Very entertaining listen!
So happy this series is included in Audible+. I'm going to listen to the entire series!
5/4/2021 - just finished listening to this audiobook again! Since there was a new book in the series, I decided to revisit this series from the start again. Tried to in 2020, but life got in the way due to the WorldWide CF that was 2020. So....new year....made it through book 1 (still as fun and entertaining as it was the first time!)...and moving on to book 2!
I started out loving this book. I mean, seriously, an unapologetic, 1940s, hard-boiled, ghost detective haunting a thirty-something bookstore owner? I'll take Jack Shepard in my head commenting on my gams any day. I'm probably a huge discredit to my women's studies minor, but there's just something about a guy in a fedora calling you a "doll" that gets me every time.
Sadly, the editing on The Ghost and Mrs. McClure was verging on horrible. The book is told in first person with occasional forays into limited third, from the ghost's point of view. At least once, a third person sentence slipped through in a first-person chapter. Very distracting. There was also a long dream section where the protagonist recounted a conversation she'd just heard to the ghost, who hadn't accompanied her. It was unnecessary and a classic newbie writer's mistake. I'd expect more from Alice Kimberly, who is actually a pen name for Alice Alfonsi and her husband, Marc Cerasini, who also write the Coffeehouse Mystery series as Cleo Coyle. I'm also astonished that these sorts of mistakes made it through to publication in a book that, at the very minimum, has been through the hands of two authors, an agent, and an editor. Disappointing!
It took a few chapters to absorb this new environment and first journey with Alice Kimberley. I long ago tired of 18 year-old heiresses, or sassy singles but don’t relate to Moms or divorcées either. At last, Penelope McClure is a character that meets in the middle. It didn’t take long to like this protagonist: nearer my age, flipping the bird at opinionated in-laws to pursue her own business. She had an unhappy marriage but more originally, she is a widow of suicide. Her son neatly fits into the picture, caring for his cat and helping at the store.
The mystery is multifaceted and requires sleuthing and psychological profiling to solve. The most unique element is the ghost of a 1940s detective, teaching our heroine how to piece clues together and examine patterns with logic. It would be easy for any author to fall into the overdone mafia accent. These authors didn’t. The private eye’s tone isn’t Italian but old New York. I loved the flavour it brought, which matches his period. Jack Sheppard was a famous investigator, who the world doesn’t know was murdered at the site of Penelope’s store. They both discover that they can converse telepathically and since he can’t leave the premises, urges her to solve her guest author’s death.
The environment doesn’t feel very metaphysical. At least one’s first encounter with a spirit should carry reverence. The very few novelists writing serious “standard mystery” paranormal fare fail at that; too nonchalant about apparitions, or making a mockery of what ought to be overwhelming or surreal. Perhaps I’ll that emotional dynamic will be reflected elsewhere in this series. Besides the ‘too cool to ruffle’ aunt and the political lady, I like Penelope’s townspeople. Her growth feels natural and I imagine Jack will learn from her too.
With the newest of this series coming out soon, I just had to start the series so I would know what the buzz about Jack Shepard was. I can definitely say I'm in love with that ghost, lol! What an amazing character! He and Pen worked well together as a sleuthing team...once he convinced her that she wasn't crazy and that yes, she really could hear him in her brain. Jack talked her through a very cool sting operation to get the perp to confess. It worked and the person who killed the famous author in Pen's store was in custody.
I really enjoyed the character of Pen's son, Spencer. He wasn't your typical kid. I imagined him as Young Sheldon only with a little more of a loving nature. I liked that he and Pen were strong enough to stand up to her late husband's family and let them know that Spencer wasn't going to cave and do what their McClure children did in high society. Spence loved the bookstore and helping his mom. I enjoyed the interaction of Aunt Sadie, although aside from Pen, Spencer and Jack, it's pretty clear that as nice as she is, those three are the primary characters, at least in this book. The cookie bakery owners, Linda and Milner seemed like nice people. Milner was a good comic relief at times.
I can't wait to read the next book. I really am going to make myself wait before I dig into the 6th book when it releases. I want to savor all the awesomeness that is Jack Shepard!
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure Earns 5+/5 Ghostly Shadows...Totally Entertaining!
Alice Kimberley/Cleo Coyle introduced a delightfully entertaining premise for their Haunted Bookshop Mystery series with a “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” dynamic. A hard-boiled 1940s private detective, Jack Shepherd, is murdered, yet presumed missing. Then decades later he ghosts a widowed mother of one who owns a bookshop and finds herself ensnared in a murder investigation. Mrs. Penelope Thornton McClure, “Pen” to some, had been involved in big city publishing, but now, she’s returned home to Quindecot, Rhode Island, struggling to distance herself from her former in-laws who entertain her complicity in their son’s suicide, and along with her Aunt Sadie, trying to infuse some excitement into the family bookstore, Buy the Book, to support her and her young son. Unfortunately, the premier event kicking off the book tour of popular crime fiction author Timothy Brennan ends tragically with his choking and collapsing...dead! He had just announced he was exploring the final case of his friend Jack Shepherd who had been missing these past fifty years. His last breath...“Jack, Jack Shepherd. It can’t be. You’re dead!” Penelope didn’t believe in spirits, until a voice, a voice only she can hear, interrupts her thoughts. It’s Jack Shepherd. Jack’s ghost is stuck in the bookshop, the last place he visited before his death, and has a fascinating connection to the dead author, who has used Jack and his cases, without permission, of course, as inspiration for his popular books. This non-corporeal partnership provides Penelope a unique insight into the past and the present, and a unique mentorship about private detecting, but will any of it be useful to find a killer or two?
I was first a fan of Cleo Coyle because of the Coffeehouse Mystery series, and this Haunted Bookshop Mystery, penned under another pseudonym, is just as entertaining, engaging, and clever! This book one’s story is brilliant: the double mystery, the unique complications, personal drama with the in-laws, challenges raising a young boy fascinated by the crime and detective genre, and a more than satisfying “Oh, wow!” ending. The writing team has a descriptive style with a few twist to keep me engaged, and captures well the personality of a 1940s PI and all the era’s slang and cultural views. Penelope is an admirable character, with whom many will identify; she is intelligent, but often errs on the side of caution as she tries to avoid conflict and confrontation. Aunt Sadie is a hoot, and although I usually balk at kids, little Spencer is a delightful inclusion. I enjoyed the dynamic between Penelope and Jack from comforting to annoying, from supportive to thoughts of regret, and in many ways each act as mentor to the other.
I chose the audio version which is also unique with a king of tag-team style performance by Caroline Shaffer and Traber Burns. Caroline Shaffer, with whom I am familiar from Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries, performs the main narration with brilliant voice artistry of varied American dialects, especially the Jack Shepherd she performs and Aunt Sadie’s, a pleasant voice for Penelope, excellent effort at depicting age and gender, and changes in tone and emotions to keep the listener engaged. Traber Burns is the perfect voice of Jack Shepherd, deep and broody. He takes the lead with specific flashback chapters along with a few points where his perspective is highlighted. Burns does well with age, and although he is challenged switching to a female gender, it in no way effects the absolute delight of the audio version. I loved it and am eager for more!
Cleo Coyle, the pen name of husband-and-wife writing team Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini, and is primarily known for writing "The CoffeeHouse Mystery" series, has another series written under another pseudonym of Alice Kimberly. "The Haunted Bookshop" features a bookshop owner who finds herself solving mysteries with the help of the bookshop's longtime resident: the ghost of a private eye who was murdered there in 1949.
This first book in the series shares many similarities with "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," originally a 1946 novel written by Josephine Leslie writing under the name R.A. Dick, but most people will likely remember it from the 1947 movie adaptation starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison or the 1968 TV series with Hope Lange and Edward Mulhare.
Like its titular counterpart, this book features a recently widowed young mother, Penelope "Pen" Thornton-McClure, who moves with her child to the small, seaside hometown of Quindicott, Rhode Island to find a fresh start after the suicide of her husband. Amid rumors of the place being haunted, she buys into her aunt's failing bookshop business, determined to turn it around.
Pen hopes that her first book signing will be a step in the right direction. Hard-boiled mystery writer Timothy Brennan, famous for his novels featuring "Jack Shield," based on the exploits of real-life private investigator Jack Shepard, is something of a letdown; he's rude, pompous and overbearing. Plus, Pen keeps hearing a persistent heckler during Brennan's presentation. And just as the author reveals a secret about her store's link to Shepard's disappearance over 50 years ago, he keels over dead himself. An even bigger surprise is waiting for Pen later that evening when she discovers that the heckler she was hearing during the event turns out to be the ghost of Jack Shepard himself, who tells her that Brennan's death was not from natural causes, but murder.
The book is a little disjointed in the first chapter, as it starts with the aftermath of the author's murder, then flashes back to several hours before in the following chapters, but it has a brisk pace and was a quick read, The characters of Jack Shepard and Pen McClure are very well fleshed out, but many of the supporting characters are somewhat two-dimensional, particularly Pen's aunt Sadie (for the fun of it, I pictured her as Hope Lange, who played the widowed mother in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" TV series). And while I enjoyed some of the excerpts that were featured at the beginning of each chapter since they were from hard-boiled mystery novels, some excerpts didn't seem to belong, like the ones featuring quotations from Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and in particular, the keynote address from the 2003 British Booksellers Association conference.
However, I greatly enjoyed the bantering between Pen and Jack, as well as the scene in which Pen has a dream where she visits with Jack in his 1940's office, wearing clothes and hairstyle native to the time period. I liked the idea that as Pen works with her neighbors to solve the case, she is unable to tell them of certain clues because they were provided by her unseen ghostly partner. All in all, a fun read, and I'll be interested to check out other books in the series.
I think Jack Shepard must be the world‘s sexiest ghost. A rough and tough ghost murdered in the 1940’s, he comes through to save the day and the bookstore. The writing was witty and fresh and I actually laughed out loud a few times. This is one that you almost have to read straight through because you just keep wanting to read another chapter and then another chapter. Can’t wait to really get into this series.
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly is the first book in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series. Penelope Thornton-McClure runs a mystery bookshop with her aunt Sadie and when well known author Timothy Brennan is murdered during a book signing, the resident ghost, private investigator Jack Shepard urges Penelope to solve the case. I loved this book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the bookstore. The mystery was intriguing and leisurely paced and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
We all know a small town bookstore focused on mysteries is a perfect setting for a mystery. This book pulls a past mystery into perfect connection with a new murder, ties the two inextricably together, adds a little haunting, and keeps the pages turning.
The ghost, the main character and her struggles and self doubts, and the setting were the best parts of this book. The mystery storyline was somewhat predictable, but that didn’t stop me from loving this book!
It's the new meets the old when a ghost of a P.I. that was killed about 50 years ago helps Pen (co-owner of a book store) solve a murder of an author at an event being held at the book store. Only Pen can hear him and when he allows, see him. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Well, I must say that I had fun reading this. The premise made me think of that movie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
You have a newly opened bookshop, an author died at said bookshop and Penelope and her aunt along with Pen's son Spencer, running the store. All the while an investigation is going on surrounding the author's death. What happened? Any suspects? Add more to the widow's worries is ghost Jack Shepherd, haunting the bookstore.
I stayed up a little, to finish this. I had maybe a couple of chapters left and wanted to know how the mystery would end, who done it, etc.
I liked the writing style with the different dialogue chapters, given you an idea on whose who. That this was a quick read. I was surprised to find I was already halfway into the book, thinking, huh, wish this was a little longer, but that's okay.
I'm curious as to where the story will go in the series, since near the end, it seems there's some, well unfinished business, concerning the fedora wearing ghost detective. Also liked, that there's some tension between the two, all the while Jack is helping Penelope with standing up for herself. I like that.
Pretty good start to another new series I'm looking forward to catching up on.
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Cleo Coyle, Penelope Thornton-McClure, recently widowed when her husband jumped from their building, has returned to her hometown of Quindecot, Rhode Island to help her Aunt Sadie try to save the family bookstore, which they rename Buy the Book. Pen, as she is known, is thrilled to get famous author Timothy Brennan to come to their bookstore on his tour to promote his newest book, Shield of Justice, featuring Detective Jack Shield, based upon 1940s detective Jack Shepard, who disappeared 50 years earlier. As the abrasive, selfish author wreaks havoc in the store getting things set up in his own style, Pen starts to hear a voice heckle Brennan. But no one else hears the voice. This is because she is hearing Jack Shepherd, long- dead and last seen at the family bookstore.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Borrowing from the premise of the Ghost and Mrs. Muir, this is a combination of a widow starting out a new life and a ghost who inhabits her new space. In this case it is a bookshop.
Penelope Thornton-McClure, a young widow, has moved back to her hometown of Cranberry, Rhode Island. She has moved back to help her Aunt Sadie run her bookshop and to get herself and son out from under the thumb of her husband’s domineering family.
Life is a lot slower in Cranberry than Manhattan, but there is quite a bit going on. It all picks up when the guest author, Timothy Brennan, drops dead at the book signing event at the revamped bookstore. It gets even more interesting when the tie between Brennan and his main character, Jack Shield, is linked to the real life P.I. Jack Shephard. It seems that Brennan and Shephard knew each other years ago. Shephard was murdered back in the 1940s at the bookstore, and the murder has never been solved or his body found. Meanwhile, Brennan had found Shephard’s case files and was using them as base info for his Jack Shield series.
Another twist is that Jack Shephard is still in the bookstore. In ghost form, but he is still there and he and Penelope can communicate. Seems Pen had this ability when she was a child and it has reappeared again.
With Penelope as the person that can interact with live people and Jack to give her clues and his expertise on investigating, the two make a good team to find out the truth of Brennan’s death. Pen is a proper type of lady and Jack is a hard boiled P.I. and talks like it. This combination makes some fun reading.
Looking forward to find more books in this series!
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure is one of the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries by Cleo Coyle. Ms. Coyle (writing as Alice Kimberly) has done a bang-up job of weaving a tale so intriguing you can't put it down!
Penelope McClure is now co-owner of Buy the Book with her crazy Aunt Sadie. Setting up the newly refurbished bookstore for an Author event has someone in the lurch & not liking it one bit! Enter PI Jack Shield- resident ghost of the building for the last 1/2 century. What is it about this new dame that has him scratching his head?
The events unfold with a raucous ton of hilarity and quick one-liners. Throw in some history with self-doubt and you've got the MO of the story! The feel & atmosphere of this book in parts are right out of 40's & 50's... the language and attitude of Jack is so refreshing!!
***Spoiler's (sort of)***
Favorite Lines:
"I'm a postal worker, buster!" Seymour cried, a vein bulging on his forehead. "Do you really want a piece of me?!"
"How am I feeling?" I repeated. "Like a full floor display got dropped on my head from the top of the Empire State Building. I swear I'll never touch hard liquor again."
"Baby, sounds to me like you're a picture being fitted for a frame, and the name of that frame is murder."
"Yeah. Right. Not like you, ya bloated, barstool raconteur!"
I absolutely loved this book and am looking forward to the other ones in this series!
THE GHOST AND MRS. McCLURE is one of the best cozy mysteries I've read so far. Mrs. McClure is part owner to a bookshop in a sleepy little town & lives upstairs with her young don who was recently nik named Spencer For Hire. He's set his goal to read all the mystery books in his mothers & aunts bookstore so that one day he can read the real books with the character Dpencer For Hire in them. Mrs. McClure is recently widowed, her rich husband jumped out of a window, & after her first author's appearance dies under suspicious terms she starts hearing a man's voice, named Jack (who some 50 years earlier being a detective disappeared & was last seen in this very bookshop) in her head & she wonders if she is suffering from grief, hence the voice. As Jack points out to her, she really wasn't suffering from grief since she was actually relieved her husband was dead. Anyway as the story unfolds, Mrs. McClure with Jacks professional help, even though he's other worldly, sets out to put together all the clues of the author's death. The characters are charming, witty & the story is so intense you can't put the book down until you've finished. I'm looking forward to reading the whole series.
The beginning of a series of mysteries which are essentially American cozies. Very good writing and a solid series concept make this a good read. The mystery revolves around the death/murder of a famous detective crime writer based on the files of a real detective killed in the 1940s. So happens he was killed in the building which is now a bookstore and he is haunting it. Mrs. McClure is a young widow raising her son above her aunts once failing bookstore. FIlled with great characters and twists and turns. Loved this.
I thought this was a gem of a book! It was a great first book in a series! In fact I liked it so much that I’ve purchased the next three to binge when I need a fun, interesting read with humor and a good mystery! As a first in the series I’d rate it a 5/5 because it made me want to read more as I enjoyed the characters and found supporting characters just as interesting as the main ones. I also love the idea of a book store setting! Also, who can resist a good mystery with a ghost ? Not me!
A Review of a very good book by a very good author. This lady definitely has brains behind her pretty face.This book is sort a cross between Remington Steele and Heat of the Night. Bloody good read!!
I really like the role reversal. This time, because our leading man was and couldn't leave the building, our "leading lady" was, sort of, in charge. Actually, it was more like they were acting on a leveled playing field.
What a unique approach to a murder mystery! The author makes everything seem so natural that the reader smoothly accepts everything without realizing it. I really liked Jack and the soft and vulnerable heart beneath his hard-core persona. Boy, an i ever glad that there are more books in the series!
Easy to read, very enjoyable story. A hard-bitten private detective forced to stay haunting the building in which he was killed. The new co-owner of the bookstore, and attractive single mother, has the ability to hear him speak, and is not frightened by him.
Mix in some stereotypical town's people, an author's murder and you have a fun who-done-it.
Such an original concept, well woven mystery and fully “fledged” characters. Part throwback to the classic private eye stories, complete with patter and an edge, and all a doozy of a mystery to unravel. Thoroughly diverting read by one of my favorite authors.
Having already read (and loved) another book in this series, I was delighted to find four more, the first of which was this, the beginning. Penelope has what appears to be a disastrous book store re-opening with the death of the author who came to speak, but it turns into a huge publicity coup along with the murder investigation solved with the help of the ghost of Jack Shepard, P.I.
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure, along with the subsequent books in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, was my introduction to cozy mysteries. I've read a number of other series since then, and still feel this is one of the best. If you've been turning your nose up at cozy mysteries, give this book a try. It might just change your mind!
The Ghost is great. I read one of these books last year and had them on my Christmas list. We moved and I finally got everything in order and I got this book. It's fantastic!
Love the characters, they are funny and quirky. I live in Rhode Island so its wonderful to read a cozy mystery with your home state as the location of the story. Will read the next in the series for sure.
!st book in the Haunted Bookshop series. An excellent book, great cast of characters, including Jack, the ghost, a former detective and Penelope the part owner of the book store. Loved the setting, a small town in Rhode Island. Looking forward to the next book.