Chance of a Ghost

Alison Kerby returns in the fourth Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series by E.J. Copperman. Alison, a single mother in her late thirties, runs a guesthouse in her childhood hometown of Harbor Haven, on the Jersey Shore, inhabited by her and her precocious ten-year-old daughter, as well as Maxie Malone, Alison’s resident Internet expert, and Paul, an English/Canadian professor turned detective, both of whom have lived there since before their deaths. It would seem that Alison and her daughter, as well as her mother, are the only ones who can see the ghosts.

At Paul’s urging, Alison had obtained a private-investigator’s license, and her services as such are sought by her mother’s own ghostly friend, who wants Alison to find out who show more killed him. While his death six months previously was deemed to have been of natural causes, he is convinced he was murdered. The investigation morphs into a search for the ghost of Alison’s father, who died five years ago, but whose ghost has been strangely absent of late. She is aided in her efforts by her mother, her daughter, her best friend Jeannie, and her present [living] houseguest, who is a retired cop and delighted at the opportunity to do what he did best, and misses a lot, as well as by Paul and Maxie [who Alison refers to as her two “non-breathing squatters”].

As with every book in the series, this newest entry contains the same unbeatable combination: a terrific plot and great if quirky humor [if you like that sort of thing – and I do!!]. I particularly loved the line about the heating system in Alison’s ancient Volvo, which was “roughly as efficient as the United States Congress, which is to say it made a lot of noise but got very little done.” The protagonist’s slightly bemused attitude toward the apparent fact that ghosts actually exist, and that some people could see/hear them, seems perfectly reasonable. This book, as were the earlier entries in the series, is thoroughly delightful, and highly recommended. show less

It would be too easy to spoil E.J. Copperman’s fourth book to feature single mom Alison Kerby, single mom and owner of a Jersey Shore guesthouse, and the many ghosts in her life. So I will tread gently here. Allison’s mother, Loretta Kerby, who also sees ghosts, gets a request from a deceased pal who believes that his death, attributed to natural causes, was actually a murder. The ghost, the supercilious and shifty Lawrence Lawrence, believes a toaster in his bath did him in.

At the same time, Alison’s dad, who had been visiting Loretta every Tuesday since his death five years ago. But Jack Kerby has suddenly gone AWOL. Lawrence Lawrence claims he can track down Jack Kerby — but only if Alison investigates Lawrence’s show more death.

Needless to say, matters complicate quickly, and Alison turns a bit whiny in the middle. However, the perpetrator caught me completely by surprise, and Copperman played entirely fair, giving up every clue a reader would need. I loved the ending and the characters enough to give the book four stars despite some unbelievable motivations along the way. Definitely worth a stop at the Seahaven guesthouse for this tale. show less

In Copperman’s paranormal mystery novel, Alison, her mother, and her daughter all see ghosts—it runs in the family. But her widowed mother has been secretly dating one: Alison’s deceased father. But when he stops coming by it leads to the question: Is he a lost soul now or just MIA?

The only lead comes in the form of the dramatic deceased spirit of a stage actor who wants Alison to find her murderer in return for him finding her father. Alison reluctantly pulls out her P.I. license and starts nosing around only to find the clues turning more sinister at each turn.

Entertaining, funny, and totally charming. Another great installment to the, A Haunting Guesthouse Mystery.

I love E.J. Copperman and his alter-ego Jeff Cohen. I've enjoyed all the books in this series and this one was no exception. Don't take my long reading period into account, life got in the way, not the story.

Alison sees ghosts, in fact two of them live in her house. Her mother also sees ghosts, and Alison's father, who had been visiting regularly, is suddenly missing. So, Alison, daughter Melissa (who can also see ghosts) and the two resident ghosts get busy trying to find out what happened to make Dad go into hiding.

Copperman is very good at making the entire series very believable and it is easy to suspend disbelief in this series. There is very little violence in this series and usually the clues to the solution are given quite show more clearly. Not that they are easily found but once you know them they are quite clear.

I didn't figure this one out (no surprise there). Looking forward to the next in the series. show less

E.J. Cooperman is yet again entertaining readers with a tale of ghostly investigations. Alison Kerby is an owner of a guesthouse. But not all her guests are alive or even guests. She has two resident ghosts, Maxie and Paul, who mostly annoy her.

Besides running a guesthouse, Alison also acts as a private investigator. Maxie—who’s great with research—and Paul—an investigator when he was alive—jump in and aid with her cases.

Alison has two guests this time around, and they don’t know about Maxie and Paul and Alison has a tough time keeping her resident non-humans a secret. Her mother has a secret and Alison has to find out what it is. But when she does, she almost wishes she was kept in the dark.

Her father comes every Tuesday to show more visit her mother. No, they’re not divorced. Her father died five years ago. What makes Alison angry is the fact that her father has not come to visit her or her daughter Melissa. But her ghostly father goes missing before she can confront him and in his place appears Laurence Laurentz, who insists he was murdered and wants Alison to find out who killed him. If she does, he will bring her father back. Her dead father is kidnapped?

Alison runs around investigating Laurence’s death. She needs to see her father again, even if she is mad at him for not visiting her. Can something bad happen to a ghost? Could Laurence hurt her father even though he’s already dead? Her investigation leads her to a senior citizen group called the New Old Thespians who put on plays. Her guests now become involved—they still don’t know about her ghostly help—and try to help Alison figure out who killed Laurence.

This is a great paranormal cozy. It’s thoroughly entertaining and you’ll be happy you picked this book up. Thumbs up to Cooperman.

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “One Major Mistake” show less

Allison's father (now a ghost) has disappeared, but no one knows why; not Paul, not Maxie (the resident ghosts of the Haunted Guesthouse)....

That is, not until a ghost comes to Alison's mother claiming to know where Alison's father is being "held", and will trade the information for Allison finding out who killed him via electrocution w/ a toaster thrown into his bath.

The dead man is as obnoxious dead as he was alive, most all of the people in the Senior Housing Thespian group hated him, as did his co-workers in the local theater box office.

As Allison goes searching for the ghost's killer she also searches for her father... what Allison discovers is: her father who died of cancer is hiding, his doctor has just died, and the murdered show more man's ghost is lying....

Meanwhile Allison reconnects with a childhood friend and a romance is in bloom....

I'm knocking off stars, because I didn't like any of the characters in the Thespian Group or the Theater Employees..... I also did not like the reason Allison's father all of a sudden went into hiding

An aside: I read this out of order, because it is out of order in the Library's Catalog..... show less

Excellent book with a great mystery and lots of ghosts, although these ghosts are not really the cliche'd ghosts of books, as the author treats them as corporeal people, not at all scary.

There are two mysteries here: one concerning a living person and one about the fate of the protag's father after death. The living mystery was well done, first with the question of whether the death was natural or murder, then with the murder suspects (if indeed it's a murder - Alison investigates for most of the book without having an answer to that question). Lots of possibilities, and the author gives the reader a chance to figure out the solution, with clues she leaves along the way. A reader with high comprehension skills and a decent memory will show more figure out this plot and enjoy doing so.

The store line about Alison's father is, I think, meant to tug the heartstrings, although it didn't have that effect on me. The ultimate solution seemed sort of predicable to me and sort of overly melodramatic. But I could easily chalk that up to individual tastes.

I continue to love and enjoy Alison's "internal dialogue" with the reader and her acerbic wit cracks me up. Maxie the ghost is as real and colorful as any of the human characters, although Paul still feels flat after this book - he doesn't really have a personality that shines through the pages. Perhaps in future books he'll become a little more "fleshed out". I look forward to the next book show less