The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion

That is what got me going on this series in the first place, but these books are much more than just that. There is a mixture of cozy and hardboiled mystery as well as a touch of the occult in each book. This book has more than a touch of occult, but it's a lot of fun. Penelope is on a mission to help her friend, mailman Seymour Tarnish when he inherits a supposedly haunted mansion. There are people who will stop at nothing to get rid of Seymour and get the house. These books are charming, but there is always a major kicker for the denouement, and this book is no exception. Pen and her spectral friend Jack Shepard need to solve a 60-year old crime before they can see the light on the modern-day one. This series is a real delight, and show more I'm grateful to have found it. show less

Mailman Seymour Tandish, friend of bookstore owner Penelope Thornton-McClure, should be ecstatic when he inherits a mansion, but he isn’t. For one thing, the police suspect he killed the elderly owner in order to get her estate. For another thing, the mansion seems to be haunted. Penelope is very familiar with ghosts – the ghost of 1940’s private investigator Jack Shepard is often by her side – and she thinks she can help Seymour with his ghosts. But Seymour has other ideas – he wants to exorcise all the ghosts out of town – and Pen has to convince him not to do that, or she’ll lose Jack forever.

Author Alice Kimberly (pen name for husband and wife writing team Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini who also write as Cleo Coyle) show more has created a delightfully unique cozy mystery series. The supernatural elements are well done and the series is filled with strong characters starting with Pen who picked up the pieces of her life after her husband committed suicide and helped revitalize her aunt’s bookstore. Jack is another great character, a typical 1940’s private investigator who doesn’t always quite get the innovations of modern times. Some of the best parts in this series are when Pen, through her dreams, is pulled into past cases that Jack investigated. Kimberly does a good job of not only creating Jack’s past world, but the town of Quindicott where Pen lives and the townspeople who are all quite realistic.

Having said all that, I was slightly disappointed in “The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion”. It had some great moments and I love the way that Kimberly adds more dimension to Jack in each book (in this book she does a great job of explaining why Jack disappears for long periods of time). The mystery itself is good with plenty of suspects and red herrings, but some suspects aren’t fully developed and Kimberly gives away the identity of the killer too early in the book (and it’s hard to believe the characters didn’t catch on as early as readers do). The elderly woman giving away her estate to someone who is practically a stranger is a well worn plot device (although it was fun to read as Seymour tries to fit into his new neighborhood) and was a bit rushed as Seymour moved very quickly into the house. Finally, the scene where they confront the killer is another cliché and totally unbelievable. However, Kimberly does add a very nice twist at the end of the book.

“The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion” is not the best book in The Haunted Bookshop cozy mystery series, but it’s such a good series it’s still worth reading.

Other books in the series are:

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
The Ghost and the Dead Deb
The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library
The Ghost and the Femme Fatale

Enjoy. show less

Pen and Jack must travel back to Jack's time to find what is similar about one of his old cases to the current murder of the owner of Todd Mansion. With Seymour a prime suspect in the murder, it is up to them to save him.

I enjoyed this story. I always enjoy when Pen goes back to Jack's time. I love the 1940's. As Jack pushes her to find the connection between their cases and pushes her to develop more of her detecting skills, it's fun to watch her grow both as a person and a PI. There is humor as everyone mistakenly believe something is going on between her and Seymour.

For as many cozy mysteries as I have read I would think I would get who it was but until the end of the story I had no idea. Guess I'll never be a detective.

ghosts, mystery, bookseller, amateur-sleuth, private-investigators, law-enforcement, lawyers, murder, murder-investigation, small-business, small-town, family, family-dynamics, friendship, widow, chicanery, situational-humor, verbal-humor*****

It took a bit to get into it because I had not read any earlier books in the series, but then I really enjoyed this tale. Jack was a private eye who died in 1949 NYC but is now a ghost who solves murder problems with bookseller Pen McClure in a small town in Rhode Island. This case involves a favorite customer and the local letter carrier as well as an inheritance and some unfriendly ghosts. Well done whodunit complete with humor.
The audio is exceptionally well done by Caroline Shaffer and Traber Burns

Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her unseen ghost, 1940s PI Jack Shepard, find themselves involved in a haunted haouse inherited by Pen's friend, Seymour Tarnish. murder attempts are made and the lady who left Seymour the house appeared to have been scared to death. The dumb-as-a-post chief of police ignores the obvious questions although anxious to arrest Seymour for murder and then Pen experiences the haunting first-hand. What is going on? Always entertaining, this fifth entry in the series continues to maintain its quality. Enjoyed it a lot.

Although I still love Jack, there isn’t a whole lot of different stuff in this book. Not that it’s bad at all, just kind of routine and typical. Body found, side story with one of the main characters, Pen and Jack investigate, case solved.
One thing I do love with this series is that the characters remain true to the storyline and we don’t have too many new characters introduced. I thought this was the last one, which would be sort of a horrible way to end, but apparently it is not...

This book is part of the fun Haunted Bookshop mystery series. The series features a modern-day single mom bookstore owner and the ghost of a hard-boiled PI who died in the 1940's and who helps her solve crimes.

In this book they are investigating the death of an eccentric, reclusive, elderly woman who died in her spooky old mansion. The town's chief of police has a grudge against the town's mail carrier, and has spared no time in accusing him of the crime. It doesn't look good for him that the woman recently changed her will naming the postman as her main beneficiary. Pen and Jack must work to find convincing evidence that someone or something else was responsible for the woman's death, or an innocent man may be charged with her murder. show more As they work, they must also avoid ghost hunters and mediums who may discover Jack, or worse, send him away permanently. show less