The Ghost And Mrs. McClure (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
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 really loved this book. It finally was based on a cozy mystery scenario that so far had not been repeated over and over in other books which simply changed the locations and career choices of the main character, but were all basically the same in the end. There were some editing issues, as mentioned in another review. Additional ones included two people having quotations in the same paragraph and I think there was some confusion about the quoted sentences in Pen’s head when she was talking to Jack the ghost and sometimes some of the conversational thinking on her part was not quoted but he responded to her thoughts anyway. However, I am coming to find out how lax the editing industry has become and am starting to simply overlook it, because I am finding these kinds of errors repeatedly in books over the last 10 years or so.Other than that, this is the kind of storyline I like. The characters were versatile and I think fit well with the comedic enterprise of a small town and all its hassles and the different folks that live there. The dream sequence I thought shook things up a bit and I like an author who can mix it up, while I know some people don’t like that. I don’t think in this case it was an author error to put that in at all. I liked that the backstory on how Jack became a ghost is left lingering for future books. I rarely give a 5 star rating to a first book in a series, but this one truly appealed to me like none other so far. I look forward to reading the rest.
What do You think about The Ghost And Mrs. McClure (2004)?
After her husband kills himself, Penelope Thornton-McClure, moved to Rhode Island with her seven year old son, Spencer, and buys into her aunt's bookstore. She arranges an appearance in the store by Timothy Brennan, author of a series of books based on the real-life unsolved murder of private eye Jack Shepard in that very location. Brennan, who turns out to be a jerk, chokes and dies during his talk at the store. There are plenty of suspects, including Penelope herself, who handed Brennan the tainted water bottle that ended up killing him. Penelope plays detective to clear her name, with unexpected help from the ghost of Jack Shepard. This was a fun book to read. Having a ghost as one of the detectives is a clever idea and works well. Author Alice Kimberly does a great job of switching from Penelope's viewpoint (first person) to Jack's (third person). Also done well is Jack's dialogue. Since he died 50 years ago, he still sounds like a hard boiled detective from the 1950's and he is amazed at the current technology, such as computers, that Penelope uses to help solve the murder. Alice Kimberly knows and cares a lot about books and bookstores and it shows. The mystery itself was good, although I guessed a major plot twist fairly early. Still, this was an excellent first book in what promises to be an interesting series.
—Drebbles
The Ghost and Mrs McClure is the first in the paranormal cozy mystery series by Alice Kimberly. Penelope McClure and her son are settling back in her home town after the death of her husband. She's co-owner of her aunts bookstore now, and trying to turn a profit. Unfortunately her first author on your turns up dead and the police are pointing their fingers at her and she must solve the murder before she's arrested!I don't usually read paranormal cozy mysteries but if this book is an indication to this great sub-genre I need to read more. I really enjoyed this first book. I liked Penelope and the relationship she develops with the ghost-in-residence, Jack. They are the perfect combination of sweet and snark and it's a delight to watch the interactions. The murder mystery was really good and kept me guessing to the end. With the combination of interesting town folks and a background of the bookstore, it was a great read. If you like cozy mysteries that centre around a bookstore I strongly recommend this series.
—bella
Old school dectective story with twist. The dectective is long dead. He haunts a mystery bookstore and helps solve a terrible crime. His 1940's noir stlye adds to his character's gruffness and appeal.I enjoyed the mystery but not the noir style at least for the first half. I was never a fan of the old dectective style and lingo. Gam instead of leg? It got much better in the second half as I started to get comfortable with the wordplay. I am 50/50 on continuing with the series. It left an unsolved murderer open and I do want to know who/ why.....LOL
—Yodamom
