There’s something intriguing about solving mysteries from the great beyond. Just ask Carolyn Hart, E.J. Copperman, and Cleo Coyle, mystery authors who include a “ghostly sleuth” in their long-running series.
Carolyn Hart didn’t start the craze, but she’s certainly a master of the game (and a Grand Master of Mystery) with her Bailey Ruth novels. GHOST BLOWS A KISS is the tenth installment in her series about an amusing and vivacious ghostly sleuth. Here’s how it works: Bailey Ruth returns to earth whenever she receives an assignment from Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. Sometimes Bailey Ruth has no clear direction on what her mission is about, but occasionally she lands right smack in the middle of an emergency
.In GHOST BLOWS A KISS, she finds herself in Adelaide, Oklahoma, to rescue a woman drowning in a pool. That’s the jumping off point for the mystery that follows, and as always, there’s a lot at stake. An innocent person will be charged in a murder if Bailey Ruth doesn’t win this one.
Emissaries from heaven are supposed to be discreet in assisting the local police. Acting police chief Howie Harris is described as “not the sharpest knife in the drawer,” and Bailey Ruth can run circles around him. Bailey Ruth can teleport, change her clothes and go anywhere, any time. Right always triumphs in the end, which is a trademark of Carolyn Hart’s novels.
Cleo Coyle returns to the “dead detective” trope with her delightful THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT. Readers familiar with the The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries are happy to see the return of Detective Jack Shepard. Jack is a gumshoe from the 1940’s, and blends his memories with Penelope’s dreams, taking her with him back to his world. Their chemistry is unmistakable. Jack is smart, tough, observant, with an endless supply of wisecracks. There’s always a thread in the present-day murder that connects with one of Jack’s cases from the past.
Unlike Bailey Ruth, who descends from heaven, Jack is the resident ghost in the bookshop, forever entombed there. The only time he can leave is when he inserts himself into Penelope’s dreams and their adventure in crime-solving begins. The playful banter is an integral part of the book and the two work as a team. Penelope struggles with 1940s slang, just as Jack struggles with modern day slang.
Jack is the ghost of a detective murdered in the shop decades ago, and has been there ever since. Pen is the only one who can see him. This is the seventh release in The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries and fans are eagerly waiting for more. Their wish will be granted because Ms. Coyle has just revealed that there will be new release in the series next year.
After his successful Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries, Jeff Cohen (writing as E.J. Copperman) has returned to ghostly themes in The Haunted Paint Store Mysteries. The first title, ALL SPOOKED UP will be released November 4, 2025.
Laura Meehan returns to New Jersey after her father’s death to operate his paint store business and is hit with a double whammy. Not only does she discover a dead body in the shop but she encounters her father’s ghost who is lingering there. After the initial shock, she’s grateful that her father, a former police detective, can offer support and guidance as she begins to investigate the crime.
The dialogue in Copperman’s books is always sharp and fresh, peppered with one-liners and his trademark wit. When Laura first encounters her father’s ghost she (understandably) thinks she’s going insane. She considers her options: medical treatment, a psychologist, a psychiatrist? She’s in a quandary about the next step and decides to buy a small calzone at San Remo Pizza to weigh her choices. This makes perfect sense to me and every woman I know. When in doubt, eat a calzone.
Hannibal Watson, a local police detective isn’t spared her rapier wit. She notices Watson always repeats his questions. Ask a question, get an answer, ask the question again. Watson has also developed the knack of never revealing any facial expressions. Laura imagines him practicing this ability in the mirror. Laura is two steps ahead of Watson at every turn and notices that a door to the paint store has been left open.
Cohen explains his technique for creating paranormal fiction. “This new book, starting the Haunted Paint Store series, is a return to paranormal subjects for me. But I don’t think of the ghosts as ghosts. I think of them as people who just so happen to be dead. They’re still themselves; they just don’t walk around and eat or anything. I don’t read a lot of supernatural or paranormal fiction—the fact is, I don’t read a lot of mystery novels when I’m working, because I don’t want another writer’s voice in my head. So the characters are just who they are, but they walk through walls and appear somewhat… unfinished.”
Looking forward to many more adventures with Laura Meehan in this entertaining series.
Mary Kennedy is a licensed psychologist and the author of the Talk Radio Mysteries and the Dream Club Mysteries. She’s written nearly fifty novels and has four million copies in print. Her first thirty-five books were young adult novels published by Scholastic nationwide and in several countries. She lives in the northeast with an eccentric cat. She’s tried unsuccessfully to psychoanalyze him but she remains optimistic.
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