THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN by Cleo Coyle

THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN relaunches the adventures of Penelope and Jack, characters from the popular Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, with their first new mystery in years. Settle back and enjoy as they solve this well-plotted and expertly executed cozy mystery by Cleo Coyle.

Penelope (Pen) Thornton-McClure is a single mom, widow, and co-owner of a haunted bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island. The ghost that haunts this establishment is Jack Shepard, a 1940s big-city private investigator who was gunned down in the bookshop while chasing a lead. Now he’s trapped in this small town, helping Pen solve mysteries when he’s not rearranging the bookshop to push the hard-boiled noir mysteries he favors. When a book launch party leads to the author’s death in the history aisle, Jack and Pen know they have their work cut out for them. The author, Dory McKenna, was a retired librarian and obituary writer who made some enemies in town with her new book, Directory of the Dead. The book uncovered secrets about the town’s ancestors, some scandalous and others embarrassing. Did someone want the author to stop promoting her book? Or is the motive something else entirely?

THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN is a standout cozy mystery from Cleo Coyle, the pen name of the fabulous duo Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini, who also write the long- running Coffeehouse Mysteries. These authors know how to create a good story filled with small-town ambiance, colorful characters, and strong plotting, plus smart clues and a high-stakes ending. Pen is a likeable character with integrity and drive. She dives into the mystery and deals with her meddling ex-in-laws on the side. The strength of this story also comes from its spot-on secondary characters who add depth and humor, including the mailman who won on Jeopardy! and the local business group, the Quibblers. Jack Shepard makes a good sidekick, showing Pen how he cracked past cases so she can apply those insights to her present-day mystery. With a poisoning in the bookshop, an ominous obituary, a ghost in the cemetery, an old chemistry set, shady developers, and a black SUV, Pen has all the clues she needs to solve the mystery. THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN is a fun, fast-paced ride that hits all the right notes with cozy mystery readers.

In an utterly charming new paranormal cozy mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle, a smalltown Rhode Island bookshop owner investigates the death of an eccentric librarian with the help of a wisecracking, 1940s gumshoe ghost.

As a young widow, Penelope moved back to her quaint Rhode Island town to give her young son a safer home and her aunt’s dying bookshop new life. Using her late husband’s insurance money, Pen polished the store into a local treasure. But her updates did more than attract new customers. They roused a dead private eye from his big sleep.

With Pen’s affection for hardboiled detective stories, it’s no surprise she’s developed a fondness for the wisecracking yet oddly likeable spirit. Sure, Jack’s cold spots are exasperating, along with his proclivity for putting noir fiction in the cozy section. But murder was Jack’s business in life, and his PI skills come in awfully handy when the body of an eccentric librarian is found amid the bookshop’s mystery aisles.

For years, Dory jokingly called herself “The Dead Librarian” because of her hobby of collecting local obituaries. Now, in death, she’s discovered holding her own eerily pre-written obit. Was it a suicide note? Jack and Pen say no and their certainty takes them from a ghost town’s ancient cemetery to a prominent family’s Newport estate. Then an intriguing stranger comes to town. Nikki Burnside takes a keen interest in Dory’s death and makes Pen a shocking offer, one that may change her life—and Jack’s afterlife. But unless Jack can help Pen prove who “checked out” the librarian, a ruthless killer may close the book on her.

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THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN
Cleo Coyle

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Haunted Bookshop Detective Mystery

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