Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: May 2008
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: A film festival gone noir gives bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her ghostly companion a big screen caper to solve in this Haunted Bookshop mystery from Cleo Coyle, writing as Alice Kimberly.
The Movie Town Theater is holding its first ever Film Noir Festival, with Pen handling book sales for the guest speakers, including screen actress Hedda Geist. The legendary femme fatale has been out of the spotlight for decades. Unfortunately, the moment she steps back into it, she's nearly killed. Then other guests start to die, and Penelope wants to know why her little town's Film Noir weekend has taken a truly dark turn.
With local police on the wrong track, Penelope enlists the help of Jack Shepard, P.I. Okay, so Jack hasn't had a heartbeat since 1949, when he was gunned down in what is now Pen's store. But the hard-boiled ghost actually remembers Hedda's dark past and Penelope's sure he can help solve this case--even if he and his license did expire more than fifty years ago...
My Thoughts: This is such a cute series. Full of fluff and whimsy with a dash of humor and mild suspense. I enjoyed this offering that brings a film noir festival to town and a killer along with it. Jack is a hoot and I love his 1940’s vernacular, which would probably be inappropriate today, but hearing him refer to women as dames doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t seem to bother Penelope. My only real issue with this series is that Penelope can only see Jack when he takes her into his world while she is sleeping. In her world, she can only hear him. Otherwise, I like their chemistry and interactions. The supporting characters are interesting too.
The plot moves at a good pace and easy to follow. I recommend this series to readers who are looking for a break in between the more gritty and intense mysteries and thrillers they usually are drawn to. I wouldn’t classify this as a romance at all, but fans of paranormal romances may enjoy this for the flirtatious interactions between Jack and Penelope.
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