The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle

And when the spirited Norma vanishes before her arrest, Pen turns to another spirit…Ī ghostly good read doesn’t have to limit itself to the Halloween season. Pen doesn’t believe Norma is guilty of the crime-though the evidence is distressingly strong. Norma is accused of stealing jewels from a guest’s room: the legendary Valentino Teardrops, an antique necklace and earring set, inherited by a young socialite. But it’s Norma’s other job, working as a housekeeper at the Finch Inn, that gets her into terrible trouble. Jovial, wise, and scrupulously honest, she’s become an uplifting presence in the little town of Quindicott, Rhode Island, where bookseller Pen is thankful to have her part-time help. Living out of her van and teardrop trailer, she revels in self-reliance, solitude, and reading in the glorious peace of nature. Now Jack is back on the job, and Pen is eternally grateful. From the look of things, history is about to repeat. Back in the 1940s, those same Valentino Teardrops starred in a bizarre case of betrayal and murder. Jack Shepard, PI, may have been gunned down decades ago, but his memory hasn’t been ghosted. The Ghost and the Stolen Tears (Haunted Bookshop Mystery) Yet even with Jack’s hard-boiled help, Pen may not be able to stop the killer from striking again or letting this whole case go to the dogs… Jack has a dog story of his own, a case from the 1940s that may help Pen sniff out clues to her present predicament. To straighten out this doggone mess, she whistles for the ghost of PI Jack Shepard, an expert in hounding as well as haunting.

The police believe it’s an accident, a shot by a careless deer hunter, but Pen remains skeptical. Why would anyone shoot such a sweet soul? Cunningham is a warm-hearted widow who volunteers at the animal shelter and runs Buy the Book’s pet lovers book club. Pen and her son Spencer follow the furry fugitive to a wooded area where the dog’s owner lies unconscious. Pet Mystery Week brings brisk business to Penelope’s Rhode Island bookshop, but a real mystery comes barking at her door when a lost dog turns up in a panic.

The Ghost Goes to the Dogs (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)

The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle