I’m a big fan of hardboiled detective Jack Shepard in Cleo Coyle’s Haunted Bookshop Detective series.It’s been a few years since I read the second last book, The Ghost Goes to the Dogs. Coyle has switched publishers, and the first in her Haunted Bookshop Detective series is The Ghost and The Dead Librarian. Although I like Jack, the lastest book is slow-moving, and not my favorite.
In 1947, Jack was shot dead in the bookstore that Penelope Thornton-McClure would later own with her aunt Sadie.He works with Pen to find answers to mysteries that come up in Quindicott, Rhose Island. She and her aunt are excited about a new local book written by a retired librarian, Dory McKenna. But, some people are not happy with the secrets revealed in the. book. It’s Pen who finds Dory’s body in a chair in the history section. And, Jack has connections to a mystery from the past, one that might solve the story of Dory’s murder.
As I said, I’m a fan of Jack, and his mysteries of the past. As Pen deams at night, Jack takes her back to 1947, and reveals stories that are now connected in the town.j
I had problems with this book, as compared to others in the series. Pen didn’t seem as confident or as strong as she did in previous books. However, Jack is the outstanding character in this book, and the others in the series. If you like ghosts of hardboiled detectives, check out Jack Shepard.
Cleo Coyle’s website is https://cleocoylebooks.com/
The Ghost and the Dead Librarian by Cleo Coyle. Kensington, 2026. 376p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley supplied by the publisher through NetGalley, with no expecttation of a positive review
