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The Ghost and the Femme Fatale
by
Alice Kimberly
It is part of the Haunted Bookshop #4 series and is a paranormal fantasy, cozy mystery in a paperback edition that was published by Berkley on May 6, 2008 and has 235 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Ghost and Mrs. McClure, The Ghost and the Dead Deb, The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library, The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion
Fourth in The Haunted Bookshop paranormal cozy mystery series set in a bookstore, Buy the Book, in Quindicott, Rhode Island, and revolving around Penelope Thornton-McClure, one of the owners, and Jack Shepherd.
My Take
Ooh baby, the sheets are heatin’ up between Jack and Pen. I certainly enjoyed how involved the Quibble Over Anything Gang gets in solving the murders!
We had a lovely tour of Fiona’s refurbished lighthouse! I want to spend a romantic weekend there!
I do so enjoy this series. It has such a homey quality with supportive friends, a randy ghost with interesting insight, a lovely sense of humor, and…books!
Now for my quibbles. Just how lame is it that Pen doesn’t seem to grasp Jack’s lingo when she’s read so many detective novels and her dad’s Black Mask pulp stories? She constantly questions him when he tells her to do something. Something intended to keep her safe in some pretty iffy situations. On one page, Jack is telling her to turn down an alley when someone is following them on a dark street and she’s wanting to know why. A few paragraphs later Pen’s thinking “I knew a good detective wouldn’t question his partner in a situation like this”. Well, duh . . . how quickly she got smart!???
Brainert was a bit quick off the mark to put down Dr. Lilly’s research. Claiming she wasn’t very academic in it and he hasn’t even read the book. Simply because he’s a fan of Lilly’s subject. He comes off quite unprofessional in this.
The Story
From the beginning we’ve been tantalized by J. Brainert Parker’s dream of re-opening Quindicott’s old movie theater and this weekend is it. It’s a gala film noir movie festival with authors and actors scheduled for talks and signings. Two of those speakers include an actor and actress, Hedda Geist and Pierce Armstrong, former lovers associated with an “accidental” murder in 1948.
Jack pulls Pen into his dreams walking her through another of his cases. A case that involved Hedda Geist on the periphery.
The Characters
Penelope Thornton-McClure is one of the owners of Buy the Book.
Jack Shepherd is the ghost of a private detective murdered in the store back in 1949.
Eddie Franzetti is definitely in Pen’s corner and it seems that Chief Ciders is beginning to thaw . . . maybe. Very little of Spencer or Aunt Sadie this time around. I’m not too sure about Dr Randall Rubin . . . he’s something of an asshole and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was handing out prescriptions like candy to addicts. He certainly wasn’t slow to try to force Valiums onto Pen! Dr Lilly is a researcher.
I certainly enjoyed how involved the Quibble Over Anything Gang gets in solving the murders!
The Cover and Title
The cover is very appropriate with its pastel, very Art Deco ticket booth, a banner celebrating the First Annual Film Noir Festival arched overhead. Naturally, Jack’s fedora is floating in line waiting to get his own ticket…oops, wait, his ticket’s already been punched! The whole is surrounded by the signature art deco frame, this time in matching pastels.
And it certainly is all about The Ghost and the Femme Fatales.
