Book of the Week: The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle

 One of my favorite series of mysteries is called the "Haunted Bookshop Mystery" series by Cleo Coyle. I've just finished the seventh book in the series called" The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait." It was wonderful,  5 of 5 stars! Today's blog is about the book.

I love the characters!!! Pen McClure owns a mystery book store in Quindicott, Rhode Island with her aunt Sadie. In the 1940s a private investigator named Jack, was killed in the store, thus he haunts it. Pen can hear him and he has helped her solve mysteries in the town. There are a lot of great supporting characters, too. One is a mailman and another is a college professor who bicker back and forth. In this story, an art collector is selling his paintings, and one is supposed to have a curse on it, that leads to various deaths, family matters, a tie in to a case that the dead detective had in the 1940s, and more. It's a great read!! I look forward to the next book! 

ABOUT THE BOOK: 

The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait is the seventh book in Cleo Coyle's Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, featuring bookstore owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her ghost sidekick, Jack Shepard, as they investigate a mysterious, cursed-seeming portrait that causes accidents. The cozy mystery blends contemporary and noir elements, with Penelope enlisting the help of the 1940s-era ghost detective to solve the case, which involves a vintage book cover painting and a woman rumored to have gone mad.

Fantastic Cozy Mystery: The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle

 The seventh book in  Cleo Coyle's "Haunted Bookshop Mystery" series is absolutely Awesome!  I have read every book in the series, and thoroughly enjoy them. This one, "The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait,"  has mysteries in mysteries and so many likeable characters. Pen and her aunt Sophie run a bookstore in Quindicott, Rhode Island, and Pen has connected with the ghost of a detective who was murdered in the 1940s in the location of what is now her bookstore. The ghost helps her solve mysteries.  I couldn't put this book down. I love the bickering between her mailman and professor friends, and all the supporting characters. It also had me wondering who the murderer was all the way until the end. Brilliant writing, fantastic characters, great story. Can't wait for the 8th in the series (hopefully they're working on it). - Rob

ABOUT THE BOOK: Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her gumshoe ghost team up to solve the stunning mystery at the heart of a madwoman's self-portrait in this all new installment from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

While gathering a collection of vintage book cover paintings for a special event in her quaint Rhode Island bookshop, Penelope discovers a spooky portrait of a beautiful woman, one who supposedly went mad, according to town gossip. Seymour, the local mailman, falls in love with the haunting image and buys the picture, refusing to part with it, even as fatal accidents befall those around it. Is the canvas cursed? Or is something more sinister at work?

For answers, Pen turns to an otherworldly source: Jack Shepard, PI. Back in the 1940s, Jack cracked a case of a killer cover artist, and (to Pen's relief) his spirit is willing to help her solve this mystery, even if he and his license did expire decades ago.