An excellent noir-cozy!

books:


	• The Ghost and the Femme Fatale (Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, No. 4) Alice Kimberly Berkley, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Ghost & The Bookseller

I am really enjoying these "ghost stories." The interaction between Mrs. McClure and Jack are heartwarming in their differences due to generation changes. I did miss the opening chapter dealing with Jack's death/murder in 1948 but there are other 'scenes' that do make up for the ommission. I look forward to how the relationship is dealt with between human and ghost in the future.

An excellent noir-cozy!

This Haunted Bookshop series is a winner. This book is the fourth in the series, and I think that they are only getting better. I love the mix of cozy with noir detective story, and this one really plays on that as all the happenings occur around a "film noir festival" that is being held in Penelope's small town. And a lot of murder and mayhem is happening there too. As Penelope tries to make sense of it with the aid of her ghost companion Jack, she realizes that the motives for the murders may go back a long time (sixty years, and during the time when Jack was a practicing PI in New York City). We slip back and forth from one time to the next as the story progresses, and Ms. Kimberly keeps us interested and lots of stuff keeps happening. It's really unbelievable how really believable these stories are. The mix of paranormal with present day detection is a winning one, and it is highly addicting.

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Spirited Cozy Mystery

When her local movie theater holds a Film Noir Festival, Penelope Thornton-McClure agrees to hold several signings at her bookstore. While she is looking forward to the festival, Pen didn't think it would be quite as exciting as it turns out to be - legendary screen actress Hedda Geist is almost killed during a surprise appearance at the theater. The near miss is considered an accident, but Pen isn't sure and when others start to die, she is convinced that there is a murderer on the loose. The police don't believe Pen and she sets out to prove she's right. It won't be an easy task, but luckily she has the ghost of PI Jack Shepard to help her.

"The Ghost and the Femme Fatale" is the fourth book in Alice Kimberly's Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, a series that gets better with each book. I love the concept of a ghost helping to solve mysteries and Kimberly does a good job of pushing boundaries. At this point, Jack can not only "talk" to Pen when she's in the bookstore (where he was murdered), but with the help of a buffalo nickel, he can communicate with her anywhere as long as she carries the nickel. He also has the ability to have Pen dream of his past cases that relate to the current one. This is an intriguing, if at times odd premise - Pen is an active part of his past in the dreams and the romantic chemistry between the two during the dream sequences is sizzling. The Film Noir setting is perfect and sets up a great murder mystery plot line, in both the past and the present. There are a number of murders and a number of suspects and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the murderer is.

"The Ghost and The Femme Fatale" is a nicely done cozy mystery.

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Entertaining Series

I loved the first book in this series, and it reminded me of Carolyn Haines Mississippi Delta Ghost series. Had no idea Cleo Coyle is also writing as Alice Kimberly - both series are solid, although I prefer this series to the coffee. She's developed Pen's friendship with Jack, the dead PI, with clear enjoyment and great humor to their dialogue, but I'm not giving this book 5 stars because of the thuds of too many dead bodies, plus the mystery plot was a bit too simple for me. But I really like her flashbacks into the past; they are smoothly handled. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

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4 stars

An old time film noir former bombshell, Hedda Geist, is nearly killed at a revival festival, and shortly thereafter, those who attended the Festival begin to die. Because the cops are completely off base in their investigations, Penelope Thornton and her ghostly partner, PI Jack Shephard, take on the case. Jack remembers Hedda from his days among the living, and many of the clues lie in his past, when he was alive, so that's where he takes Penelope. Once upon a time is now with this charming pair on the trail of a killer.

**** Time travel, magnificent, spectral rogues, mystery, and romance, what more could a girl want? Jack is one of the most charming spooks since Daniel Gregg haunted Mrs. Carolyn Muir. This book also solves a mystery for me personally; where did one of my favorite authors go, Alicia Alfonsi, and now I learn she's writing mysteries under two names and I have a whole new series to track down, something I advise everyone coming to these books for the first time to do. ****

Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The local Film Noir festival takes a dark turn when a legendary femme fatale is nearly killed. Now, bookstore owner Penelope Thornton-McClure enlists the help of Jack Shepard, P.I.?even though he and his license expired more than fifty years ago.

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