"Wonderfully engaging story!"
After her husband committed suicide, Penelope "Pen"
Thornton-McClure moved out of New York City and back to
Quindicott with her son and along with Aunt Sadie, runs the
family bookshop. At least now, they're showing a profit. In
addition to the bookshop, Pen also gained a ghost—a PI
killed in the 1940's—Jack Shepard. Right now, Pen has a lot
on her mind with her son leaving for summer camp the next
morning. There are a few things she still needs to pick up
for him, so she agrees to drop off the books at Miss Todd's
mansion on Larchmont Avenue. On her way to Miss Todd's,
none other than her mailman, Seymour Tarnish, runs right in
front of her car and he has some kind of red stain on his
back. Pen would like to check and make sure Seymour is
okay, but he's already out of hearing range and still
running. So she continues to the mansion with Jack ragging
on her about her speed all the way. When they get there, the front doors are open and things
are scattered in the entryway. Jack urges caution as Pen
goes inside, only to find Miss Todd dead in the living
room. Spooked now, she goes outside and calls the police,
not that Pen really trusts the sheriff, or his nephew
deputy. So she calls her friend, Eddie Franzetti. The
sheriff allows Pen to remain while he questions Seymour.
Even though the area coroner gives the cause of death as
being from natural causes, Pen is convinced something
happened to scare Miss Todd to death. Jack agrees with Pen.
When Miss Todd's attorney shows up, he tells Seymour and
Pen they were each left something and to be at his office. Pen and Aunt Sadie catch a ride with Seymour to the
attorney's office. Turns out Pen and Aunt Sadie were left
all the books in the mansion, including some very expensive
first editions. But the biggest surprise of all is when
they find out Seymour was left the mansion and everything
else in it, with some stipulations. The attorney warns
Seymour that the mansion is haunted. They also find out
Miss Todd had a sister. Who is this mysterious sister of Miss Todd's? Was Miss Todd
scared to death? And if so, by whom? Will Pen, with Jack's
help, be able to find out what is going on? THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED MANSION is a thrilling tale of
ghosts and hauntings. Alice Kimberly weaves a wonderful
tale of the supernatural with this engaging story. We have
an average, normal single parent who solves mysteries with
the aid of her ghost. I really enjoyed the way Pen and Jack
interacted. The plot definitely moves along, the characters
are all very believable, and there is a bit of a twist at
the end. I highly recommend this story.
Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Posted February 4, 2009
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Bookshop owner Penelope never
believed in ghosts, until she met the spirit
of Jack Shepard. Then Pen’s mailman, Seymour Tarnish, gets into deep trouble,
and Pen not only believes in her ghost,
she asks him for help... An elderly lady has been found dead on posh Larchmont Avenue, her will recently (and suspiciously) revised to name Seymour as heir to her mansion. Many eyes turn to the hapless mailman as the murderer, but Seymour doesn't care. He's too busy settling into his new digs. Unfortunately, Seymour's new mansion appears to be haunted and when the ghosts begin plaguing him, he tries to hire a team of parapsychologists to exorcise every last spirit from the town of Quindicott. Now Pen must not only solve a murder, she must act fast to save her beloved ghost, because if these spirit zappers actually do their job, then the ghost of Jack Shepard finally will be history. And that scares Pen a lot more than rattling chains and cold spots. Genre: Urban Fantasy, Mystery
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