Rating: 
Summary: A winning whimsical amateur sleuth tale
Review: After her husband died, Penelope Thornton-McClure's in-laws wanted to keep her under their thumb so they can raise Calvin's son in the manner that is expected of their brood. When Pen's Aunt Sadie informs her that she's closing her bookstore in Quindicott, Rhode Island, her niece uses the insurance money to escape from her golden cage and invest in the bookstore.After a thorough remodeling, Pen persuades famous mystery writer Timothy Brennan to do a book signing in their store on the first stop of his tour. His series is based on a hardboiled private detective Jack Shepard who mysteriously disappeared in 1949, but is now haunting the bookstore that Pen owns because that is where he was murdered. The only person who can communicate with him is the unbelieving Pen. Events make her believe in him and she even takes his advice when Timothy is killed in her bookstore and she is one of the prime suspects. Together they try to figure out who the real killer is before Pen is charged with murder. THE GHOST AND MRS. MCLURE is a charming, funny and quirky mystery starring a suppressed widow and a simulating ghost who is attracted to her even though they can only meet in her dreams. His is hard boiled in the tradition of Phillip Marlowe and she is a genteel Miss Marple; yet the two opposites make an explosive combination. Alice Kimberly definitely has a hit series if the first book is anything to go by. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Start to Series
Review: After her husband kills himself, Penelope Thornton-McClure, moved to Rhode Island with her seven year old son, Spencer, and buys into her aunt's bookstore. She arranges an appearance in the store by Timothy Brennan, author of a series of books based on the real-life unsolved murder of private eye Jack Shepard in that very location. Brennan, who turns out to be a jerk, chokes and dies during his talk at the store. There are plenty of suspects, including Penelope herself, who handed Brennan the tainted water bottle that ended up killing him. Penelope plays detective to clear her name, with unexpected help from the ghost of Jack Shepard.
This was a fun book to read. Having a ghost as one of the detectives is a clever idea and works well. Author Alice Kimberly does a great job of switching from Penelope's viewpoint (first person) to Jack's (third person). Also done well is Jack's dialogue. Since he died 50 years ago, he still sounds like a hard boiled detective from the 1950's and he is amazed at the current technology, such as computers, that Penelope uses to help solve the murder.
Alice Kimberly knows and cares a lot about books and bookstores and it shows. The mystery itself was good, although I guessed a major plot twist fairly early. Still, this was an excellent first book in what promises to be an interesting series.
Rating:
Summary: a fresh twist to mystery cozies
Review: Being a dedicated fan of the Aunt Diminty series, it is great to see more "ghosts" getting in to the mystery business! It is great fun to see a "hard boiled male ghost" and a book seller team up in her store.
I applaud the frest concept and look forward to more Alice Kimberly installments to this series!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Read
Review: I absolutely loved this book! I read this with an "online" friend and she and I enjoyed chatting about it. We both decided we wanted to own bookshops...lol. So much of this book reminded me of the old 1940's B&W movies. In particular, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir & The Big Sleep. My husband and I are big fans of 1940's B&W movies and the author of this book undoubtedly is as well! If you enjoy cozy, intelligent mysteries, then you will enjoy this one! Looking forward to Alice Kimerberly's next book in this series.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Concept...
Review: I really enjoyed "The Ghost and Mrs. McClure" much more than I had imagined. While Alice Kimberly ingeniously has played on the premise of the original book, i.e. a ghost interacting with an attractive widow, she has written a great mystery in her own right. Moreover, she does not play on the original to the point of being overly cute.
I greatly anticipate that we will see Alice Kimberly continue to perfect her work. She has the start of a great series!
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced and fun!
Review: I really enjoyed this book-it goes very quickly and has great characters. I am a huge fan of Chandler and other hard-boiled writers, so Jack was right up my alley. Loved the snappy patter.
Rating:
Summary: Good, clean, ghostly fun!
Review: I really liked this book, not because it was the best mystery I have ever read, or it was the most exciting book in the world. I liked this book because it was just plain fun. It didn't require alot of thought, it is short and to the point. It is filled with humour, action, suspense and it does all this without vulgar language, guts all over the floor, and everyone sleeping with everyone else. This book could be read by young and old alike and everyone in between.
The plot is good, the idea is fresh and different from the usual mystery novel. The mental conversations between the main character and the ghost are great. I can't wait for the next installment of this series to see how the relationship between these two blossoms. Share this book with a friend or relative. The townsfolk remind me of a small mid-western town I grew up in where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion. This is a refreshing book, I hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: A very satisfying read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The main character, Penelope, is just the right combination of sweetness and spunk. Jack, is a great representation of your typical movie-style 1950s hard-nosed detective. Ms. Kimberly has enough imagination to make his dialogue amusingly typical without being too cliche. The other characters are well-written also, including Penelope's young son, who is cute without being cloying.
The plot was not overly convoluted, but still kept me guessing until the very end. I eagerly await the next installment!
Rating:
Summary: surprisingly good
Review: i'm another fan of the film, 'the ghost and mrs. muir,' and thought it might be worthwhile to try this mystery. the last few cozies i've read have been very disappointing--ranging from badly written and embarrassingly plotted to just plain boring--so i didn't have high expectations for this one.
i was so glad to be wrong! this is a delightful read--the characters are well drawn, the english is not just grammatical (what a shock these days) but also well written and enjoyable, the plot is very good, with no more red herrings than absolutely necessary. the author manages the 40s slang pretty well. and while the heroine starts out as one of those unbelievably obnoxious doormats who seem to be so popular with cozy readers, she does develop some spine by the end of the book.
i'm looking forward to the next book with these characters, and i hope there are many more after that.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable first installment
Review: Mix in a young mystery store owner, the ghost of a private detective (circa the late 1940s and very Philip Marlowe-like), and the murder of a rather unlikable mystery novelist, and you'll get the wonderfully engaging and engrossing "The Ghost and Mrs. McClure," the first installment in the Haunted Bookshop mystery series. Following the death of her husband, Penelope Thornton-McClure, decides to pack up her bags and son (Spenser) and move back home to Quindicott, Rhode Island. Using the insurance money from her husband's policy, Penelope buys half ownership of her aunt's bookstore, renames it (BUY THE BOOK) and starts remodeling the whole place. But Penelope ideas don't just end with the extensions, new furniture and lighting, she's also decided to start featuring authour events at the sore. And in a coup, has actually nabbed the famous mystery novelist, Timothy Brennan, to talk about and sign his latest book. What Penelope did not count on was that Brennan would turn out to be such a rotter or that he would keel over and die in the middle of his talk, right in front of his audience, or that the police would actually start eyeing her as a viable suspect when it turns out that Brennan's death was a suspicious one. Fortunately for Penelope she has her very own private investigator working on the case: the store's own resident ghost, private detective Jack Shepard. With Jack's help, things are bound to be cleared up soon -- that is once Penelope gets used to the notion that her store is being haunted by Jack, and that she's about the only person around who can hear him... Even though this was a rather straight forward read, I practically stayed up till late in order to finish the book -- it was that enjoyable a read. Alice Kimberly does such a wonderful job of bringing Penelope and Jack to "life" and of developing their relationship, that the uncomplicated plot was NOT a detraction at all. If you're looking for a good mystery novel to unwind with that's just pure fun, you're bound to enjoy "The Ghost and Mrs. McClure." In fact I can hardly wait for the next Haunted Bookshop mystery installment.
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