Cozy Wednesday featuring The Ghost and the Stolen Tears (Haunted Bookshop Mystery) by Cleo Coyle #Review / #Giveaway – Great Escapes Book Tour @CleoCoyle

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

I am thrilled to share my thoughts about
The Ghost and the Stolen Tears today!

The Ghost and the Stolen Tears (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)
by Cleo Coyle

About The Ghost and the Stolen Tears

The Ghost and the Stolen Tears (Haunted Bookshop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Setting – Rhode Island
Berkley (October 4, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425255484
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425255483
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PZV5F9S

Norma is a modern-day nomad. Living out of her van and teardrop trailer, she revels in self-reliance, solitude, and reading in the glorious peace of nature. Jovial, wise, and scrupulously honest, she’s become an uplifting presence in the little town of Quindicott, Rhode Island, where bookseller Pen is thankful to have her part-time help. But it’s Norma’s other job, working as a housekeeper at the Finch Inn, that gets her into terrible trouble. Norma is accused of stealing jewels from a guest’s room: the legendary Valentino Teardrops, an antique necklace and earring set, inherited by a young socialite. Pen doesn’t believe Norma is guilty of the crime—though the evidence is distressingly strong. And when the spirited Norma vanishes before her arrest, Pen turns to another spirit…

Jack Shepard, PI, may have been gunned down decades ago, but his memory hasn’t been ghosted. Back in the 1940s, those same Valentino Teardrops starred in a bizarre case of betrayal and murder. From the look of things, history is about to repeat. Now Jack is back on the job, and Pen is eternally grateful.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

PI Jack Shepard is back for another case with bookseller Penelope Thornton-McClure (Pen). One of Pen’s employees has been accused of stealing some famous jewelry at her other job working as a housekeeper at The Finch Inn. One of the inn’s guests had an antique necklace and earring set known as the legendary Valentino Teardrops. The same gems that Jack was tracking back in the 1940s.

Norma hasn’t been in Quindicott long, but she has had influence within the little town. She is pretty laid back, knowledgeable on many subjects, and loves to read.  She is a modern-day nomad traveling from town to town in her van and teardrop trailer. She works where she can and moves on whenever the mood strikes her. The problem is this time she moved on right after the jewels were stolen. Pen and many others believe she is innocent. She hopes teaming up with Jack she can uncover the real thief so that Norma can return to Quindicott.

I love this series, its characters, and this book!

Pen and Jack make such a great team and the way they communicate is unique. Jack can get in Pen’s head and take her back in history to participate in his case where they can get clues that help them solve the present-day crime. Both cases are full of twists and turns and have Pen and Jack escaping from some by the skin of their teeth moments.

What makes this story so good is that Cleo Coyle is an expert at setting the scenes. Whether present-day or 1947, at The Finch Inn or the basement of The Martin Beck Theater, or Sadie and Pen’s bookshop or a high fashion house, Ms. Coyle brings each and every person and place to life. I felt at times like I was an extra on a movie set and other times like I was right there in the moment watching everything play out in front of my eyes. The words had my imagination running at high speed as I truly escaped right into the pages of this book. I even got the shivers reading the passage that was similar to The Birds. The first scary movie I watched as a kid.

I am so happy the author and publisher brought this series back because I cannot get enough of my favorite gumshoe and bookseller. I enjoyed each one and encourage you to read them all but the author does a wonderful job of making each stand on its own.

The Ghost and the Stolen Tears is a marvelous must-read mystery. I was engaged and entertained from the first page to the last. It is definitely one of the best books I have read this year. That is why you will see it on my Best Read of 2022.

I am excited to see we only have to wait until May 2, 2023, to get together again with Jack and Pen when The Ghost Goes to the Dogs will be released.

Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent

About Cleo Coyle

CLEO COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors of the long-running Coffeehouse Mysteries—now celebrating eighteen years in print. They are also authors of the nationally bestselling Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, previously written under the pseudonym Alice Kimberly. Alice has worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and New York, and has written popular fiction for adults and children. A former magazine editor, Marc has authored espionage thrillers and nonfiction for adults and children. Alice and Marc are also both bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where they write independently and together.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”