Cleo Coyle did it again with the newest Haunted Bookshop Mystery, THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT! Fans have waited a long time for Jack, the gumshoe ghost, to come back and grace our presence with his charming ways. You cannot help but love and adore him with his smooth-talking and brilliant brain. I rush to buy this series, as I’m sure many do, every time because of Jack. Of course, I love all the characters. 

Funny and suspenseful, this cozy mystery has a lot to keep you entertained. The characters are lovable and just like Coyle’s other mystery series, you feel like you are reconnecting with family and friends when you pick it up to read. The best thing is Coyle can take such serious situations and write them in a believable way, but at the same time, add some lightheartedness to them, too. 

Penelope Thornton-McClure, aka Penny, works full-time at her bookshop, but part-time (without pay) as the town's sleuth. She gets help from the ghost that occupies her bookshop, Jack. In the 1940s, he was a PI who cracked some pretty tough cases that he reminisces on to help Penny to solve hers. Together they make a great team. Penny is collecting vintage book cover paintings for a special event at her bookshop. When the owner of those paintings turns up dead, it makes them question a portrait of a beautiful woman who is said to have gone mad, and gossip also has it that the painting is cursed. Accidents happen all around it, leaving Penny and Jack to get to the bottom of all the secrets before it is too late. 

If you love cozy mysteries, especially if you are already a fan of Cleo Coyle’s Coffee Shop Mysteries, then you’ll love THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT. This husband and wife writing team brings so much more than a great story to their writing, they also bring you new friends. 

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