Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Ghost and the Dead Librarian (A Haunted Bookshop Detective Mystery) by Cleo Coyle! Today we are featuring a review of the first in a new series – a spin-off of Cleo’s Haunted Bookshop’ series. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews, and more! There is also a Giveaway for two autographed hardcovers of The Ghost and the Dead Librarian (A Haunted Bookshop Detective Mystery). ENTER HERE! ⬅️

The Ghost and the Dead Librarian (A Haunted Bookshop Detective Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
1st in the Series – Spinoff of the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries
Setting – Rhode Island
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2026
Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
Hardcover
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496749332
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496749338
Digital
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496749352
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GDS6KY2P
Audio CD
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8228951006
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0H55H66KS
Audiobook
ASIN B0H2NLG2YP

About the Book:

A LIBRARY JOURNAL “MYSTERY PICK OF THE MONTH” In an utterly charming new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle, a small-town Rhode Island bookshop owner investigates the death of an eccentric librarian with the help of a wisecracking, 1940s gumshoe ghost.

As a young widow, Penelope moved back to her quaint Rhode Island town to give her young son a safer home and her aunt’s dying bookshop new life. Using her late husband’s insurance money, Pen polished the store into a local treasure. But her updates did more than attract new customers. They roused a dead private eye from his big sleep.

With Pen’s affection for hardboiled detective stories, it’s no surprise she’s developed a fondness for the wisecracking yet oddly likeable spirit. Sure, Jack’s cold spots are exasperating, along with his proclivity for putting noir fiction in the cozy section. But murder was Jack’s business in life, and his PI skills come in awfully handy when the body of an eccentric librarian is found amid the bookshop’s aisles.

For years, Dory jokingly called herself “The Dead Librarian” because of her hobby of collecting and writing local obituaries. Now, in death, she’s discovered with her own eerily pre-written obit. Was it a suicide note? Jack and Pen say no and their certainty takes them from a ghost town’s ancient cemetery to a posh Newport mansion. When another body drops, a mysterious stranger makes Pen a shocking offer, one that may change her life—and Jack’s afterlife. But unless Jack can help Pen prove who “checked out” the librarian, a ruthless killer may close the book on her.

“This spin-off of Coyle’s ‘Haunted Bookshop’ series blends cozy mystery, supernatural intrigue, and classic noir influences into a suspenseful small-town murder mystery….Combining humor, literary references, ghostly interventions, and layered community drama, the novel explores how hidden truths from the past continue to haunt the present.” —Library Journal (*Starred Review)

My Review:

I’m not sure how October got so busy, but it has not allowed for much sit down and read time. Thankfully I checked out a copy of this delightful cozy mystery in audio format and away I went. Narrator Hannah Cabel does an excellent job bringing the story to life – especially the voice of character gumshoe Jack.

This was a lot of fun! I’ll read anything set in or around a bookstore or library and this featured both a bookstore and a librarian. Jack and Pen are a terrific team – he’s such a believable part of Pen’s life that hardly needed to suspend my disbelief that she has her own bookshop ghost. And who wouldn’t want such a helpful and protective ghost like Jack?

The mystery is well plotted, with lots of twists and turns that I never felt like the story lagged. In fact I found myself frustrated when I had to put my earbuds away to do things like work, ha!

I’ll certainly sign up to read more of Pen and Jack’s adventures.

About the Author:

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 more than 20 years in print, and the national bestselling Haunted Bookshop Mysteries. With more than one million books sold, their works have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Czech; received multiple Best of Year selection honors from reviewers; and have been recommended by Booklist as among the best culinary mysteries for core library mystery collections. Alice and Marc are also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where they write independently and together, wrangle their rescue cats, drink a lot of java, and cook like crazy.

Author Links: Webpage – Free Newsletter – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Bluesky – BookBub – Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon  Barnes & Noble   Kobo Google Play   Apple Bookshop.org

TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

• October 19 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
• October 19 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
• October 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
• October 20 – Romance Novel Giveaways – SPOTLIGHT
• October 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
• October 21 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
• October 22 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW
• October 22 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• October 23 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
• October 23 – Sarandipity’s – SPOTLIGHT
• October 24 – deal sharing aunt – SPOTLIGHT
• October 25 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
• October 26 – The Plain-Spoken Pen – REVIEW
• October 26 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• October 27 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
• October 27 – Salty Inspirations – SPOTLIGHT
• October 28 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
• October 28 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
• October 29 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
• October 30 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
• October 30 – Sarcastically Yours, Jen – SPOTLIGHT
• October 31 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
• October 31 – The Editing Pen -REVIEW

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