"Great debut to Haunted Bookshop series."

New co-owner of her Aunt Sadie's bookstore, the recently widowed Penelope Thornton-McClure thinks the stress of her first booksigning in the town has caused her to hear voices. Certainly, moving away from her high-maintenance in- laws with her son, booking a famous (but crabby) author, and dealing with the publishing people's disdain of the shop and its setup would cause anyone to feel frustrated.

However, after the author falls dead while making a startling announcement about his writing future, Penelope isn't so worried about hearing voices. Instead, she worries about hearing one particular voice: that of the deceased PI on whom the author's books were based. While dodging accusations from an important member of the town council about how much the bookstore gained in profits after the accusations, interviews with the state police and her aunt's matchmaker intentions, Pen has to listen to the voice of a PI straight out of film noire.

This is a great debut to the Haunted Bookshop series. The characters are lively, and the story is fast. Kimberly does a fabulous job with intriguing twists to keep mystery lovers guessing.

Reviewed by Vicky Gilpin
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted January 15, 2004