The Ghost and the Stolen Tears Mass market paperbound - 2022

The Ghost and the Stolen Tears by Cleo Coyle is the eighth A Haunted Bookshop Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. The author does a great job at giving an introduction to Penny, Jack, and their situation. We return to Quindicott, Rhode Island where a guest at the local bed and breakfast claims that a valuable necklace and its matching earrings were stolen. All the evidence points to the maid who is on the lam. Penny knows there is no way Norma, the maid, would have stolen jewelry. Penny with help from her dashing ghost, PI Jack Shepard set out to learn the truth. I like that there are really two cases in the story. One set in the present and one in the past. The past case is one that Jack took on while he was still alive. I like how the two cases tied together. I must say that the flashback scenes (Penny gets to see what happened in the past in her dreams thanks to Jack) are my favorite. I love the slang from that era. I had fun following Jack and Penny as they questioned people and searched for clues. One mystery is easier to solve than the other. I enjoyed the humor sprinkled through the story. Jack is especially amusing. His moral compass is skewed which gives him a different way of looking at matters. The authors descriptions really bring the scenes alive especially those from the past. I enjoyed my visit to Quindicott, and I was sorry to see it end. I look forward to traveling to Quindicott again in The Ghost Goes to the Dogs. The Ghost and the Stolen Tears is a killer diller with a dreamboat detective, gems worth a lot of clams, a maid who took a powder, a good luck Penny, cockeyed clues, a pain in the neck insurance investigator, and a dishy dame.