Book Club “The Ghost and Mrs. McClure”
For September, we felt like diving into a paranormal cozy and settled on the first book in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series. We loved the idea of a deceased PI haunting a bookstore and wanted to see how the past and present would intertwine with a new case to be solved.
Book
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Cleo Coyle as Alice Kimberly
Description:
Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure and her old Aunt Sadie are making ends meet by managing a mystery book shop—a quaint Rhode Island landmark rumored to be haunted. Pen may not believe in ghosts, but she does believe in good publicity—like nabbing Timothy Brennan for a book signing. But soon after the bestselling thriller writer reveals a secret about the store’s link to a 1940s murder, he keels over dead—and right in the middle of the store’s new Community Events space.
Who gives Mrs. McClure the first clue that it was murder? The bookstore’s full-time ghost—a PI murdered on the very spot more than fifty years ago. Is he a figment of Pen’s overactive imagination? Or is the oddly likable fedora-wearing specter the only hope Pen has to solve the crime? You can bet your everlasting life on it...
Club
Snack suggestions:
The most prominently featured food and drink is this book was bottled water! Though you shouldn’t have the same intentions as appeared in the book.
There were several small businesses mentioned in the book, including the Franzetti’s Pizza Place and Cooper Family Bakery. We suggest visiting some local eateries for takeout and making it a pizza night.
You could serve pastries as baked by Linda and Milner (or Oreos!). You could have some fun making ghostly cookies like we did. They don’t look like Jack, but our ghost lemon bars might have been as sweetly sour as he can be at times.
Check out Cozy Crimes’ book club questions that can be used for any mystery.
Here are our questions targeted to The Ghost and Mrs. McClure:
1. How did Penelope McClure and Jack Shepard’s backgrounds prepare them to solve this specific crime? In what ways did they need each other to get the answers?
2. What seem to be the rules for Jack’s ghostly abilities? Why do you think he is trapped in the book store?
3. Who was your favorite side character or member of the small town of Quindicott, Rhode Island?
4. Do you think Penelope can see other spirits? Do you think she has any other hidden powers? Do you think anyone else in her family does?
5. What seem to be the differences between Jack Shepard and his literary counterpart Jack Shield?
6. What was your favorite quote preceding each chapter? Did you recognize any of these mystery homages throughout?
7. What are your thoughts on Penelope’s family (both her aunt’s side and her in-laws)?
8. What did you think about the method of murder in this book?
9. What parts of both Pen and Jack’s stories seem timeless? What seem specific to certain time periods?
10. How does this compare to other paranormal stories you have read and other mysteries? How do the supernatural elements fuel the investigation in this book?
