Fällbacka (Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström)
Scandinavian crime
Series · cozy mystery
Haunted Bookshop Mystery
The Haunted Bookshop Mystery series by Cleo Coyle has 9 known books (9 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (2004). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library.
- Books
- 9 known books (9 novels)
- Published
- 9
- First published
- 2004
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (2004) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure opens the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, first published in 2004. The Ghost and the Dead Deb follows it in the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and Mrs. McClure - Book 2:
The Ghost and the Dead Deb
The second Haunted Bookshop Mystery book, The Ghost and the Dead Deb, runs 262 pages, continuing Penelope Thornton-McClure's partnership with the ghost of hard-boiled 1940s private eye Jack Shepard, whom only she can hear.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Dead Deb - Book 3:
The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library
Released in 2006, The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library holds the third spot in Haunted Bookshop Mystery. It follows The Ghost and the Dead Deb and comes before The Ghost and the Femme Fatale in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library - Book 4:
The Ghost and the Femme Fatale
The fourth Haunted Bookshop Mystery book, The Ghost and the Femme Fatale, runs 235 pages, pairing Penelope's cozy village sleuthing with Jack Shepard's noir-honed instincts for lies and violence, as in every entry.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Femme Fatale - Book 5:
The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion
Released in 2009, The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion holds the fifth spot in Haunted Bookshop Mystery. It's the last entry before a real nine-year publishing gap, after which the series was revived under the Cleo Coyle name.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion - Book 6:
The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller
The sixth Haunted Bookshop Mystery book, The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller, runs 304 pages. It arrives after the series' nine-year gap, reviving Penelope and Jack's partnership under the Cleo Coyle byline the husband-and-wife writing team also uses for their Coffeehouse Mysteries.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller - Book 7:
The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait
The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait is the seventh book in the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series, published in 2020, continuing Penelope's investigations at Buy the Book with the invisible help of Jack Shepard's hard-boiled instincts.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait - Book 8:
The Ghost and the Stolen Tears
The eighth Haunted Bookshop Mystery book, The Ghost and the Stolen Tears, runs 288 pages, keeping to the series' blend of village cozy and supernatural noir voice as Penelope and Jack investigate another Quindicott mystery.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost and the Stolen Tears - Book 9:
The Ghost Goes to the Dogs
The Ghost Goes to the Dogs (2023) is the most recent Haunted Bookshop Mystery book in this catalogue. It follows The Ghost and the Stolen Tears in the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ghost Goes to the Dogs
About the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series
Penelope Thornton-McClure runs Buy the Book, a secondhand bookshop in the small New England town of Quindicott, Rhode Island, that she inherited from her aunt -- and that comes with an unusual permanent resident: the ghost of Jack Shepard, a wisecracking, hard-boiled 1940s private eye who was gunned down in the store decades earlier and can't move on. Only Penelope can hear him, and his blunt, noir-honed instincts for lies and violence make him an invaluable, if invisible, partner whenever a body turns up connected to the shop, the town, or Penelope's own complicated family history.
The series pairs an old-fashioned village cozy -- small-town gossip, a close-knit cast, a beloved local bookstore -- with a genuine supernatural hook and a hard-boiled voice for Jack's chapters that plays warmly against Penelope's gentler narration. It's written by the same husband-and-wife team behind the Coffeehouse Mysteries, Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini: the first five entries (2004-2009) were published under the pen name Alice Kimberly, and the series was revived in 2018 under the Cleo Coyle name the pair uses for their coffeehouse books, with the earlier Kimberly titles reissued under the Coyle byline as well. Per this catalogue's convention for pen names covering the same writing partnership (see coffeehouse-mysteries.json), all nine books are credited here to Cleo Coyle.
Frequently asked questions
How many Haunted Bookshop Mystery books are there?
Nine, from The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (2004) to The Ghost Goes to the Dogs (2023).
Why are some Haunted Bookshop books credited to Alice Kimberly and others to Cleo Coyle?
Both are pen names for the same husband-and-wife writing team, Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini. The first five books (2004-2009) were published as Alice Kimberly; the series was revived in 2018 under the Cleo Coyle name the pair also use for their Coffeehouse Mysteries, and the earlier books were reissued under the Coyle byline too.
Is the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series connected to the Coffeehouse Mysteries?
No shared characters or setting -- they're separate series by the same writing team, both now published under the Cleo Coyle name.
What order should I read the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries in?
Publication order, starting with The Ghost and Mrs. McClure. Despite the nine-year gap between books 5 and 6, it's one continuous story.
Is the series ongoing?
No new entry has been announced since The Ghost Goes to the Dogs (2023) as of August 2026.
If you like the Haunted Bookshop Mystery series
Reading order last verified .