by Cleo Coyle
First published 2022
Norma lives in her van and trailer, working part time at Pen Thornton-McClure's bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island. She also cleans rooms at the Finch Inn, where a guest's antique jewelry disappears from a room Norma serviced. The missing pieces are the Valentino Teardrops, a legendary necklace and earring set owned by a young socialite. Police suspect Norma of the theft, but she vanishes before they can arrest her. Pen refuses to believe her honest employee committed the crime, despite compelling evidence. She turns to Jack Shepard, the ghost of a private investigator who died decades earlier. Jack remembers the same jewelry from a 1940s case involving betrayal and murder. The detective spirit suspects the current theft connects to that old crime. Pen and Jack must solve both mysteries to save Norma and prevent history from repeating its deadly pattern.
Genres: mystery, contemporary, detective, ghost-stories, paranormal, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, cozy, intriguing, nostalgic, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, dual-mystery, found-family, ghost-helper
Setting: Quindicott, Rhode Island, Pen's Bookshop, Finch Inn
Period: 1940s, contemporary
268 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Berkley
Content warnings: murder