The Hostess With the Ghostess by E.J. Copperman

December 20th, 2017 Kimberly Guest Post, Review 29 Comments

20th Dec
The Hostess With the Ghostess by E.J. Copperman
The Hostess With the Ghostess
by E.J. Copperman
Series: Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries #9
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

Things are never quiet for long at the Haunted Guesthouse. Right as Alison Kerby finally gets some peace, long-time deceased Paul Harrison’s recently murdered brother, Richard, shows up looking for the ghostly detective. But Paul has left for parts unknown months ago. The only thing is, she doesn’t know how to find him. And she’s going to need to because Richard’s isn’t the only murder still left unsolved.

As she searches for Paul, Alison discovers that Richard, who was a lawyer, was working a case about a woman accused of murdering her stepfather. It quickly becomes clear that Richard was getting too close to the truth, and was forcibly kept quiet. Now as Alison continues her investigation, she gets a creeping sensation that the murderer doesn’t appreciate her snooping around. And if she doesn’t stop, she’ll be next in The Hostess with the Ghostess, the witty and delightful follow-up to national bestselling author E. J. Copperman’s Spouse on Haunted Hill.

mystery paranormal Small-town Book Series

Hello Everyone, we have Sophia Rose here today sharing her thoughts on The Hostess With the Ghostess by E.J. Copperman, a paranormal cozy. Grab a cuppa and enjoy.

Sophia Rose’s Review

I’ve seen a few dazzling reviews for earlier books in this series so when the opportunity came, I couldn’t say boo to the latest paranormal cozy from the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery. A ghostly detective and a reluctant human partner with a wry sense of humor led me on a fun chase down of clues to the culprit in The Hostess With the Ghostess.

The Hostess With the Ghostess is book nine in the Haunted Guesthouse series. I leaped in and did alright, but I have to admit that it would have been better getting this series in order from the beginning when Alison bought the guest house and began seeing ghosts including the one of private detective Paul.

This installment is a reunion of sorts when Paul returns from ghosting about the world to find that his own brother is the latest case for him and Alison to tackle. In Paul’s absence, Alison has grown less hostile toward the idea of detective work and voluntarily searches for Paul to come help solve the murders that have occurred.

Alison’s posse of friends, family, and ghosts are a fun and varied group. I liked the addition of her quirky guests as well. Alison has some Jersey Girl moxy that gets her through the situations seeing ghosts can land her in and, with the help of everyone, she makes it through the investigation slowly, but surely. She and Paul make a good team- he felt like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes to me with his lack of social skills and single-mindedness toward his case along with his clever skills.

I confess there were times that my mind drifted and things seemed to lag, but at others, I was right back in it and excited to see what came next. This has ghosts and murder in it, but it’s a lightweight in tone. The clues to the mystery are trickled out as they are discovered or a character remembers to say something (looking at you Richard’s ghost) so it was not one that I could have figured out early on.

The Hostess With the Ghostess was a fun one and I definitely want to go back for more of this engaging paranormal cozy mystery series. I think cozy mystery fans would get a kick out of these.

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

29 Responses to “The Hostess With the Ghostess by E.J. Copperman”

  1. E.J. Copperman

    Thanks for the review! I really appreciate your kind words (and will take the others into account). Just one thing: The bio is of someone who isn’t actually me.

    • Kimberly

      Ah, check Goodreads as it says this: “Librarian note: E.J. Copperman is the pen name for author Jeff Cohen”

      • E.J. Copperman

        And yet oddly I have never lived in Connecticut or worked for the Hartford Courant. I have one daughter and also a son, but a dog and no cats.

  2. Lily

    I might enjoy this, but it does sound it needs to be read in order. The title is def catching

    • Sophia Rose

      Oh yes… I learned my lesson. Definitely must be read in order.

      Fun and clever play on words with the titles of this series.

  3. Jess@Fairday's Blog

    I have heard a lot of great things about cozy mysteries. Wonderful to hear from Sophie. Good to know the books are great, but better to read the series in order. 🙂

    • Sophia Rose

      This has been my break-out year for the cozy mysteries, Jess. I hadn’t really read them much in the past, but I saw a few other trusted book pals enjoying them so I gave it a try. Copperman’s are fun with the humor and the quirky characters. But yes, this series would have been better in order. LOL

    • Sophia Rose

      Yes, it was a bit of a struggle a few times, but then it would pick back up and get me hooked again so I never actually wanted to put it down for good. Good humor and fun ghosts. 🙂

  4. Kristin @ Addicted to HEA

    Hi Sophia! Great review and I agree with you, it’s hard to jump into a series that’s so far along and know the entire world and “get” the flow of it. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I hope you get time to go back to earlier books and check them out for us 🙂

    • Sophia Rose

      Howdy, Kristin!

      Sometimes I get lucky with diving in mid-series particularly with mysteries, but then there are other times when the series order is uber-important Oh yes, I did love the set up so I want to get more. Plus the humor is great. 🙂

  5. Angela Adams

    “A ghostly detective and a reluctant human partner with a wry sense of humor” — sounds like a great addition to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. Thanks for the post.

    • Sophia Rose

      Angela at Simply Angela blog got me really interested and I’m so glad I picked this one up. Though, definitely go for the beginning of the series, Stormi. These are fun. 🙂

  6. Nina

    Sounds fun, just don’t like the lagging part. When that happens with me, I usually put the book down and just stop reading it for a loooooong time. Whoops. 🙂
    But, glad to hear that it wasn’t lagging all the time! 🙂

    • Sophia Rose

      I tend to skim when I hit parts like that, but sometimes I end up losing interest altogether. This one had a lot going for it so I stuck with it.

  7. Melliane

    I like this genre and this one is new to me it looks fun! it’s been a while since I haven’t read a paranormal cozy so I’m curious