Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure and her old Aunt Sadie are making ends meet by managing a mystery bookshop--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 the 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--and PI murdered on the very spot more than fifty years ago. Is he a figment of Pen's overactive imaginatin? Or is the oddly likeable fedora-wearing specter the only hope Pen has to solve the crime? You can bet your everlasting life on it ...

From the Back CoverIt's been two long years of hard work for Mia Spia and her overly optimistic mom, all the while keeping their family of former wise guys on the straight and narrow.That is until ex-con Cousin Dickey arrives to throw a rotten olive into the mix.Soon there's a dead body, a nosy sheriff's detective, a curious finacée, a severed pinky finger, and a randy past lover to contend with, prompting Mia to enlist her best friend, survival expert Lisa Lin, for help. While trying to avoid being killed, the two women unravel family secrets, set a trap for a killer, and uncover information about Mia's missing father that can only lead to more rotten olives.

Gourmet popcorn entrepreneur Rebecca Anderson and her poodle, Sprocket, are back on the case, in the second Popcorn Shop Mystery from the author of Kernel of Truth.Despite Rebecca Anderson's best efforts to distance herself from her ex-husband, the guy keeps popping up. When Antoine offers to feature her breakfast bars and popcorn fudge on his popular cooking show, she suspects he's once again trying to butter her up—but the TV exposure for her gourmet popcorn shop, POPS, is too good to turn down. Things take a shocking turn when the crew comes to Grand Lake to film in her shop, and Rebecca discovers Antoine's assistant electrocuted in a hotel bathtub. Now the police want Antoine to come clean. Her ex may be a pain, but he's no killer. So Rebecca decides to bag the real culprit. If she isn't careful, however, she may be the next one getting burned.INCLUDES POPCORN RELATED RECIPES!