The Ghost and the Stolen Tears

Penelope Thornton-McClure manages the Quindicott, Rhode Island bookshop she co-owns with her Aunt Sadie aptly named Buy the Book. She’s on her way to the Finch Inn to offer her part-time employee Norma full-time employment when she stumbles into the discovery by a socialite guest at the Inn of some missing jewelry. Norma works part-time as a maid at the Inn as well, and her last room cleaned was where the jewelry was stolen. However, Norma is nowhere to be found, since she is running an errand. The police arrive and search her cleaning cart and her room. They find one earring from the necklace and earring set known as the Valentino Teardrops. The search is on to find Norma and the missing jewels. Norma is a nomad, meaning that she lives in a teardrop trailor and travels the country. She’s currently living in a room at the Finch Inn while in town for the winter. Her only living relative lives in a neighboring town, so Pen heads that way. She walks right into a shadowy figure killing whoever lived at what was supposed to be Norma’s sister’s house. Just who was the killer, and who is the victim? An unforgiving insurance adjustor shows up and accuses Pen of the crime, impounding her car in the process. Pen isn’t alone as she continues to search for the thief and the murderer. She has Jack Shepherd with her every step of the way. Jack is the ghost of the private detective shot in Pen’s bookstore back in 1949. He is able to accompany Pen out of the store or share her dreams. This night he gives her the history of the Valentino Teardrops, once a gift to a Broadway actress and involved in a scandal in 1947. What follows is a complex drama switching from the search for Norma in the present and the search for the thief in 1947. Nothing is as it seems nor is either story line straightforward. There are plenty of clues but only some lead in the right direction. We get to know more about Norma when some recordings of her at motivational meetings at the church are uncovered and posted to social media. Clearly she’s had some trauma in her past and learned to deal with it. Who now is accusing her of wrongdoing at the church? Cleverly twisting and turning, the plot leads us forward into an intricate story. Well written and very descriptive, plenty of energy goes into the characterizations as well as the mystery. I listened to this on audiobook, which was well done by Traci Odom and who did a good job differentiating between the alternating narrations between the two characters Jack and Pen (although I missed the two narrators for previous books). In addition, their speech patterns were quite different, with Jack using jargon from the 1940s which he often had to stop and explain to Pen. It was fascinating what the two characters chose to describe to each other about their different eras. This was illuminating in many ways and interesting to follow along. The past and the present came together, almost seamlessly, so that the Valentino Teardrops found their rightful place.