Roger, who is sometimes pompous and silly, but is always well-meaning and kind, has an opinion on everything, and is a treasure trove of book references to the point where a bibliography might prove a welcome addition to the text. There’s a sweet, goofy love story between the juvenile leads, that runs through the book as well, but the real focus is Roger Mifflin, a dedicated book person for whom selling books is secondary to having them around to read at his pleasure. Haunted bookshop indeed! It felt contrived, and often required the reader to believe that the kind of villain who could successfully carry out acts of domestic terrorism during the war, could be so inept about this particular plot. In brief, it takes place at the end of the first World War, and deals with a mystery, a rather silly one to my way of thinking involving a book that disappears and reappears, and disappears again. I truly enjoyed the first book, and finally undertook the sequel when I signed on to Readercoin and found that the story was engaging enough to make up for any shortcomings in the narration.

In Haunted Bookshop, Helen has a supporting role, and her husband, Roger, is front-and-center as the owner of the eponymous bookstore in Brooklyn where he and Helen have settled, their wandering days over. Last summer I read Parnassus on Wheels, which is a kind of prequel to The Haunted Bookshop, in that it deals with Helen McGill, an irascible woman of a certain age who finds what he soul longs for when she purchases the Parnassus book wagon.

Parnassus on wheels review