Cozy Mystery Blog Tour: Author Guest Post, Review & Giveaway: Inspector Specter (Haunted Guesthouse #6) by E.J. Copperman

Just when she thought she’d seen everything…

Detective Lieutenant Anita McElone is one of Harbor Haven’s finest. She’s also a hard-boiled ghost skeptic. So when she shows up on the doorstep of Alison Kerby’s Haunted Guesthouse to ask for supernatural help in solving the murder of her former partner, it’s hard to tell which woman is more flabbergasted. But McElone is dead serious, so Alison promises to help in any way she can—even asking her resident ghosts, Paul and Maxie, for help with the case.

As Paul’s spirit source reveals some troubling information about the deceased detective, Alison wrestles with what to tell McElone. First, though, she has to find her…because the lieutenant has suddenly disappeared. 

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“Do you believe in ghosts?”

I get that question a lot more than most walking-around civilians, I’ll bet. I write characters who are ghosts and characters who deal with them, so it’s a natural thing to wonder if the author (that’s me, for those keeping score at home) is a true believer.

So here’s the thing: I’m not going to tell you.

That’s just an occupational decision, you understand. It’s nothing personal to you, particularly since I don’t actually know who you are right now. Anybody could be reading this post; that’s the wonder of the Internet. So please don’t feel offended.

See, the thing is that either way I might answer, I’m going to annoy, if not offend, a potential group of readers. And I’m not crazy about annoying and offending anybody, but readers are especially revered in my household, since they help us keep the hold inside a house, if you catch my drift.

If I were to say that I do indeed believe the spirits of those who pass from this life can materialize in some different manifestation, that all the places that claim to be haunted (like hotels I’ve stayed in and the Queen Mary) do indeed house the essence of what someone once was, I run the risk of losing those readers who are simply interested in a mystery story that has some paranormal elements, but who might think that an author buying into such theories is… what’s the word I’m looking for?... nuts.

On the other hand, if I declare loudly and clearly that I am a non-believer in spirits, that I am simply making up stories to entertain and in my heart think once someone is dead, it’s time to let another living person use their cell phone number, it’s possible those readers who hold the belief in ghosts dear to themselves would think I was either a fraud or worse, a writer trying to exploit their (the readers’) deeply held feelings and somehow mock them. (I feel it’s necessary to say that I would never do that either way.)

So I keep my opinions to myself on the subject. I’m perfectly happy to discuss politics, religion, sex or sports rivalries, but please, don’t ask me whether I believe in ghosts.

That’s just a little too personal.

E.J. Copperman is a mysterious figure, or has a mysterious figure, or writes figuratively in mysteries. In any event, a New Jersey native, E.J. has written for such publications as The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, American Baby and USA Weekend. Night of the Living Deed is the first E.J. Copperman novel. It will be followed in 2011 by An Uninvited Ghost, the second in the Haunted Guesthouse mystery series.

E.J., having worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter, writes stories that combine humor and mystery with just the right amount of spooky supernatural happenings and a large doses of Jersey attitude.

Sound like we’re being evasive? Well, the fact is that E.J. Copperman is the pseudonym of a well-known mystery novelist, now embarking on a new type of story that includes some elements of the supernatural as well as a fair number of laughs. And the Copperman novels will have a different attitude, a different setting and completely different characters than anything that has come before, so E.J. really is a new author. 

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Paranormal cozies are always so much fun :)  In this book, the subject matter is a little deeper than most cozies, but it works extremely well and makes for a wonderful mystery.  The characters are well developed and some of my favorites from this series make their appearance yet again :)  

E.J. Copperman is a talented author with so much to offer this genre.  There aren't too many paranormal cozy series that I enjoy, but this is one of them.  I look forward to what else she had to offer in the future! 

Rating: 4.5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All conclusions reached are my own.  

Thanks to the awesome ladies at Penguin, I have 1 copy of Inspector Specter by E.J. Copperman to give away to one of my lucky readers! Just enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win, and be sure to keep checking back for more awesome giveaways!  
 

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