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A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery #3.5
A Wild Ghost Chase
Phantom PI Paul Harrison from the national bestselling Haunted Guesthouse mysteries returns with a tale of his own in a house full of ghosts, secrets, and spectacular oceanside views…
Three years ago in a large Victorian house on the Jersey Shore in the town of Harbor Haven, fledgling private investigator Paul and his client, Maxie Malone, were murdered. Since then, recent divorcee and reluctant ghost whisperer Alison Kerby and her 10-year-old daughter Melissa have moved in and converted the place to a guesthouse, where Maxie and Paul are now checked in for an eternity and ready to solve any case that comes their way—or at least spook the guests (who love it).
Alison’s got a lot on her plate at the moment, however, so when Paul discovers the three-hundred-year-old ghost of a small boy in the house, he decides not to involve her in the case. The boy, named Eagle of the Sun, says he’s searching for his missing mother. Paul’s happy to help Eagle of the Sun find her, though something about the boy’s story doesn’t add up. But why would a lost little ghost lie?
Three years ago in a large Victorian house on the Jersey Shore in the town of Harbor Haven, fledgling private investigator Paul and his client, Maxie Malone, were murdered. Since then, recent divorcee and reluctant ghost whisperer Alison Kerby and her 10-year-old daughter Melissa have moved in and converted the place to a guesthouse, where Maxie and Paul are now checked in for an eternity and ready to solve any case that comes their way—or at least spook the guests (who love it).
Alison’s got a lot on her plate at the moment, however, so when Paul discovers the three-hundred-year-old ghost of a small boy in the house, he decides not to involve her in the case. The boy, named Eagle of the Sun, says he’s searching for his missing mother. Paul’s happy to help Eagle of the Sun find her, though something about the boy’s story doesn’t add up. But why would a lost little ghost lie?
2 pages, Audible Audio
First published December 31, 2012
44 people are currently reading
718 people want to read
About the author
E.J. Copperman
34 books839 followersLibrarian note: E.J. Copperman is the pen name for author
Jeff Cohen
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.
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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
April 5, 2015
E.J. Copperman’s novella, A Wild Ghost Chase, is an enjoyable read, but it’s not up to the usual standard of Copperman’s Haunted Guesthouse series. Part of it lies in the narration being handled by Paul Harrison, a rather dry Canadian private investigator turned ghost, rather than by the more ebullient Allison Kerby, the owner of the Jersey Shore guesthouse.
But part of the problem lies in a less-than-scintillating tale of a lost little ghost boy who says he’s the spirit of the son of Lenni-Lenape chief White Eyes. But, as the patient Harrison soon discovers, quite a bit of the boy’s tale simply doesn’t hang together. So who is the boy? And, more importantly, how do they track down his mother?
While a bit disappointing, it’s an OK read and not enough to make me regret having bought the next few books in the series.
But part of the problem lies in a less-than-scintillating tale of a lost little ghost boy who says he’s the spirit of the son of Lenni-Lenape chief White Eyes. But, as the patient Harrison soon discovers, quite a bit of the boy’s tale simply doesn’t hang together. So who is the boy? And, more importantly, how do they track down his mother?
While a bit disappointing, it’s an OK read and not enough to make me regret having bought the next few books in the series.
January 15, 2013
I've read the other guesthouse mystery books in this series and so I when I saw a kindle only edition for $2 I thought why not. Besides, this one is from Paul's perspective, and I often like reading a story though a different character's perspective. This was just o.k. though. It really is a short story rather than a full sized book. 7 to 8 chapters is all. By the time you feel like you are out of the introduction to the story, you have 2 chapters left. I felt like the writing was stiff and redundant, and the storyline wasn't that interesting and in some ways disappointed me. If anything it is a marketing method for the regular guesthouse mystery series which has a new book due out in February.
March 12, 2022
A neat little mystery novella with a switch in perspectives. This time it's resident PI ghost Paul who has a story to tell. While I was engaged, I missed the sardonic humour that Alison's POV brings to the series.
December 18, 2022
Here the narration is from Paul's view, which gives a little more context about the whole ghost part of the world.
The case is also different, there is no danger, thrill or culprits, just a little kid missing his mom, except this kid is native american from a long time ago (or is he?).
Such a wholesome cozy book, not a usual CM plot yet interesting and fresh, I enjoyed this little spin-off and ready to get back to the main story.
The case is also different, there is no danger, thrill or culprits, just a little kid missing his mom, except this kid is native american from a long time ago (or is he?).
Such a wholesome cozy book, not a usual CM plot yet interesting and fresh, I enjoyed this little spin-off and ready to get back to the main story.
December 22, 2017
2.5 stars. Ok - told from PI ghost Paul's perspective for a change.
January 28, 2013
A fine little filler from Paul's point of view.
August 30, 2022
This one was ok
April 11, 2023
If you are looking for a quick cosy read then there is a good one right here, quirky characters and fun mystery where they need to find a hosts mother
January 7, 2015
Some authors can write very good novels, but aren't very good when they try to write a novella. That may be the case here. I'm being overly generous giving it two stars. (Just don't tell the author. I want to avoid hurt feelings.)
Don't knock yourself out looking for this installment in the Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries. The writing is stilted and doesn't do anything to advance the series so you won't be missing anything if you skip this one. Giving the author the benefit of the doubt, maybe she was just trying to capture Paul's rather restrained personality. If so, she exceeded her wildest dreams. As a character, Paul may be rather endearing, but for a ghost, he really isn't very exciting in the best of times. This isn't the best of times.
Maybe it wouldn't have seemed so boring if I had skimmed through it in real paper and ink book, but I had the misfortune to listen to it on Audible while riding shotgun through a blinding snow storm. On one hand, it didn't take the driver's attention away from her driving, on the other hand, it didn't take my attention away from the sometimes whiteout conditions. Unfortunately, listening to it again during better conditions was even worse as more attention could be given to how bad the reader was.
His voice for Maxie changes during the only 2hr. 43 minutes it takes to read it. He may have wanted to make her seem like a petulant child, but he did it by making her accent worse and moving it a few states south. Once, he refers to her as "Maggie." Paul's voice could put a zombie to sleep, permanently. Melissa comes across more bratty and whiny than precocious. Alison's mother's voice couldn't have been worse. Since Alison is 36, her mother would logically be in her mid 50's to her mid 60's. She would not be 114 as she sounds on Audible. My 90 year old mother has a much stronger voice that doesn't creak and shake as Alison's mother's voice does. She sounds too feeble to be let out of "the home" for an afternoon walk in the sunshine, let lone drive a Dodge Viper. She could never have crawled into a dumb waiter for a trip to the attic.
While I like the rest of the series, unless Audible is giving this one away free, don't bother with it. Even then, it really isn't worth the download time.
Don't knock yourself out looking for this installment in the Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries. The writing is stilted and doesn't do anything to advance the series so you won't be missing anything if you skip this one. Giving the author the benefit of the doubt, maybe she was just trying to capture Paul's rather restrained personality. If so, she exceeded her wildest dreams. As a character, Paul may be rather endearing, but for a ghost, he really isn't very exciting in the best of times. This isn't the best of times.
Maybe it wouldn't have seemed so boring if I had skimmed through it in real paper and ink book, but I had the misfortune to listen to it on Audible while riding shotgun through a blinding snow storm. On one hand, it didn't take the driver's attention away from her driving, on the other hand, it didn't take my attention away from the sometimes whiteout conditions. Unfortunately, listening to it again during better conditions was even worse as more attention could be given to how bad the reader was.
His voice for Maxie changes during the only 2hr. 43 minutes it takes to read it. He may have wanted to make her seem like a petulant child, but he did it by making her accent worse and moving it a few states south. Once, he refers to her as "Maggie." Paul's voice could put a zombie to sleep, permanently. Melissa comes across more bratty and whiny than precocious. Alison's mother's voice couldn't have been worse. Since Alison is 36, her mother would logically be in her mid 50's to her mid 60's. She would not be 114 as she sounds on Audible. My 90 year old mother has a much stronger voice that doesn't creak and shake as Alison's mother's voice does. She sounds too feeble to be let out of "the home" for an afternoon walk in the sunshine, let lone drive a Dodge Viper. She could never have crawled into a dumb waiter for a trip to the attic.
While I like the rest of the series, unless Audible is giving this one away free, don't bother with it. Even then, it really isn't worth the download time.
December 30, 2023
To quote my Audible review: Racist, Ableist Trash, just skip it.
Another review comments in more detail why this story is a steaming pile of racism, and they’re entirely correct. The author thought it’d be cool to have indigenous people as ghosts and did it with glaring lack of research or respect. Every single non-native character pronounced Lenni Lenape incorrectly even after being corrected. They treat the young indigenous boy ghost with suspicion and horrific disrespect and then (spoiler incoming) to justify their behavior the author decides that the boy is actually lying and instead has a learning disability!!!!! The author literally decided to turn the boy ghost from a young indigenous boy into a badly stereotyped autistic kid. Seriously???? Do better. There’s an incident practically every five sentences….. Skip this trash filler. I’ll be removing it from my audible library and hoping it was writer by a ghost writer and the rest of the series will not revisit the racism and ableism.
Also the narrator, while he may be a good narrator for other books did not do well for this series.
Another review comments in more detail why this story is a steaming pile of racism, and they’re entirely correct. The author thought it’d be cool to have indigenous people as ghosts and did it with glaring lack of research or respect. Every single non-native character pronounced Lenni Lenape incorrectly even after being corrected. They treat the young indigenous boy ghost with suspicion and horrific disrespect and then (spoiler incoming) to justify their behavior the author decides that the boy is actually lying and instead has a learning disability!!!!! The author literally decided to turn the boy ghost from a young indigenous boy into a badly stereotyped autistic kid. Seriously???? Do better. There’s an incident practically every five sentences….. Skip this trash filler. I’ll be removing it from my audible library and hoping it was writer by a ghost writer and the rest of the series will not revisit the racism and ableism.
Also the narrator, while he may be a good narrator for other books did not do well for this series.
October 31, 2023
When I began this book and realized that it was written from Paul's perspective, I was intrigued. I shouldn't have been-- it was a bit stiff and had an entirely different feel than in previous books, so that the characters seemed to be different people. And while I commend the author for trying to include/bring awareness (or whatever he was doing) to autism spectrum disorders, this mystery was underwhelming and just odd.
Also, the narration in this one was not great. Amanda Ronconi, who narrates the other books in the series, does a wonderful job. In contrast, James Patrick Cronin did not sound at all natural, especially when doing female voices (which is a problem when just about every main character is a woman).
Also, the narration in this one was not great. Amanda Ronconi, who narrates the other books in the series, does a wonderful job. In contrast, James Patrick Cronin did not sound at all natural, especially when doing female voices (which is a problem when just about every main character is a woman).
October 22, 2014
This was a short story book and I loved it.
Resident ghost, former PI, Paul Harrison encounters the ghost of a young boy looking for his mother. Paul enlists the help of the other resident ghost, Maxie, who also lives in Alison Kerby's guesthouse. Alison, her daughter Melissa and Alison's mother, Loretta, can see and interact with the ghosts.
The young boy gives Paul incorrect information as to his mom could be-- will Paul & company be able to find her?? Read this fun book and find out!! :)
Resident ghost, former PI, Paul Harrison encounters the ghost of a young boy looking for his mother. Paul enlists the help of the other resident ghost, Maxie, who also lives in Alison Kerby's guesthouse. Alison, her daughter Melissa and Alison's mother, Loretta, can see and interact with the ghosts.
The young boy gives Paul incorrect information as to his mom could be-- will Paul & company be able to find her?? Read this fun book and find out!! :)
October 23, 2015
SR C book
September 8, 2013
the story idea is great but the story was just OK..the narration was reminiscent of a primary grade school teacher reading to her class
February 27, 2014
The story was ok. I listened to this story and the narrator was horrible! So bad, in fact, that I had trouble getting through the whole thing and it was only about two and a half hours long.
January 21, 2021
Horrible writing, incredibly racist stereotypes.
September 22, 2022
Plot. Alison Kirby, a 30-something divorced mother of a nine-year-old girl, purchases a large seaside fixer-upper house to create a vacation inn. During rehab of the property, Alison is hit on the head with a bucket of wallboard compound. She comes to with an amazing new ability. She can see ghosts. Two live in her home, a distinguished private investigator, Paul, and a saucy and misbehaving home decorator, Maxie. Alison makes a deal with her ghosts - she will help Paul with his private investigations if he and Maxie help her put on ghostly shows to keep a steady flow of guests for her inn. The novels traverse the lives of Alison, her daughter, mother, ghosts, and assorted quirky friends, like the local police chief and newspaper owner. Murders are solved, missing persons are found, and occasional mayhem ensues. The series, at this time, consists of 8 full-length novels and two shorts. More to come, no doubt!
Liked. Delightful listening. Sarcastic and funny lead character, excellent character development, a creative plot line for each book, no sex, no objectionable language.
Not so hot. A bit slow for my taste - not criticism, rather a preference.
Written by E.J. Copperman, narrated by Amanda Ronconi, Audible originals, first story released in 2013. Each novel is 8-10 hours of listening.
Recommended - nothing profound, simply fun reading.
Liked. Delightful listening. Sarcastic and funny lead character, excellent character development, a creative plot line for each book, no sex, no objectionable language.
Not so hot. A bit slow for my taste - not criticism, rather a preference.
Written by E.J. Copperman, narrated by Amanda Ronconi, Audible originals, first story released in 2013. Each novel is 8-10 hours of listening.
Recommended - nothing profound, simply fun reading.
December 29, 2025
This one was such a great read and quick one but such a cute one and it's surprising to say cute because rarely solving cases involves a cute client like Paul encounters in this one.
So I heard this one on Audible and it was perfect as an audiobook but in this one we have the whole book from Paul's POV and it definitely made all the more interesting to see Paul solving the case and gathering everyone's help except Allison.
Paul doesn't know what to do when he finds the Ghost of a centuries old little boy who asks him to search for his family.
Being confined to the guesthouse makes it difficult for Paul to search for people and clues but he intelligently ropes in other ghostly resident, Maxie, Allison's daughter Mellisa and even Allison's mother, Loretta along to help him find the child's family.
But Paul soon finds out that things are not adding up but then why would a little child even lie in the first place, right?
I loved finding the answer to that question and I definitely didn't expect what we find. This series is warming my heart all the more with every book and I feel all the characters have become my hangout buddies now.
Can't wait to dive into the next one. Loved this one.
So I heard this one on Audible and it was perfect as an audiobook but in this one we have the whole book from Paul's POV and it definitely made all the more interesting to see Paul solving the case and gathering everyone's help except Allison.
Paul doesn't know what to do when he finds the Ghost of a centuries old little boy who asks him to search for his family.
Being confined to the guesthouse makes it difficult for Paul to search for people and clues but he intelligently ropes in other ghostly resident, Maxie, Allison's daughter Mellisa and even Allison's mother, Loretta along to help him find the child's family.
But Paul soon finds out that things are not adding up but then why would a little child even lie in the first place, right?
I loved finding the answer to that question and I definitely didn't expect what we find. This series is warming my heart all the more with every book and I feel all the characters have become my hangout buddies now.
Can't wait to dive into the next one. Loved this one.
April 22, 2025
This was a sweet little story about the ghost P.I. who takes on a case without Allison. It did a pretty good job of not being offensive and it was funny and true to the cannon of the series. It wasn’t long enough for any character development or even a whole lot of plot work so it wasn’t up to the quality of the series. Still, it was nice enough and I’d already planned on reading the next one soon.
The reader was terrible. He did do separate voices but his accents were terrible. Even the voices themselves were bad—the grandmother sounded like she was either 105 or a parrot and everyone spoke really woodenly most of the time. He also pronounced some things wrong like “decimated” was pronounced “disseminated.” I’m sure it’s hard to be a reader, though, and for all I know, it was a typo in the text. And I’m appreciative that there was an audio version for such a short story.
The reader was terrible. He did do separate voices but his accents were terrible. Even the voices themselves were bad—the grandmother sounded like she was either 105 or a parrot and everyone spoke really woodenly most of the time. He also pronounced some things wrong like “decimated” was pronounced “disseminated.” I’m sure it’s hard to be a reader, though, and for all I know, it was a typo in the text. And I’m appreciative that there was an audio version for such a short story.
August 17, 2018
read online
This book in the series is narrated by Paul, one of the two ghosts attached to the guesthouse.
He finds the ghost of a young boy, who claims to be the son of the Lenape Chief, White Eyes, in the hall closet. The boy drops his arrowhead & insists Paul return it.
Paul insists on more information, as he senses the boy is lying.... The boy is also wanting to be reunited with his mother Jaci...
Female Native ghosts appear in an attempt to help the young boy, but he is not anyone they know.....
It was a fast & easy read and it completed my 2018 challenge of 100 books read for this year!
This book in the series is narrated by Paul, one of the two ghosts attached to the guesthouse.
He finds the ghost of a young boy, who claims to be the son of the Lenape Chief, White Eyes, in the hall closet. The boy drops his arrowhead & insists Paul return it.
Paul insists on more information, as he senses the boy is lying.... The boy is also wanting to be reunited with his mother Jaci...
Female Native ghosts appear in an attempt to help the young boy, but he is not anyone they know.....
It was a fast & easy read and it completed my 2018 challenge of 100 books read for this year!
April 15, 2025
This was such a fun variation of the other ghost stories, told from Paul’s perspective. I really enjoyed that twist. The narrative itself was punchy and engaging, lending depth to the other main characters we haven’t yet seen. I enjoyed the twist of another household ghost that Allison wasn’t able to see. As a person who works with children who are autistic, I appeared the sensitivity with which this topic was handled. There are many misconceptions from the public about people with autism and here, Cooperman gets those details mostly right. Overall this was a short, entertaining glimpse into the world of the afterlife that gives a lot of richness to the series as a whole.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2017
This is a short addition to the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series and the cool thing about this one is that it's narrated by Paul instead of Alison. When a young ghost boy makes an appearance at the Kirby house, Paul, Maxie, and the gang get together to help him find his mom. The boy claims to be a Native American boy who died over 200 years ago, but certain elements of his story just don't ring true. It will take a lot of detective work to suss out the truth, and the ending is quite interesting.
August 27, 2018
Interim story with the usual suspects attempting to help an unexpected ghost guest who happens to be an eight year old boy. At first he provides information, but then his grasp on the truth seems a bit unreliable. A good read!
The other reason that I bought this one is that it is narrated by James Patrick Cronin of Prof Croft fame! Turns out that the story is told from the perspective of the only male ghost who is a regular, but the living narrator does his usual best!
The other reason that I bought this one is that it is narrated by James Patrick Cronin of Prof Croft fame! Turns out that the story is told from the perspective of the only male ghost who is a regular, but the living narrator does his usual best!
November 6, 2018
Half stories are a crap shoot. Maybe if I wasn't binge reading this series I would have liked it more. This story, told from Paul's perspective, was narrated by a different person. That threw me because no one's voice sounded "right".
The story was okay but I found myself rewinding a few times because I lost interest. Not sure if I would have enjoyed it more with Amanda Ronconi (the series narrator) giving voice to the characters instead.
The story was okay but I found myself rewinding a few times because I lost interest. Not sure if I would have enjoyed it more with Amanda Ronconi (the series narrator) giving voice to the characters instead.
July 31, 2021
I listened to this on Audible, and I chose it with no prior knowledge of the either the author or the series. It was a quick, little ghost story. The narration wasn't bad, but the main character inserts far too many parenthetical expressions into his dialogue. Designed to explain various comments and situations, they should've been useful, but placed the way they were and used as frequently as they were, they wound up being distracting more than informative.
December 24, 2025
Racist and weird ablist twist
Like I said this was racist in many ways (I'm unsure if the author was the one who chose to make her characters repeatedly mispronounce the Lenni Lenape or if the narrator was lazy and didn't try) and then the twist where the kid had a learning disability.
Between this short story and the next book being so disgustingly transphobic, I regret spending any time listening to this series
Like I said this was racist in many ways (I'm unsure if the author was the one who chose to make her characters repeatedly mispronounce the Lenni Lenape or if the narrator was lazy and didn't try) and then the twist where the kid had a learning disability.
Between this short story and the next book being so disgustingly transphobic, I regret spending any time listening to this series
October 19, 2017
a Novelle book about 85 pages what but an addition to this favorite series of mine. I have never purchased a Novelle but for this author I gave it a chance. It was well worth it and I made the correct choice.
Try this series A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery and start from the beginning, it is terrific in my opinion.
Try this series A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery and start from the beginning, it is terrific in my opinion.
August 4, 2018
I've always enjoyed Paul as the ghost in the background. However, when he became the main character, who is narrating this book it turned me off. Maybe it was the subject matter of the whole story but I found it boring and almost didn't finish it. It was too much to handle, and not the light hearted books that the author is known for in this series.
June 7, 2023
This little novella is a side story in the "Haunted Guesthouse" series, this time, told from the perspective of Paul, one of the resident ghosts. He is tasked locating a young boy ghost's mother.
It was fun reading a story from Paul's perspective, and a very interesting spin at the end. Well done. I liked it.
It was fun reading a story from Paul's perspective, and a very interesting spin at the end. Well done. I liked it.
August 10, 2024
A confused little boy ghost shows up at the house and ghost PI Paul, his original client and now ghost Maxi and the alive daughter of the owner of the house, Melissa, are now working to find the little boys mom.
Alison is super stressed and has a lot going on so they're trying to keep the investigation on the down low.
I've loved this series from the very beginning. This book is from Paul's perspective which adds a new view to things and a better understanding for his thoughts and feelings.
Alison is super stressed and has a lot going on so they're trying to keep the investigation on the down low.
I've loved this series from the very beginning. This book is from Paul's perspective which adds a new view to things and a better understanding for his thoughts and feelings.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews