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The Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries #34
Mary Anne and the Haunted Bookstore
Mary Anne takes a job in a bookstore, but when strange occurrences--such as the sound of a throbbing heartbeat and the appearance of a screeching raven--transpire, the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe may be to blame. Original.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
21 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,098 books3,047 followersAnn Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 30, 2023
I remember reading this series as a little kid and, for some reason, this book in particular. I don't remember all of the different characters. I was never into babysitting as a kid. I was reading Edward Gorey and John Bellairs and one of my first favorite movies was "The Crow," so I was already a spooky little kid, but maybe these books were my gateway into cozy mysteries. There's really nothing threatening in the story, and the resolution is that everyone is happy and kind to one another. But, there is a gloomy atmosphere with all of the rain and some mildly mysterious goings-on in a newly renovated bookstore. I was a bit surprised that there is discussion of murder, but it's based entirely on historical/literary fact and everything else about this is very gentle.
November 14, 2018
this is my first time reading this book!
in this very odd (even for a bsc mystery) book by ghostwriter Vicki Berger Erwin, a new bookstore, poe and co., is opening in stoneybrook in the old benson dalton gable house. gable was a (fictional) peer of poe’s who is virtually unknown since his works have been lost and never been published. the man opening the store, mr. cates, has two kids named tom and gillian and enlists the bsc to babysit them and work on setting up the bookstore -- the plot, in this way, is sort of like Abby and the Secret Society, because the bsc will basically do any job anyone ever asks them to in the bsc mysteries. there’s also a bookstore designer, ms. spark, who tom and gillian resent because they think she’s trying to replace their mom, who recently left the family. there’s a cast of miscellaneous characters: gable’s descendant (it’s so hard to spell that word correctly) alex, who keeps hanging around and it becomes apparent that he thinks poe was a jerk who stole gable’s ideas, and maybe even killed gable, and he’s trying to find proof since gable’s grave was never found; professor kingsolver of stoneybrook university, who is a superstitious poe expert and thinks it’s a bad omen that weird stuff starts happening at poe and co.; lots of contractors, tom and gillian, and mr. cates and ms. spark. spoooooky things keep happening at the house, such as a black cat suddenly appearing and getting boarded up in a new bit of drywall, or a raven appearing out of nowhere and flying around the house, or a g-g-ghooosssst alongside a tombstone showing up in the basement, or the beating of the hideous heart: all spooky things that are references to poe books. a reporter comes to interview cates and spark about the bookstore, and they keep alternating between giving info about the spooky things going on and saying that they don’t think that’s what the bookstore should be known for. so that’s the moment it becomes super obvious that they’re doing this as a publicity stunt. the bsc concoct an elaborate scheme to figure out whodunnit involving a fingerprinting kit from the pike triplets’ secret agent set. and yep, it was cates and spark, because they wanted publicity. yawn. one of the subplots is as much a yawner: it’s been raining a lot lately and the bsc kids are bummed, so the bsc hosts a sunny day festival and coincidentally it’s sunny on that day. the other subplot, with tom cates being miserable about his mom leaving him and his parents getting divorced, is mildly more interesting, though coping with divorce is well-worn territory in bsc books by this point. don’t bother reading this one.
highlights:
-professor kingsolver is really entertaining. she basically looks and acts like this:
lowlights/nitpicks:
-every single spooooky thing that ever happens in the bookstore is a reference to poe. this is possibly the cheesiest book I’ve ever read. like, I get it. you like poe. come up with something new.
-professor kingsolver teaches at stoneybrook university. stoneybrook has a university? it’s a small enough town that most of the adults seem to commute to stamford or nyc, so I don’t buy this. I could see maybe a small college, but a university?
-another issue regarding stoneybrook university: they ask claudia to ask janine about professor kingsolver because she may know her, but janine takes classes at the community college, not stoneybrook university (which I’m still convinced doesn’t exist)
-seriously? they use a fingerprint kit from a children’s toy set to solve the mystery?
-the reveal is super obvious. like, cates and spark keep saying, “oh no, we don’t want the bookstore to be known for this,” but it almost reads like they’re winking while they’re saying it.
-cates and spark call mary anne their “dupin” (an investigator from poe stories) which seems condescending and annoying to me
claud outfit:
-"Today she had on a pair of jeans, but they weren't like anyone else's jeans. She'd painted raindrops down each leg. Over the jeans she wore a long white shirt and a gray vest. The vest had little umbrellas painted all over it. For earrings she was wearing paper parasols attached to gold chains."
stacey outfits:
-wide-brimmed navy hat and long navy coat, and... "She'd painted her nails navy blue to match her outfit. She wore a navy blue miniskirt and a white ribbed turtleneck with matching white ribbed stockings...Around her neck she wore a thick gold chain that hung about halfway down her sweater."
-"...Pulling her white plastic sunglasses with turquoise polka dots out of her pocket and putting them on. They matched her turquoise sundress--which was covered by a denim jacket."
jackie disaster:
-trips over a blade of grass and covers himself in mud
snacks in claudia’s room:
-miniature candy bar assortment under her bed
-popcorn in her desk drawer
in this very odd (even for a bsc mystery) book by ghostwriter Vicki Berger Erwin, a new bookstore, poe and co., is opening in stoneybrook in the old benson dalton gable house. gable was a (fictional) peer of poe’s who is virtually unknown since his works have been lost and never been published. the man opening the store, mr. cates, has two kids named tom and gillian and enlists the bsc to babysit them and work on setting up the bookstore -- the plot, in this way, is sort of like Abby and the Secret Society, because the bsc will basically do any job anyone ever asks them to in the bsc mysteries. there’s also a bookstore designer, ms. spark, who tom and gillian resent because they think she’s trying to replace their mom, who recently left the family. there’s a cast of miscellaneous characters: gable’s descendant (it’s so hard to spell that word correctly) alex, who keeps hanging around and it becomes apparent that he thinks poe was a jerk who stole gable’s ideas, and maybe even killed gable, and he’s trying to find proof since gable’s grave was never found; professor kingsolver of stoneybrook university, who is a superstitious poe expert and thinks it’s a bad omen that weird stuff starts happening at poe and co.; lots of contractors, tom and gillian, and mr. cates and ms. spark. spoooooky things keep happening at the house, such as a black cat suddenly appearing and getting boarded up in a new bit of drywall, or a raven appearing out of nowhere and flying around the house, or a g-g-ghooosssst alongside a tombstone showing up in the basement, or the beating of the hideous heart: all spooky things that are references to poe books. a reporter comes to interview cates and spark about the bookstore, and they keep alternating between giving info about the spooky things going on and saying that they don’t think that’s what the bookstore should be known for. so that’s the moment it becomes super obvious that they’re doing this as a publicity stunt. the bsc concoct an elaborate scheme to figure out whodunnit involving a fingerprinting kit from the pike triplets’ secret agent set. and yep, it was cates and spark, because they wanted publicity. yawn. one of the subplots is as much a yawner: it’s been raining a lot lately and the bsc kids are bummed, so the bsc hosts a sunny day festival and coincidentally it’s sunny on that day. the other subplot, with tom cates being miserable about his mom leaving him and his parents getting divorced, is mildly more interesting, though coping with divorce is well-worn territory in bsc books by this point. don’t bother reading this one.
highlights:
-professor kingsolver is really entertaining. she basically looks and acts like this:
lowlights/nitpicks:
-every single spooooky thing that ever happens in the bookstore is a reference to poe. this is possibly the cheesiest book I’ve ever read. like, I get it. you like poe. come up with something new.
-professor kingsolver teaches at stoneybrook university. stoneybrook has a university? it’s a small enough town that most of the adults seem to commute to stamford or nyc, so I don’t buy this. I could see maybe a small college, but a university?
-another issue regarding stoneybrook university: they ask claudia to ask janine about professor kingsolver because she may know her, but janine takes classes at the community college, not stoneybrook university (which I’m still convinced doesn’t exist)
-seriously? they use a fingerprint kit from a children’s toy set to solve the mystery?
-the reveal is super obvious. like, cates and spark keep saying, “oh no, we don’t want the bookstore to be known for this,” but it almost reads like they’re winking while they’re saying it.
-cates and spark call mary anne their “dupin” (an investigator from poe stories) which seems condescending and annoying to me
claud outfit:
-"Today she had on a pair of jeans, but they weren't like anyone else's jeans. She'd painted raindrops down each leg. Over the jeans she wore a long white shirt and a gray vest. The vest had little umbrellas painted all over it. For earrings she was wearing paper parasols attached to gold chains."
stacey outfits:
-wide-brimmed navy hat and long navy coat, and... "She'd painted her nails navy blue to match her outfit. She wore a navy blue miniskirt and a white ribbed turtleneck with matching white ribbed stockings...Around her neck she wore a thick gold chain that hung about halfway down her sweater."
-"...Pulling her white plastic sunglasses with turquoise polka dots out of her pocket and putting them on. They matched her turquoise sundress--which was covered by a denim jacket."
jackie disaster:
-trips over a blade of grass and covers himself in mud
snacks in claudia’s room:
-miniature candy bar assortment under her bed
-popcorn in her desk drawer
December 15, 2008
the BSC mystery books were after my time in terms of when i actually read the babysitters club books as a child. i think i was still reading them when the mysteries first started, but the fact that a single month might unleash a regular book, a mystery, a super special, a little sister book, a little ister super special, & a california diaries book on to the world, i had trouble keeping up, & i was very disillusioned by the dawning realization that no way was ann m. martin writing all these books herself. but i have since read all of them anyway, because it's hard to not forever be somewhat obsessed with the book series that played such an enormous role in your childhood development (i started reading in the summer of 1986, right after "kristy's great idea" came out, & i was OBSESSED with the series for years afterward). this is one of the heftier books, clocking in at just shy of 200 pages. mary anne is out protaganist, & she has to do a school project on edgar allan poe. conveniently, she is hired to babysit for the children of mr. cates, a new man in town who is re-furbishing an old house to turn it into a mystery bookstore called poe & co. over the course of the book, all the babysitters pitch in, either watching gillian & tom (the kids) or helping out at the bookstore, painting drywall, checking in books, etc. because it's so realistic & legal to hire thirteen-year-olds to do this kind of labor. mr. cates also has a crew of workmen doing the serious labor, like installing bookshelves & stuff. as if the workmen wouldn't protest a bunch of teenagers running around, eating into their hours. whatever. a bunch of weird stuff starts happening at the store. pluto, the cat, is walled up behind some new drywall. a raven is loose in the store. mary anne & logan hear a suspicious heartbeat noise one afternoon. a workman sees a ghost. a tombstone is discovered in the basement. etc. it's all pretty fucking ludicrous. & of course, the babysitters are like, "a mystery! we can solve it!" they make a list of suspects: could it be the former owners of the house, upset that edgar allan poe is upstaging their mystery writer ancestor? could it be the workmen, upset that fixing up the house is harder work than just building a bunch of new houses? is it tom & gillian, playing tricks to scare away mr. cates's new girlfriend? is it a local professor who is obsessed with edgar allan poe? they actually utilize a bargain basement little kids' fingerprinting kit in their efforts to discover the truth, & it actually works. whatever. turns out it was mr. cates, trying to generate some publisity so lots of people would patronize the store when it opens. DUH. & it works, & tom & gillian start to accept their dad's new girlfriend, & everyone lives happily ever after. man, i love these books. i just don't understand WHY i love them.
September 30, 2017
This book was almost impossible to find when it was first published, and as such I had never actually read it before. This is one of the only (or perhaps THE only) BSC book I've never read at least once as a kid, so I'm pretty excited I was able to get it through Interlibrary Loan.
This was so fun to read, especially because I had no idea what was going to happen. I actually couldn't figure out who the culprit was, so that was a nice surprise at the end.
I'm so glad I finally read this one!
This was so fun to read, especially because I had no idea what was going to happen. I actually couldn't figure out who the culprit was, so that was a nice surprise at the end.
I'm so glad I finally read this one!
November 27, 2017
So I love Edgar Allan Poe, and I have since I was a kid. Having those things meshed together in a BSC book back in the day was the best, even if this is totally silly. The concept itself was okay. Messing with history was ridiculous, but it always is in these books.
At least Mary Anne was pretty tolerable in this one. I'm starting to detest her, but this was alright. Also not much annoying Abby, no Dawn, and minimal Kristy! Yas!
At least Mary Anne was pretty tolerable in this one. I'm starting to detest her, but this was alright. Also not much annoying Abby, no Dawn, and minimal Kristy! Yas!
August 5, 2020
Mary Anne was never my go-to babysitter but this description had me hooked.
"In this spooky page-turner, Mary Anne takes a job in a bookstore which might be haunted...by Edgar Allan Poe."
After reading Claudia's spooky adventure in Claudia and the Lighthouse Ghost I got drawn in once more by nostalgia (and perhaps the promise of reading something where I knew nothing awful was going to happen to anyone), and found myself back in Stoneybrook on the edge of my seat waiting to discover if it really was Edgar Allan's ghost. It was a light and fun read which is what I wanted so I'm happy to have read it.
"In this spooky page-turner, Mary Anne takes a job in a bookstore which might be haunted...by Edgar Allan Poe."
After reading Claudia's spooky adventure in Claudia and the Lighthouse Ghost I got drawn in once more by nostalgia (and perhaps the promise of reading something where I knew nothing awful was going to happen to anyone), and found myself back in Stoneybrook on the edge of my seat waiting to discover if it really was Edgar Allan's ghost. It was a light and fun read which is what I wanted so I'm happy to have read it.
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March 8, 2024Well I think this might be the strangest BSC mystery I've ever read. And that's saying something.
The idea that Edgar Allan Poe visited Stoneybrook, Connecticut and met with a mystery writer and possibly stole his ideas is certainly a...plot choice. Also, are there real adults like Ramona Kingsolver who are THAT superstitious? Also also, all the Poe references were so on the nose, how was this mystery not solved earlier? This whole book was just really weird.
The idea that Edgar Allan Poe visited Stoneybrook, Connecticut and met with a mystery writer and possibly stole his ideas is certainly a...plot choice. Also, are there real adults like Ramona Kingsolver who are THAT superstitious? Also also, all the Poe references were so on the nose, how was this mystery not solved earlier? This whole book was just really weird.
December 5, 2017
Bookstore opening in town and the babysitter club gets to help in more than one way. They baby sit for the owner and his children plus help with the set up of the store.
I enjoyed it except when found out who was behind the haunting. I didn't get the owners reasoning and it lost a star for that but otherwise it was wonderful.
Love Poe's stories myself so this was great book.
I enjoyed it except when found out who was behind the haunting. I didn't get the owners reasoning and it lost a star for that but otherwise it was wonderful.
Love Poe's stories myself so this was great book.
July 8, 2023
No wonder I've only read this book once and couldn't remember much about it: it's pretty lame. The mystery was very forced, it's hard to care about the characters knowing they won't make any more appearances in the series, and it was just... blah. The b-plot about the rain never stopping and the kids all being Over It was very much how I felt about this book.
December 1, 2023
I like the concept of this book, cause it’s not formulatic like most of the bsc books. It’s a mix of mystery and horror and would have actually made a good goosebumps story with an episode too. I also love the fact Mary Anne had two mysteries related to her love for books, but I’m not so sure there was continuity of her working at the bookstore in future bsc books
October 7, 2024
For a Mary Anne mystery, this one wasn't awful (maybe because the Poe angle was fun for me?) but it honestly wasn't much of a mystery either. I was mad at how obvious the solution was, but also I didn't hate the book as a whole. Maybe I'm evolving? There was at least some babysitting involved in this one, which is always nice.
May 24, 2018
This mystery is a lot of fun! This is my first Baby-Sitters Club Mystery and I loved it. I was especially into the Edgar Allan Poe theme, the rain, the ghost, the scary sounds in the bookstore, and the BSC. I am going to check out other books in this mystery series.
October 19, 2018
I couldn't put this book down. Another classic from Ann M. Martin. This was creatively written. I would definitely reccomend.
February 12, 2020
The girls attempt to solve the mystery of Poe before he haunts away new business, and manage to make a rainy day more sunny
April 23, 2020
Pretty spooky
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June 9, 2020I love this book
November 30, 2020
Yes I re-read a BSC book because I needed to shut off my brain. I’m happy that re-reading it didn’t ruin my memories of the series!
March 30, 2021
Every BSC book is great, and reading this one as an adult was just as fun as reading it when I was young.
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April 10, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/mary-a...
February 14, 2023
I love BSC and the lowest I will rate these is a 3. This was the first book that I am re-reading that I feel like I could literally make make this a 2 star lol. It just wasn't good at all.
April 4, 2023
Fun and light.
July 24, 2025
Read this in an afternoon and it was good, spooky fun! Not the best BSC mystery, but still enjoyable.
Also, Alan Grey is the best.
Also, Alan Grey is the best.
December 24, 2019
I never read this one when I was younger and these books require nostalgia
November 2, 2015
3.5
It's October, it's Halloween month, and of course I'm going to be typical and pick a mystery book to read. In this book, Mary-Anne is obsessed with Edgar Alan Poe's dark and twisted poems and stories which seems a bit out of character for her since she was always afraid of everything. She volunteers to work at a bookstore called Poe and Co after she finds a connection between Poe and the bookstore.
I thought this was a great mystery, and it had a good atmosphere to it. It wasn't too spooky or dark, but it was fun trying to figure out what was going on. I wish there was more description on the actual bookstore because that was what I was most excited to read about. I have to say that some of the things the characters did were out of character: i.e. Mary-Anne wanting to read scary stories, Mary-Anne making coffee when she obviously never had it (unless she makes it for her dad and Sharon), Stacey wanting to make mud-pies? Weird. Plus, I miss my Claudia's outfit of the day descriptions!
I have to say that I kind of got the mystery figured out, but I wasn't completely correct which I had to applaud for the author for. I mean I could be really easy to trick since it was obvious who the corporate was from the start, but still I like a mystery that has MANY suspects. This was an enjoyable read, and it definitely was a great book to read during the cold, Halloween month.
It's October, it's Halloween month, and of course I'm going to be typical and pick a mystery book to read. In this book, Mary-Anne is obsessed with Edgar Alan Poe's dark and twisted poems and stories which seems a bit out of character for her since she was always afraid of everything. She volunteers to work at a bookstore called Poe and Co after she finds a connection between Poe and the bookstore.
I thought this was a great mystery, and it had a good atmosphere to it. It wasn't too spooky or dark, but it was fun trying to figure out what was going on. I wish there was more description on the actual bookstore because that was what I was most excited to read about. I have to say that some of the things the characters did were out of character: i.e. Mary-Anne wanting to read scary stories, Mary-Anne making coffee when she obviously never had it (unless she makes it for her dad and Sharon), Stacey wanting to make mud-pies? Weird. Plus, I miss my Claudia's outfit of the day descriptions!
I have to say that I kind of got the mystery figured out, but I wasn't completely correct which I had to applaud for the author for. I mean I could be really easy to trick since it was obvious who the corporate was from the start, but still I like a mystery that has MANY suspects. This was an enjoyable read, and it definitely was a great book to read during the cold, Halloween month.
November 22, 2012
I remember absolutely loving this one and the next too, and by this point I had really grown out of the books, and was just reading them for the sake of continuity and nostalgia. And possibly out of habit. But even then, I thought that these (this one and the next two) were significantly better than the rest of the series. No idea if I'd think the same now, but this was the only BSC book (other than my first Abby one) that I kept when I cleaned out my childhood bookshelf.
January 13, 2011
Finally a later BSC mystery that is reminiscent of the earlier ones before the 'mysteries' (and the fact that 13 year olds solved them) turned completely ridiculous. (Claudia and the Clue in the Photograph, I'm looking at you).
December 20, 2024
This was dull. I could not pay attention to it. Something about new clients opening a bookstore and Edgar Allan Poe type things keep happening. It's just lousy but I'm almost done with these mystery books so there's that at least.
December 5, 2024
I love that the BSC books were like, "Well, sometimes people murder someone and bury them in the basement. That's part of real life." Like!!!
June 10, 2011
I love it.It is so great
January 1, 2018
Really fun trip back to the 90s middle grade book! Fun mystery and honestly my 1 Sitters book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews