Mary Anne and the Haunted Bookstore - Mystery #34

I found out in this book that apparently the BSC keeps a separate "mystery notebook," which is completely separate from the regular club notebook.  Given that this is mystery #34, I guess the mystery notebook is justified.

It was a dark and stormy season in the 'Brook (apparently it has been raining for several weeks now).  Mary Anne has a school project on Edgar Allan Poe, so of course the bookshop she ends up working in is called Poe and Co.  Mary Anne gets a job sitting for the two children of the owner, Mr Cates, while they prepare to open Stoneybrook's new mystery bookstore.  Of course, she and the rest of the BSC (this falls during the Abby years) also end up helping paint the bookstore and doing inventory.  Cause that makes total sense.  Child labor laws, what?

So the bookstore is opening in the historic home of Benson Dalton Gable, Stoneybrook's own mystery writer and contemporary of Poe's.  In fact, the rumor around the 'Brook is that Poe stole his ideas from Gable, then murdered Gable to keep the secret.  Gable's body has never been found.

So, right away, objects go mysteriously missing, strange things go bump in the night, and Poe coincidences abound.  Then one of the workers sees a ghost in the basement, right before a mystery concrete slab is unearthed in the basement, that eerily resembles a tombstone.   M-A has a feeling that someone is behind these shenanigans, but who can it be?

STOP!!  Collaborate and listen as I give you a breakdown of every Poe reference AMM throws at us:

"The Tell-Tale Heart" - Mary Anne hears the sound of a heartbeat coming from the walls of the bookstore

"The Fall of the House of Usher" - M-A thinks the windows of the Gable house have the "vacant, eye-like" look of the House of Usher

"The Purloined Letter" - some sketches of bookshelves go missing, then turn up on a bookshelf in plain sight

"The Black Cat" - the owner's black cat is named Pluto after this story, the Pluto gets walled up after new drywall is installed, similar to the cat in the Poe story

"Annabel Lee" - we find out the owner's ex-wife's name is Annabel Lee, like the poem

And, of course, "The Raven" - the word "Nevermore" is found carved on an old bookshelf, then a raven flies through the main room, which the owner catches and names "Lenore"


Suspects:

Mr. Cates - the owner of the bookstore, possibly trying to drum up publicity before the grand opening?

Cillia Spark - Mr. Cates assistant, who also enjoys the mystery and publicity, and who used to work in special effects in Hollywood?

Tom & Gillian Cates - the kids of the owner, whose mother abandoned them and who can't stand Ms. Spark?

Professor Kingsolver - the English professor from Stoneybrook University who wants to prove that Poe and Gable were all buddy-buddy?

Alex Gable - the last teenage descendant of Benson Dalton Gable, trying to prove that Poe stole his ancestor's stories?

Benson Dalton Gable - could his ghost be haunting the location, doomed to search for revenge for all eternity?

Drumroll, please....

Mary Anne channels Poe's famous Detective Dupin, and figures out it was Mr. Cates behind the disturbances, trying to guarantee the bookstore will be a success.  The heartbeat sound came from a stereo system hooked up in the basement, the stone slab and ghost were props from Cillia Spark's movie days.  Plus, the raven was purchased at a local pet store.  All the news stories make the bookstore a huge success, and the BSC is invited to the grand opening party.  Good times.

Oh, and I love a good "crazy cat lady" moment - Mary Anne is thirsty, but won't get up to get a drink because Tigger is asleep on her lap.  Umm...I must confess that I make decisions on a daily basis based on where my cats may be sleeping at the moment.  That hits a little too close to home, AMM.

And today in BSC fashion....


What Claudia wore: "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.  For earrings she was wearing paper parasols attached to gold chains."  That's almost normal.  Wow.

What Stacey wore:  "Today 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. Although it sounds plain, nothing looks plain on Stacey.  Around her neck she wore a thick gold chain that hung about halfway down her sweater."  This outfit is giving me a Blair Waldorf vibe.

Stacey, take 2:  "Stacey pulled out her white plastic sunglasses with turquoise polka dots out of her pocket and put them on.  They matched her turquoise sundress - which was covered by a denim jacket."