Monday, February 23

B's Monday Review: A Ghostly Undertaking by Tonya Kappes

Blurb:
A funeral, a ghost, a murder…it’s all in a day’s work for Emma Lee Raines…
Bopped on the head from a falling plastic Santa, local undertaker Emma Lee Raines is told she’s suffering from “funeral trauma.” It’s trauma all right, because the not so dearly departed keep talking to her. Take Ruthie Sue Payne--innkeeper, gossip queen, and arch-nemesis of Emma Lee’s granny—she’s adamant that she didn’t just fall down those stairs. She was pushed.

Ruthie has no idea who wanted her pushing up daisies. All she knows is that she can’t cross over until the matter is laid to eternal rest. In the land of the living, Emma Lee’s high-school crush, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, isn’t ready to rule out foul play. Granny Raines, the widow of Ruthie’s ex-husband and co-owner of the Sleepy Hollow Inn, is the prime suspect. Now Emma Lee is stuck playing detective or risk being haunted forever. 

My thoughts:
Emma runs a funeral home with her perfect sister. And Emma is not so perfect. A plastic Santa fell on her and now she can see dead people. Everyone in town whispers about her and are changing funeral homes. So it's not a good day to be her. I did feel like I would have wanted to see the whole santa thing, maybe a pre novella? But we were told so I am fine with it. Cos I do not like pre novellas anyway.

Right the dead people thing then. It's just one dead person. One annoying arch enemy of her gran, and this annoying person tells Emma it was murder! What to do? Pretend she is not there or solve the murder and get rid of her? She goes for the investigating stuff and stumbles upon a few things. I am not gonna say she is a perfect detective, no, she is lucky but does not always get things right. But that is just fun to read about.

I do wonder what her's sisters issue is though, such a stick in the mud.

There is also a blossoming love interest with the town sheriff, as her path does cross with him a few times. I think they can be good for each other. I liked him.

And more drama is to come. She is still "crazy" according to townies, so how will they run their business? More ghosts are coming too. I guess I will just have to read book 2 to find out :)

Fun, a good mystery, and a heroine that I enjoyed reading about.

Paperback, 288 pages
Expected publication: February 24th 2015 by HarperCollins (first published October 1st 2013)
Southern Mysteries #1
Cozy mystery
For review

3 comments:

Carole Rae said...

*waves* Here, have some cookies *hands plate of cookies over*

Blodeuedd said...

cooooooooooookies!

Melliane said...

I agree it was a fun nice novel. Book 2 is the same. I'm curious for more.