Thursday, April 12, 2012

Review - Ghost a la Mode


Title: Ghost a la Mode
Authors: Sue Ann Jaffarian
Publisher: Midnight Ink (September 8, 2009)
Format: eBook
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Purchase; Amazon Digital Services
Series: Granny Apples #1

With some books, you have to suspend reality a bit more than others. Ghost a la Mode is one of them. You, the reader, are asked to believe that 40ish Emma Whitecastle can suddenly see the ghost of her great-great-great grandmother when, at no time previously, has she had the ability. One trip to a psychic / séance and the woo-woo floodgates have been opened.

OK, it might be possible to work with that.

For more than a hundred years, Granny Apples has been waiting around for just the right relative to see her and to fight to defend her name in a murder that she did not commit. Granny was accused of killing her husband and before she was able to clear her name, she too was murdered. Now Granny, through Emma, must find a way to clear her name and get her homestead back to the rightful owners.

Parts are twisty and you have to keep a couple characters straight, but other than that, the book falls somewhere in the so-so range of cozy mysteries. Ghost a la Mode follows the usual formula of small town murder, pet, man rides to the rescue, and they all live happily ever after.
I did not find any of the characters compelling enough to run out right away and pick up the next book. If I happen to stumble on the next, I might read it. More humor or more suspense needs to be added to give it the extra spark that would make me want to be a loyal follower of this series.

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