A GHOSTLY GRAVE by Tonya Kappes

A Ghostly Southern Mystery – book 2

Publisher:    Witness

Published:   March 31, 2015

ISBN:     978-0062374813Genre:   Cozy Mystery

Format:  Print

Obtained via:  Publisher

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

THREE-1/2 HEARTS

With now boyfriend Sheriff Jack Henry Ross firmly in her corner and believing she isn’t crazy with her ability to see ghosts, Emma Lee is pretty happy and secure in her life.  Sure, she still wishes she had that gorgeous red hair her sister Charlotte has and wouldn’t mind it if her Granny stopped zooming around town on her moped, but life is pretty good.  That is, until, Chicken Teater shows up from the great beyond telling Emma Lee she needs to find his killer.

Emma Lee shouldn’t have been so surprised to see Chicken.  After all, he was the first ghost she saw after the plastic Santa bopped her on the head and she was diagnosed with the “Funeral Trauma.”  The Funeral Trauma being part and parcel with her job as the local undertaker along with above-mentioned sister Charlotte.  When Chicken asks Emma Lee to find her killer she isn’t too keen to delve into the mystery, but she also knows he won’t move on to his just reward if she doesn’t find the wrongdoer. Despite Jack Henry and her family telling her to stay out of it, Emma Lee continues on with her investigation.  Was it Chicken’s wife who did him in out of jealousy because he loved his prize chicken Lady Cluckington?  Or the creepy guy who hides behind trees and lurks around Marla Marie Teater’s double wide?  Or is it someone else who had it in for Chicken?  More important, can Emma Lee find the killer before the killer finds her?

After reading Tonya Kappes first Ghostly Southern Mystery, A GHOSTLY UNDERTAKING I quickly became a fan and immediately picked up book 2, A GHOSTLY GRAVE.  I really enjoyed book 1, particularly the “southernisms” coming from Emma Lee by virtue of Ms. Kappes’s writing.  There is some nice development in Emma Lee’s personality and the characters around her develop a little more depth.  I enjoy it when an author adds more to the secondary characters as a series goes on and Kappes does this nicely.

I liked how she took what is often the single-minded craziness we sometimes hear about in the background of beauty pageants and focused it on Lady Cluckington.  The tie in to a human beauty pageant was a nice one.

I pretty much figured out who did it early on, but that didn’t take away from a really fun read. I’ll be picking up book 3 in this series as soon as I can.

This is an objective review and an endorsement of this book.