WTF Are You Reading?: Partners In Crime Book Tours Presents: A Ghostly Reunion with Giveaway

Partners In Crime Book Tours Presents: A Ghostly Reunion with Giveaway

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
Published by: HarperCollins / Witness
Publication Date: December 27th 2016
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 006246695X (ISBN13: 9780062466952)
Series: Ghostly Southern Mysteries #5
Purchase Links: Amazon

| Barnes & Noble

| Goodreads

A Ghostly Reunion

Proprietor of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home, Emma Lee can see, hear, and talk to ghosts of murdered folks. And when her high school nemesis is found dead, Jade Lee Peel is the same old mean girl—trying to come between Emma Lee and her hot boyfriend, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, all over again.

There’s only one way for Emma Lee to be free of the trash-talking ghost—solve the murder so the former prom queen can cross over.

But the last thing Jade Lee wants is to leave the town where she had her glory days. And the more Emma Lee investigates on her own, the more complicated Miss Popularity turns out to be. Now Emma Lee will have to work extra closely with her hunky lawman to get to the twisty truth.

Excerpt | A Ghostly Reunion by Tonya Kappes

Sexy isn’t a firm fanny in a thong, ladies.”

Hettie Bell didn’t seem so sexy in her hot pink leggings and matching top as she gasped for breath in her downward dog position in the middle of Sleepy Hollow, Kentucky. Her butt stuck straight up in the air, right there on display for everyone to see. Her black, chin-length bob was falling out of the small ponytail on both sides and her bangs hung down in her eyes.

“Sexy is confidence and self-acceptance. It’s exactly what yoga provides.”

Hettie Bell curled up on her tiptoes with her palms planted on one of the mats she provided for us. The rickety old floor of the gazebo, in the middle of the town square, groaned as we all tried to mimic her pose. “Yes!” Beulah Paige Bellefry hollered out like we were in the first pew of the Sleepy Hollow Baptist Church getting a good Bible beating from Pastor Brown himself.

“Amen to a good pose!”

Beulah continued to adjust her feet and hands each time she started to slip. If she wasn’t a bit overweight, I’d say it was her eighties silk sweat suit that was slicker than cat’s guts giving her problems. Or it could’ve been those pearls around her wrist, neck and ears weighing her down. Beulah never took off those pearls. She said pearls were a staple for a Southern gal.

“You said it, sister,” Mary Anna Hardy gasped. She teetered side to side, nearly knocking into Granny. Her sweat left streaks down her makeup. Who on earth got up this early and put makeup on to do yoga? Mary Anna Hardy, that’s who.

“God help us!”

“That’s it.”

I pushed back off my heels and crossed my legs, staring at all the Auxiliary women’s derrieres at my eye level.

“I’m here to do some relaxing, not Sunday school.”

Sleepy Hollow was smack-dab in the middle of the Bible Belt and if God wasn’t thrown in our conversations, then we weren’t breathing. But the last thing I wanted to think about was my butt stuck up to the high heavens and everyone up in the Great Beyond looking down upon me.

My Thoughts
Sleepy Hollow, Kentucky may be a small southern town, as far as size goes. But make no mistake, it is quite big on charm, personality, and paranormal mystery shenanigans. Don't believe me? Just ask Miss Emma Lee Raines. The young, pretty, and very busy proprietor of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home, and part-time sleuth.
Oh yeah...and did I happen to mention that "she sees dead people"?
Yep. Just like that cute little boy in The Sixth Sense.
Only these dead people need Emma Lee's help to cross over, and she's not exactly running all over town letting the populace know that she can in fact "communicate with the not so dearly departed ".
No. It seems that Emma Lee is quite content to let the general public and her grandma believe that she has gone just a little south of her mental balance beam, and now suffers from a condition not so lovingly referred to as Funeral Trauma.

Who knew that a little ole' thing like a high school reunion would lead to the murder of its prom queen turned reality star, one Miss Jade Lee Peel. The owner of the town newspaper as the lead suspect, and Emma's "Funeral Truama" stuck in the upright and on position?
Why none other than Emma Lee Raines of course...and all y'all lucky folks that have the pleasure of reading this story. Bless your hearts!

Authoress Tonya Kappes invites readers into the world of Emma Lee Raines for a 5th time in A Ghostly Reunion. As such, both new readers, and those well acquainted with the series, find themselves presented with a well balanced cast of the quirky, kooky, and just down right fun characters and circumstances which make for a relatable and compulsively readable tale.

While Miss Jade Lee Peel's untimely demise may be a bit of a foregone conclusion. (I mean...with her tombstone being on the cover of the book and all.) The over the top persona that this snuffed out starlet brings to the table, both in life and in death is well worth the read. When you add Emma, grandma Zula Fae, and Emma's sister, Charlotte Rae into the mix.
Priceless.

This mystery builds its reader loyalty by allowing the reader to understand and gain an affinity for the people in the story. Not just the stars of the show. The whole entire town. It then becomes so very easy to slip right into any given scene, and feel as though one is right at home. A very handy tool at times when the action may slow or the plot may get a little thin.

Another very smart and particularly well executed element of this story is the blending of Emma's personal and professional lives. The ebb and flow from one into the other is seamless. Making Emma a very well rounded character, and giving her readers the full view of how her sleuthing impacts all areas of her life.
This focus on Emma does backfire at times however. At times taking the spotlight away from her dead client. Leaving parts of their story to either be glossed over or not explored at all.

Another drawback to having such a seemingly fixed array of memorable characters. (I say seemingly because this is my first foray into this series.) Is the ability to deduce that the murderer is always going to be someone coming in from the outside.
This bit of formulaic writing is well covered in charm, wit, and characters. But it does bear mentioning nonetheless.

In short. This is a great cozy for the reader looking for unforgettable characters, a fun escape, a bit of mystery, and a whole lot of heart.

About Tonya

Tonya Kappes has written more than fifteen novels and four novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, two very spoiled schnauzers, and one ex-stray cat in northern Kentucky. Now that her boys are teenagers, Tonya writes full-time but can be found at all of her guys’ high school games with a pencil and paper in hand.