Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of A Ghostly Undertaking (Ghostly Southern, Bk 1)

A Ghostly Undertaking (Ghostly Southern, Bk 1)
A Ghostly Undertaking - Ghostly Southern, Bk 1
Author: Tonya Kappes
ISBN-13: 9780062374646
ISBN-10: 0062374648
Publication Date: 2/24/2015
Pages: 256
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 41

3.6 stars, based on 41 ratings
Publisher: Witness
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

2 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

RockStarGirl avatar reviewed A Ghostly Undertaking (Ghostly Southern, Bk 1) on + 329 more book reviews
I enjoy cozy mysteries, and I love a fun ghost story. This book was both of those, and a quick read too. However, it was light on character development and plot. There were a couple of inconsistencies that I noticed (ghosts can't touch things, then ghost unbuttons the main character's shirt) and those were a little distracting. Overall though, it was a good read.
BoysMom avatar reviewed A Ghostly Undertaking (Ghostly Southern, Bk 1) on + 843 more book reviews
Emma Lee Raines works in the family business with her sister, Charlotte Rae, as director of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home. After a conk on head though, Emma Lee is seeing and talking with the ghosts of some their clients (the deceased clients.)

Most recently, she's being visited by the ghost of her grandmother's hated business partner, Ruthie Sue Payne. Ruthie, whose body was discovered at the bottom of a staircase at her B&B, is adamant that she didn't trip and fall as has been surmised but pushed! She wants Emma Lee to help her find her killer so she can "go toward the light" and meet up with her still beloved ex-husband, Earl Way Payne (who happens to have been married to Emma Lee's grandmother at the time of his death.)

As Emma Lee starts looking into Ruthie's "accident" and asking questions, she draws the attention of the local sheriff, Jack Henry Ross, her secret high school crush. But as they come closer to uncovering the truth, someone else is working in the shadows to stop the investigation at any cost.

Author Tonya Kappes has perfectly captured a slice of life in a small southern town: the "in" crowd, the gossip, everyone knowing everyone else's business and every member of your family past and present. The reader is introduced to a number of town residents, "characters," family, and friends and get a peek at the histories and relationships at work there. I liked that these included older people that were still lively and out there living their best lives (and surprising the younger folks like Emma Lee that there is still some life left after 40 and 50 and 60, etc.) Our heroine is sweet, likeable, and funny and her ghostly visitor, sassy and not at all the awful person that Emma Lee had always thought. You definitely root for the home team in this one!