Gem of a Ghost

A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Series, Book 3

By: Sue Ann Jaffarian

Narrated by: Sandra Murphy

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Emma Whitecastle would rather spend time with her boyfriend than help Joanna Reid get rid of her husband's ghost. But when she finds out Joanna's daughter has broken her engagement and attempted suicide, Emma and Granny Apples are compelled to investigate.

The multifaceted mystery unfolds in Hollywood, where a vengeful spirit strikes too close for comfort as Emma and Granny unearth a clue hidden in a haunted diamond. When the case leads Emma and a suave stranger to the historic mining town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, Emma must call upon a ghostly group of Molly Maguires to ease the pain of a century-old marriage gone bad.

©2012 Sue Ann Jaffarian (P)2020 Sue Ann Jaffarian

Another great installment

I love this series, wish all the books of this series were on Audible, I do plan on getting the rest of them off Kindle.

Each mystery gets better and better...............

Gem of a Ghost is the third book in this series featuring Emma Whitecastle and the ghost of her great, great, great grandmother Granny Apples. Although the author does a good job of introducing basic background from previous books, I think this third book is best enjoyed as part of the series, so the listener gets the full feeling for Emma's abilities to see and hear ghosts. As with the previous two books, the story is split between the personal life of the characters and the mystery Emma is attempting to solve. This time, Emma resists getting involved in another possibly life-threatening situation until she realizes that the life of her daughter's long time friend Lainey is in jeopardy. Emma is thwarted in her efforts at every turn by both Lainey's mother and stepfather as well as cryptic words of wisdom from the ghost of her deceased father. I thought this mystery was the most intriguing yet of the series, and I loved watching Granny Apples get all protective of Emma and Lainey while continuing to be her usual ornery self.

As much as I enjoyed the mystery of Lainey and the evil spirit making her life a misery, I had a very difficult time not wanting to slap Emma. She is in a loving, committed relationship with a wonderful man named Phil, but she continues to push him away because she thinks she might find something better someday. Then, that supposed someday comes when she becomes attracted to a man that is not worth anything compared to Phil, and she ends the book with her emotions split between the two men. I hate the love triangle trope in books, and I dislike cheating - even on a small scale - even more, so I hope that the author redirects the story, so that we have more of the relationship between Phil and Emma and none of her potential new man. I only deducted one star for this new direction in the story because this is really more a personal preference than a deficit in the story.

Sandra Murphy narrates all the books in this series, and she is absolutely fabulous. I can't imagine any other narrator handling Granny Apple's character as well as Murphy does. She differentiates well between the various characters, her performance is flawless, and she adds just the right amount of emotion to her delivery to keep the story entertaining without sounding overly dramatic. I highly recommend anything narrated by Murphy to all listeners.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

I didn't want to stop listening!

From the beginning of this Granny Apples mystery, I was hooked. The setting was described so well that I could picture where the action was taking place. From The Grove to Julian, the images created by Jaffarian spurred memories of my childhood adventures and travels. The plot of Gem of a Ghost moved at such a pace that I did not want to stop listening. I found myself wanting to know what happened next and listened every chance I could until the end. And then, I did not want it to end. I wanted to know more about Emma and the next phase in her life, Granny and her adventures, and the next mystery to come. Good thing there is another book in the series! Ghost in a Polka Dot Bikini is up next!

Laughs Are Many

The laughs are many with Emma and Granny. This time tracing back the origin of a stone ring, was it cursed, or what caused people to commit suicide. Cute series and narration is enjoyable. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

Really enjoying the series

I like this series a lot. There is plenty of fun to balance the murder. Sandra Murphy does a great job narrating. I can't wait for more!

Gem of a Ghost

I love cozy mysteries so this is up my street. And I was not disappointed when I listened to it.
If you like paranormal cozy mysteries then this is for you.

Wonderful story

This is the first book i have read by this author and this series. I just loved it. Granny was so funny. I loved the adventure with Emma and Granny(the ghost). The story was very entertaining People committed suicide or trying when coming in contact with a stone in a ring. Emma has to trace back the history of the stone with help from friends. I loved it and i definitely would like to do more of these books. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

The narrator was fantastic.

Had me Hooked

As always, Sue Ann's story had me hooked. I didn't want to stop listening to this book. The story was excellent. I kept waiting to hear what would happen next. I love the Granny Apple character, she's hilarious!

The narrator was the only part of this book I could have done without, but maybe that is because I'm never been into listening to a book and I like to read at my own speed. However, because the story is so good, within minutes I decided it was worth listening to anyway. There were times I felt like the narrator was using the wrong voice for a character. However, I do love the convenience of being able to listen to the book while doing household work or driving, rather than waiting until downtime (which is rare for me) to be able to read my book.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the book. I am always sad for Sue Ann's books to end, and then can't wait for the next one.

Excellent cozy

This is the third book of the series and was just as good if not a little better than the others. Emma and the ghost Granny are fun to read about, they have a tendency to get in to trouble each time the solve a mystery but it all works out in the end.
The narrator does a great job of giving each character their own individuality.
I would highly recommend this series to fellow cozy mystery lovers.

Inventive!

cozy-mystery, ghosts, family-dynamics, anger

Granny Apples is the fun ghost of a woman hanged for a crime she did not commit, and her descendant is a woman who sees / hears her and other ghosts. The descendant is Emma who also has a weekly TV show and is well known for her ability even if most do not believe it. Emma gets a call from a friend who says that she wants the ghost of her first husband gone. Then said ghost arrives with more information including his concerns about their daughter. Lots of research to be done and more to work with a very angry ghost. This is a good cozy and not ghost busters or whatever, just a satisfying read for an afternoon.
Sandra Murphy is excellent as narrator and the fact that I listen at 125 speed has more to do with my " hurry up " self than anything else.