Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini

December 20, 2010
While enjoying a Thanksgiving getaway with boyfriend Phil Bowers on Catalina Island, ghost whisperer Emma Whitecastle encounters a bikini-clad ghost in Jaffarian's spirited second Ghost of Granny Apples mystery (after 2009's Ghost à la Mode). Tessa North, a Hollywood starlet who died on Catalina soon after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968, claims to be waiting for the return of "Curtis" before she can pass on to the other side. Emma and Granny Apples (aka Ish Reynolds), Emma's ghost great-great-great-grandmother, set out to learn more about Curtis and the circumstances of Tessa's death. Meanwhile, Emma's probe into the Tessa haunting for her paranormal TV show, The Whitecastle Report, leads to a stabbing murder and the revelation of secrets of Emma's former father-in-law, director and producer George Whitecastle. Fans of paranormal cozies will find a lot to like.

January 1, 2011

A romantic weekend lands a talk-show host in the middle of a 40-year-old murder nobody will acknowledge.

Life is good for Emma Whitecastle (Ghost à la Mode, 2009). The Whitecastle Report, her show on paranormal research, is almost as popular as her ex-husband Grant's TV spot. Her new squeeze, Phil Bowers, is adjusting to her gift of clairvoyance, and her favorite spirit, Granny Apples, has agreed to respect her privacy during those special moments with Phil. Thanksgiving is a challenge because Emma's daughter Kelly is spending the holiday with Grant. So Emma and Phil opt for a nontraditional celebration in Catalina. There she meets Tessa North, splashing in the November surf in the bikini she wore the day of her death, which Emma dates shortly after Bobby Kennedy's assassination. Tessa doesn't seem to know she's dead; she's just waiting for Curtis to come get her. Trouble is, nobody else seems to know about Tessa's demise either. There's no police report. Emma's ex–father-in-law, director George Whitecastle, can't remember the starlet from Beach Party Prom. His buddies, Paul Feldman and Worth Manning, have developed a similar amnesia, even though Tessa's ex-roommate Denise Dowd shows Emma a picture of the three with a bevy of beauties including Tessa. Which convinces Emma that Tessa's death involved foul play—if only she could get someone to admit Tessa was dead.

Adding two paranormal series (Granny Apples and Fang in Cheek) to her long-running paralegal series doesn't take a bit off Jaffarian's edge.

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