Gem of a Ghost

December 12, 2011
At the start of Jaffarian’s sweet and sassy third Granny Apples mystery (after 2011’s Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini), well-to-do Joanna Naiman Reid asks L.A. ghost-speaker Emma Whitecastle to get rid of the ghost of her previous husband, action film star Max Naiman, who died five years earlier and has begun to haunt her. Emma winds up looking into the case of Joanna and Max’s grown daughter, Lainey, who’s recovering from suicide attempts during which she felt compelled by an outside force. Emma gets on the trail of an antique ring housing an angry spirit that eventually leads to the ghosts at the Old Jail in Jim Thorpe, Pa., in scenes rendered credible by thorough historical research. A pleasant flirtation with archeologist Quinn Keenan, approved by Emma’s ghostly Granny Apples, lends interest to Emma’s personal story. Agent: Whitney Lee.