Dummy of a Ghost

A Ghost of Granny Apples Novella

By Sue Ann Jaffarian

ISBN# 9781101602560

Author’s Website:  www.sueannjaffarian.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Laurie

Synopsis:

A party is giving Kelly Whitecastle a chance to play catch-up with old friends, and she’s especially keen on seeing Chris May again, an up-and-coming ventriloquist. But when Kelly sees his show, and Chris’s dummies, a couple named Shirley and Doug, appear to be staring straight at her, it only rattles Kelly’s nerves.

It seems that the ghosts of Chris’s grandparents inhabit those grinning heads full of sawdust and they have a warning for Kelly: Chris is in mortal danger. Now Kelly’s working the nightclub circuit to find out who—or what—wants Chris dead. And she’d better do it fast before the final curtain falls on Chris’s act.

Review:

While the Ghost of Granny Apples series focuses on television medium Emma Whitecastle, this novella features Emma’s daughter, Kelly, as the protagonist and chief sleuth.  Kelly is discovering that she has some paranormal abilities of her own.  I did not find Kelly to be a particularly likeable character.  I prefer her mother.  Kelly is a Harvard student.  It’s impossible to forget this, because Kelly and the rest of the Whitecastle family name drop “Harvard” at every available opportunity.  Harvard, Harvard, Harvard.  Kelly seems to be too perfect to be real.

The novella is a departure from the regular series in other ways too.  We don’t see nearly as much of the delightfully acerbic Granny Apples.  Granny helps solve the case, but we don’t’ get as much of her snark.  Far more important are the ghosts of Chris’s kindly grandparents.  This is a shame, because Granny Apples is what makes this series.  Jaffarian writes snark really, really well.  This novella felt like a move away from Jaffarian’s strengths.  The best character in the book is Chris and Edgar’s snoopy, busy-body neighbor, known to the neighborhood as “Snoop Dog.”  Cranky, nosy characters are Jaffarian’s forte.  This book could have used more of them and less of Kelly.

The best part of this book was the setting, in the world of ventriloquism.  It’s an interesting corner of the theater world, one I’m surprised other authors haven’t embraced.  In this book the dolls serve as vessels for ghosts.  I can see even greater possibilities in using this world of thrown voices and alternate identities as a setting for murder.  Even in this short book the reader gets a sense of the strange and intense personalities of the practitioners.

In sum, I don’t think this is Jaffarian’s best work, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth reading this series or her work more broadly.  Stick to the novels, don’t start with the novellas.  Jaffarian has a great knack for writing a certain kind of character.  Unfortunately there aren’t many of those characters in this novella.

*An ebook copy of this title was supplied by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.