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A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery #5
Ghost in the Guacamole
When two sisters feud over the family business, medium Emma Whitecastle doesn’t need a Ouija board to know it spells trouble. But with a little help from the spirited ghost of Granny Apples, she may be able to solve one murder and prevent another . . .
Sisters Lucinda and Ricarda Ricardo—better known as Lucy and Rikki—are at each other’s throats over the family business, Roble Foods. Lucy wants to sell and Rikki is against it. Rikki asks Emma to contact their deceased father, Felix, to help her convince Lucy not to sell.
But the ghost of Felix Ricardo has his own bombshell to drop—his death was not an accident, and Rikki’s life may be in danger if the girls don’t sell. Now it’s up to Emma and Granny Apples to chip away at the mystery and stop a killer from double dipping in death . . .
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 6, 2015
26 people are currently reading
503 people want to read
About the author
Sue Ann Jaffarian
63 books546 followersSue Ann Jaffarian is the author of the popular Odelia Grey mystery series, the Ghost of Granny Apples mystery series and the Madison Rose vampire mysteries, as well as short stories.
Sue Ann also writes the Winnie Wilde romance novellas.
Like the character Odelia Grey, Sue Ann Jaffarian is a middle-aged, plus-sized paralegal. She lives in Los Angeles.
In addition to writing, Sue Ann is sought after as a motivational/ humorous speaker. You can visit her on the web at www.sueannjaffarian.com, www.sueannjaffarian.blogspot.com, and on Twitter and Facebook.
Sue Ann also writes the Winnie Wilde romance novellas.
Like the character Odelia Grey, Sue Ann Jaffarian is a middle-aged, plus-sized paralegal. She lives in Los Angeles.
In addition to writing, Sue Ann is sought after as a motivational/ humorous speaker. You can visit her on the web at www.sueannjaffarian.com, www.sueannjaffarian.blogspot.com, and on Twitter and Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 13, 2025
3 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a cute, quick murder mystery in the series Ghost of Granny Apple mysteries. A quirky book to reset your pallet after reading something serious or heavy. I especially like the setting because it is set in California where I live, and takes us into Los Angeles, Hollywood, Julian, Pomona…and places I identify with.
Granny, our ghost is sassy and bossy. She is relentless, but funny and lovable. I really liked her, with her spirit energy and love for solving a mystery, she was a hoot. Her great, great, great granddaughter Emma has the same energy for a mystery and has walked into one again! Emma is a TV host for a television show and is a spirit medium which leads her to trouble frequently.
It all takes place at a successful Mexican restaurant in L.A., California where a family business has taken a turn for the worse after father (business head) dies. The family is fighting about selling or keeping the business. All hell breaks loose with hatred, lies, deceit and shootings within the family workers and CEO.
Who is the culprit causing this destruction for the restaurant?
Emma gets to the bottom of the dangerous drama with help from Granny ghost. Just a cute story, nothing I could take too seriously.
This is a cute, quick murder mystery in the series Ghost of Granny Apple mysteries. A quirky book to reset your pallet after reading something serious or heavy. I especially like the setting because it is set in California where I live, and takes us into Los Angeles, Hollywood, Julian, Pomona…and places I identify with.
Granny, our ghost is sassy and bossy. She is relentless, but funny and lovable. I really liked her, with her spirit energy and love for solving a mystery, she was a hoot. Her great, great, great granddaughter Emma has the same energy for a mystery and has walked into one again! Emma is a TV host for a television show and is a spirit medium which leads her to trouble frequently.
It all takes place at a successful Mexican restaurant in L.A., California where a family business has taken a turn for the worse after father (business head) dies. The family is fighting about selling or keeping the business. All hell breaks loose with hatred, lies, deceit and shootings within the family workers and CEO.
Who is the culprit causing this destruction for the restaurant?
Emma gets to the bottom of the dangerous drama with help from Granny ghost. Just a cute story, nothing I could take too seriously.
January 7, 2015
Emma Whitecastle is a famous TV medium that can communicate with ghosts, with the ghost of her great great great grandmother, Granny Apples following her around, Granny has become a fixture in Emma's and her boyfriend Phil's life. Emma is asked for help in contacting restaurateur, Ricarda and Lucinda Ricardo's also known as, Lucy and Rikki's dead father, Felix. Lucy needs her father's advice whether or not to sell the family Restaurant and commercial food factory, Roble Foods.
Rikki is against selling the restaurant and Lucy wants to sell to the highest bidder but in a surprising turn of events the dead spirit of their father tells Emma to tell Rikki to sell before she ends up dead like him. She wanted to contact her father with Emma's help to help convince Lucy not to sell.
It's an all out brawl between the sisters, fighting to the death but when their father Felix reveals that his death was not an accident, Emma and Granny Apples along with Phil make it their mission to help Rikki to unlock the mystery behind her father's death and to possibly help SAVE the Ricardo family.
Granny Apples had me in stitches, a witty and fun loving ghost. A hilarious and fast passed fun time. This culinary paranormal mystery made this a addicting for me being a fan of the genre, ONE of the reasons I picked this book up. I am a newly converted paranormal cozy mystery fan and I will definitely pick up the next book in this series just to see what shenanigans Emma and Granny Apples Get into next.
May 4, 2015
3.5 stars, although I should have knocked 1/2 star off for the major editing error in a later chapter. I won't though, because Ms. Jaffarian generally writes strong mysteries with likeable characters and writes them well. This one was slow to start, but once it got going halfway through I enjoyed it.
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/115809...
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/115809...
March 5, 2023
Danged excellent writing!
November 13, 2018
This is book #5 in the Ghost of Granny Apple series, and did not dissapoint. Good mystery without getting gruesome.
January 22, 2015
Emma and Granny find themselves in the middle of a family fight when Rikki Ricardo asks them to contact her deceased father to help her stop her older sister Lucy from selling the family restaurant and food business. However, her father’s ghost wants Rikki to sell before something happens to her. Is Rikki in danger?
This book was outstanding. The plot is strong with conflict you could feel between the characters and so much suspicious behavior it was hard to figure out who to trust. The new characters were strong, making us truly care about the outcome. A dash of humor added depth to the at times serious plot. I couldn’t put it down.
NOTE: I was given a copy of this book. My opinion is still my own.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
This book was outstanding. The plot is strong with conflict you could feel between the characters and so much suspicious behavior it was hard to figure out who to trust. The new characters were strong, making us truly care about the outcome. A dash of humor added depth to the at times serious plot. I couldn’t put it down.
NOTE: I was given a copy of this book. My opinion is still my own.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
August 14, 2015
Sue Ann Jaffarian has done it again - an exciting and highly entertaining Emma and Granny Apples story! What a great crime-solving duo they make. Somehow I missed a couple of books in the series and was concerned about missing too much info on the characters and their relationships (one of the best things about cozies in general and Sue Ann's books in particular). But there was just enough information to get me up to speed without interfering with the current plot. Next step: get the books I missed and fill in the gaps the fun way.
November 30, 2016
Sisters Lucinda and Ricardo are fighting over their family business, Lucinda wants to sell and Ricardo doesn't. Rikki contacts Emma, a medium with a TV show, to contact her deceased father to find out what he would like them to do. Her father's ghost says that Rikki life will be in danger if she doesn't sell. Emma and her granny ghost have to figure out what is going on and who is putting her life in danger.
March 9, 2015
I get a kick out of this series and this one didn't disappoint. The books always have a good mystery, and Granny is a pistol! Good story and nice to see relationships progressing. And Grant, Emma's ex-husband, is a real douche! RECOMMEND!
January 21, 2015
My favorite things about this series are the lack of holes in the story and that you can't tell right away what will happen.
March 12, 2019
I rarely give 5 * and I think a good simple mystery story is hard to get right.
I've tried a few authors wanting to find the right kind of writing for a good, light reading but none of the mystery paperbacks have met my criteria.
Granny Apples is, coincidentally, the great x4 grandmother of Emma Whitecastle (the protaganist). She is a ghost and together with Emma (a famous medium), they go on adventures to solves cases. In this novel, Emma's skills as a 'medium' is called in when Rikki Ricardo, owner of Roble Foods, has asked her help to contact her deceased father, Felix Ricardo, on whether she should sell the restaurant. Her sister, Lucy, is hell bent on selling both the restaurant and the retail arm of the business after their father died. The book cleverly left the twist to the end and we finally realized why Lucy wants to sell the business that her father/grandfather painstakingly built up from scratch.
Sounds boring right? Nah, love the writing, pacing of the story and the small paperback novel was finished in days!
This seems to be book 5 in the series and I'm disheartened to learn that the series is not very long. My local library doesn't carry the entire series but I will take whatever I can get. :)
I've tried a few authors wanting to find the right kind of writing for a good, light reading but none of the mystery paperbacks have met my criteria.
Granny Apples is, coincidentally, the great x4 grandmother of Emma Whitecastle (the protaganist). She is a ghost and together with Emma (a famous medium), they go on adventures to solves cases. In this novel, Emma's skills as a 'medium' is called in when Rikki Ricardo, owner of Roble Foods, has asked her help to contact her deceased father, Felix Ricardo, on whether she should sell the restaurant. Her sister, Lucy, is hell bent on selling both the restaurant and the retail arm of the business after their father died. The book cleverly left the twist to the end and we finally realized why Lucy wants to sell the business that her father/grandfather painstakingly built up from scratch.
Sounds boring right? Nah, love the writing, pacing of the story and the small paperback novel was finished in days!
This seems to be book 5 in the series and I'm disheartened to learn that the series is not very long. My local library doesn't carry the entire series but I will take whatever I can get. :)
August 18, 2017
I always enjoy Sue Ann's books. Now I'm wondering if some of the restaurants mentioned actually do exist. I was sure hungry for Mexican food while reading this--maybe that's why I've been scarfing down quesadillas for dinner this week! I do have a bit of a quibble--I found that there was some awkwardness to the writing which I haven't seen before. Maybe due to the pressure of meeting deadlines? If so, time to slow down and say "screw the deadlines". But I'd still recommend this book.
Read
June 19, 2019Emma is world famous for her TV show and well known for her dealings with the spirit world. She has helped law enforcement solve several crimes with the help of her boyfriend Phil and her late Granny. Granny just floats in and most people can't see her so she is really good at getting information that Emma can't get herself.
I really enjoyed the book and Granny stole my heart. She made me laugh at some of her antics and comments. It catches and holds your attention.
I really enjoyed the book and Granny stole my heart. She made me laugh at some of her antics and comments. It catches and holds your attention.
January 31, 2020
It's sad seeing family members not getting along but when business and a lot of money is involved, the claws really come out! Emma and assorted company have their hands full trying to sort fact from fiction. Well written with characters I could invest in, this was much better than the last book. Granny is a hoot like always!
December 7, 2025
Another entertaing Granny Apples book
Love the series, but this one have such an array of characters. Emma, Phil and Granny are in a comfortable groove of interactions with another new mystery, people and ghosts..👻👻👻👻
Love the series, but this one have such an array of characters. Emma, Phil and Granny are in a comfortable groove of interactions with another new mystery, people and ghosts..👻👻👻👻
March 2, 2018
Another great book in the series
March 17, 2018
Wish half-stars worked in this system - I'd give 3.5. Cute situation, well-developed, no grammar or spelling problems that I noticed.
April 22, 2019
Really fun and amusing read. Enjoyed the storyline.
September 28, 2019
A good read for Halloween. Full of family disputes, anger and Mystery.
November 2, 2019
This book started out slower than the previous books in this series. The ending was good and it really picked up in the second half.
January 22, 2020
great read. Emma, Granny an Phil make a great team. But will that continue?
December 24, 2020
I love this series and each book get better with more fun with the ghost called, Granny Apples. Good story to read to cheer me up for Christmas.
June 8, 2021
I really enjoy this series.
September 1, 2021
not a fan of Granny Apples, made me hungry for fish tacos, but no more of this cozy mystery series
March 9, 2024
3.5 stars
October 7, 2024
Seemed to drag a bit in parts.
December 21, 2024
Her books are always so much fun
March 4, 2017
The story is good but I don't buy the ghosts
February 19, 2015
Originally posted on Smitten by Books Blog
For fans of: Alice Kimberly, Paige Shelton
When Emma Whitecastle is invited out to lunch by Ricarda “Rikki” Ricardo, the last thing she expects is for the woman to ask her help communicating with the spirit of her father Felix; Emma met Rikki in yoga class, not in connection with her job as a medium. Apparently, Rikki’s seen Emma on television and believes Felix’s ghost can help her convince her sister Lucy not to sell the family business.
Emma’d love to help Rikki, but unfortunately, it turns out Rikki’s father wants nothing more than for the sale to go through; according to him, his daughters’ lives will be in danger if it doesn’t. He won’t tell Emma why, though, and a vague warning she doesn’t want to hear from a ghost she can’t see doesn’t hold much sway over Rikki. Can Emma get to the bottom of things and steer Rikki true, or will her digging place them both in peril?
Ghost in the Guacamole is the fifth of Sue Ann Jaffarian’s Ghost of Granny Apples Mysteries (the second to be published by Berkley Prime Crime), and it’s a quick, fun, thoroughly engaging read. This is the first I’ve read in the series, but I never for a moment felt lost; Jaffarian does a great job filling in new readers with regard to premise, character, and backstory without slowing the pace or detracting from the tale at hand.
The series’ hook is clever; Emma’s ghostly sidekick (the spirit of her great-great-great grandmother, Granny Apples) adds whimsy and humor without slipping into camp, and Jaffarian does a nice job of incorporating said hook into the story. Emma’s a wise and winsome heroine (it’s always a pleasant surprise to encounter a non-dowdy cozy protagonist over the age of 35) and the relationship Emma has with tax attorney and fellow amateur sleuth Phil is pitch-perfect; sweet yet mature, theirs is a true partnership, and one built not only on affection, but respect.
Jaffarian’s prose is intelligent and reads effortlessly; her plot is fabulously soapy and complex; the mystery at the heart of Ghost in the Guacamole is twisty, turny, and thoughtfully constructed; and Emma’s investigation is refreshingly thorough and logically undertaken. To top it all off, the book has a wonderfully strong sense of place. Ghost in the Guacamole is very of Los Angeles – it couldn’t take place anywhere else. As such, it offers readers an insider’s tour of the city – a rare treat for those of us who only know the LA of movies and television.
Reviewed by Kat
For fans of: Alice Kimberly, Paige Shelton
When Emma Whitecastle is invited out to lunch by Ricarda “Rikki” Ricardo, the last thing she expects is for the woman to ask her help communicating with the spirit of her father Felix; Emma met Rikki in yoga class, not in connection with her job as a medium. Apparently, Rikki’s seen Emma on television and believes Felix’s ghost can help her convince her sister Lucy not to sell the family business.
Emma’d love to help Rikki, but unfortunately, it turns out Rikki’s father wants nothing more than for the sale to go through; according to him, his daughters’ lives will be in danger if it doesn’t. He won’t tell Emma why, though, and a vague warning she doesn’t want to hear from a ghost she can’t see doesn’t hold much sway over Rikki. Can Emma get to the bottom of things and steer Rikki true, or will her digging place them both in peril?
Ghost in the Guacamole is the fifth of Sue Ann Jaffarian’s Ghost of Granny Apples Mysteries (the second to be published by Berkley Prime Crime), and it’s a quick, fun, thoroughly engaging read. This is the first I’ve read in the series, but I never for a moment felt lost; Jaffarian does a great job filling in new readers with regard to premise, character, and backstory without slowing the pace or detracting from the tale at hand.
The series’ hook is clever; Emma’s ghostly sidekick (the spirit of her great-great-great grandmother, Granny Apples) adds whimsy and humor without slipping into camp, and Jaffarian does a nice job of incorporating said hook into the story. Emma’s a wise and winsome heroine (it’s always a pleasant surprise to encounter a non-dowdy cozy protagonist over the age of 35) and the relationship Emma has with tax attorney and fellow amateur sleuth Phil is pitch-perfect; sweet yet mature, theirs is a true partnership, and one built not only on affection, but respect.
Jaffarian’s prose is intelligent and reads effortlessly; her plot is fabulously soapy and complex; the mystery at the heart of Ghost in the Guacamole is twisty, turny, and thoughtfully constructed; and Emma’s investigation is refreshingly thorough and logically undertaken. To top it all off, the book has a wonderfully strong sense of place. Ghost in the Guacamole is very of Los Angeles – it couldn’t take place anywhere else. As such, it offers readers an insider’s tour of the city – a rare treat for those of us who only know the LA of movies and television.
Reviewed by Kat
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews