The Ghostly Southern Mysteries From Tonya Kappes

Kappes begins the series when protagonist and funeral director Emma Lee Raines has an accident involving an ornamental Santa Claus, leading to a sort of blunt force trauma that has awakened some special powers within her. Namely, the ability to Sixth-Sense style see and interact with ghosts.

Given the nature of her day job, the newfound power will lead to some unearthing, even if Emma tries her damnedest to ignore the powers. Of course it can’t stay that way, and soon a deceased ex-business partner of her grandma’s named Ruthie Sue Payne globs on and begins pursuing Emma, saying she didn’t die by falling down some stairs and rather was pushed… but by whom?

Ruthie cannot move on, and soon the same can be said for Emma, until the mystery is solved.

By the time readers join Emma for round two, she’s grown to accept her powers as a “betweener.” Like a kind of ghost detective, she finds herself once again front and center in a mystery involving the dead.

This time, one deceased individual named “Chicken Teater," repeatedly visits Emma desiring for her to figure out why he died. Like Ruthie, he believes he was murdered.

Emma isn’t alone this time, with love interest and town sheriff, Jack Henry Ross, by her side as she digs through the evidence and… digs up a dead corpse. Kappes dials up the thrills alongside the humor in a venerable second offering in the Ghostly Southern Mysteries series.

Emma Lee Raines, funeral director and ghost detective, returns for another investigation. By now the spirit realm has heard about her powers and she’s becoming a bit of a calling card for those restless spirits seeking sanctuary and a solution to their tragic deaths.

Next up is Cephus Hardy, the so-called town drunk thought to have disappeared while on a bender. He appears to Emma and claims that he was murdered.

Of course, Emma finds the sudden proposition to arrive at a time when her life is beyond control. But who else can help a restless spirit but a “betweener” capable of dredging up secrets?

When Emma Lee Raines has the once-richest woman in the town of Sleepy Hollow, Mamie Sue Preston, showing up at her door, or rather her funeral home, claiming to have been murdered, any thought of being able to relax and get back to a sense of normalcy is thrown out the window.

Preston wants Emma to solve the mystery of her death, and soon things worsen when another murder in town begins offering clues for the ghost detective, one that might just take this single one-off investigation into a dizzying search for a possible serial killer.

You’d think Emma would get to take a break, but the dead don't wait. In A Ghostly Reunion, she is once again at the center of a spirit in search of a solution.

This time, though, you could say it’s personal. Or rather more like a case of “Mean Girls.” Emma’s high school nemesis, Jade Lee Peel, is found dead and soon her spirit is getting right back to creating mischief for our protagonist. Jade starts meddling with Emma’s own relationship with Sheriff Jack Henry Ross and continues with her nefarious trash-talking strategies.

The drama becomes a ticking clock for Emma to solve the murder of her nemesis so that the spirit, and Emma’s life, may find the relief and rest they so dearly need.

After so many mysteries solved, you’d think Emma Lee Raines, her friends, and her family would accept her as a “betweener,” but no. Among those who doubt her abilities is her estranged sister, Charlotte Rae, who hasn’t been in Emma’s life very much after a bit of a falling out.

When she comes back around, things seem somewhat tame, and Emma believes that maybe the sisters will finally get along. Of course, that’s before Emma realizes that Charlotte Rae has appeared because she is, in fact, dead.

The mystery hits too close to home in A Ghostly Mortality, with Emma on the verge of emotional collapse as she begins yet another investigation, this one perhaps the most important yet.

A Ghostly Secret finds Emma at the peak of her powers, running the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home in the town of Sleepy Hollow while doubling as a betweener, a ghost detective seeking to aid in restless spirits finding the truth about their murderous deaths. This time, it’s a young girl named Betsy and her cat, Mr. Whiskers.

The girl hangs around for months, seemingly unaware of her demise. Emma consults a medium named Debbie Dually to dig up more background about Betsy.

Turns out Betsy has been dead for two decades. Shocked, Emma turns to her sheriff boyfriend, Jack Henry Ross, to find a way to reopen a cold case and help young Betsy cross over to the other side.