The Ghost of Mistletoe Mary features private investigator Jeremiah Jones, a 68-year-old former police detective who readers first met in The Ghost in the Guacamole. Jones has a special gift, however, in that he can see and communicate with ghosts, but only three others know this: Emma Whitecastle, the lead character of the full-length "Ghost of Granny Apples" mysteries; her boyfriend, Phil Bowers; and Granny Apples herself, the ghost of an innocent woman who was hanged and now assists her great-great-great-granddaughter solve mysteries involving unresolved deaths (i.e., murdered).
Jones is asked to investigate the disappearance of Mistletoe Mary, a homeless person who was known to be a prostitute, by a friend who runs a mission for homeless veterans. It's been a while since anyone has seen her and another homeless person has been claiming that she's dead and was murdered. When Jones visits the homeless man, known on the streets as Bucket, he realizes something is off and calls Emma Whitecastle to ask if Granny Apples would be willing to help him out. With Granny's help, Jeremiah is able to reach out to the spirit of Mistletoe Mary and confirm she was indeed murdered.
Jaffarian, who usually writes with much humor in spite of the direst of situations her characters find themselves in, has written a more solemn tale that reveals the heartache for the plight of those who find themselves on the street. Yet the story is not preachy and does not bog the reader down with facts or statistics but instead focuses on telling a murder mystery. Through it all there is a message of hope and, as befits a story taking place during the Christmas holidays, the offering of a new beginning for some of the novella's characters.
Rating: 5 Stars
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