Who is Susannah's Mother from Ninth Key and what is their importance?

Susannah's mother is a broadcast news reporter. She and Susannah's father are divorced, and her mother has recently remarried and moved her daughter from New York to California. Susannah's mother's answer to her daughter's ability to interact with ghosts leads her to send her daughter to a therapist. Susannah keeps her abilities as a mediator a secret from her mother as best she can.