Title: Southern Spirits
Author: Angie Fox
Series: Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries #1
Publisher: Moose Island Books
Release Date: January 18, 2015
Pages: 257
Book Source: eBook
“When out of work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she’s saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick—she gains the ability see spirits. It leads to an offer she can’t refuse from the town’s bad boy, the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with.
Ellis Wydell is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland Tennessee’s finest former citizens. Only some of them are growing restless—and destructive. He hires Verity to put an end to the disturbances. But soon, Verity learns there’s more to the mysterious estate than floating specters, secret passageways, and hidden rooms.
There’s a modern day mystery afoot, one that hinges on a decades-old murder. Verity isn’t above questioning the living, or the dead. But can she discover the truth before the killer finds her?” Amazon
My Review:
What a fun start to the Southern Ghost Hunter Mystery series. I’ve been reading a lot of witch cozies, so it was nice to switch it up a bit, and this was just what I needed. When I read that the main character’s name was Verity, I was excited, because another series that I love, The InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, also has this as one of the main character’s names.
Angie Fox does a wonderful job making a small Southern town come alive. Since it’s often true that everyone knows everyone else’s business in a town like this, I completely sympathized with Verity having to go through all her problems. Even though this book was published four years ago, it’s very on topic with the #MeToo Movement.
The characters are very well fleshed out for a first book in a series, and I’m excited to get to know them even more. Fox must have done a lot of research to have the 1920’s gangster, Frankie, feel so authentic. I loved reading the dialect of that era.
And having a sister that works in a library, came in very handy in this book, and I’m sure will continue to do so in future books. I absolutely love that the pet in this book is, Lucy, a skunk. It’s very original since so many cozies have cats or dogs.
As always, I have to mention the romance in the cozy. This one was great, since it didn’t annoy me with a lot of should I get together with him or not. Verity was mainly focused on solving the mystery, and not on getting lucky.
Speaking of the mystery, it was done very well. I didn’t solve it until very close to the end. So for me, that’s always an added bonus to the book. Looking forward to the next book in this series, The Skeleton in the Closet.