Death at the Drive-In Angie Fox

I do NOT remember that many people knowing that Verity talks to ghosts but, we are already suspending disbelief in this story, so why not here as well? Even more startling, Verity actually works with Virginia (her current AND ex fiances mother, read the rest of the books in the series, it's worth it)

Frankie is really excited to show off his new still to his girlfriend Molly but she's been possessed. And this ghost is a young woman who was killed in 1956. 

Kitty Cunningham disappeared and was assumed to have run away with her boyfriend. But her boyfriend was the son of the local mob boss and a hit had been put on her so no on really knows. It's going to be a race against time to figure out what happened to her since her possessing Molly means that she can drain Molly's power, and Frankie's as well. And if they are drained, they will cease to exist. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 19, 2024

Follows Dread and Buried

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Dread and Buried by Angie Fox

Ugh! A whole weekend with Alec Duranja? Not on Verity's top ten list of things she wants to do with her life. But her boyfriend Ellis and her sister Melody just want everyone to get along. I mean, it's a fabulous weekend on an island. What could go wrong?

Ghost pirates. Ghost pirates could contribute to things going wrong. And a murder mystery weekend that gets all too real. Especially when Verity and Alec, who most decidedly does not believe that Verity can see ghosts, have to work together. But the ghosts are out and Verity doesn't want to join them in the afterlife. 

An okay story but there was too much Alec and Verity in this book. Reading about so much fighting just got tiring after a while.

Three stars

This book comes out April 18, 2023

Follows Give Up the Ghost

Followed by Death at the Drive-In

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Give Up the Ghost by Angie Fox

Verity Long has had problems with her boyfriend's mother since before the series started. Virginia Wydell destroyed Verity's family mansion taking all of the family heirlooms. And she has definitely tried to come between her son, Ellis, and Verity. But she's just called Ellis and needs help. 

See, Virginia has just discovered her best friend, Twyla Sue, dead on the floor of her beauty salon. The book her mother Erma Sue left behind contained a lot of gossip. Actually, it was a lot of blackmail material that she used to rule Sugarland. The book turned up in the recently opened time capsule and Twyla Sue spirited it away before anyone could read it. Now Twyla's dead and pages from the book are turning up. And all of them are revealing secrets Virginia would rather keep hidden. She begs Verity to take the case. Verity does, but only to help Ellis. And it turns out Erma Sue, once grounded, has figured out how to move around. This could have major implications for Verity and Frankie.

The mystery was really loose on this one but there was major character development, especially for Virginia. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 31, 2022

Follows The Haunted Homecoming

Followed by Dread and Buried

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Haunted Homecoming by Angie Fox

It's fall which means Homecoming in Sugarland, Tennessee. Verity Long is ecstatic because her peripatetic mother is coming to visit. She doesn't understand why her mother feels the need to travel all over the country when she could be living in the best place on earth. Her mother is especially excited to see a friend of hers she hasn't seen since high school, Ashley. Everyone else is excited because a big donation means a new scoreboard and the placement means that the school's time capsule is going to be dug up. Unfortunately, the capsule holds more than just good memories. There is a body in the capsule and it's wearing the same dress that Ashley was last seen in. Verity's mom begs her to figure out what happened to her friend.

Once again, Verity is running around talking to ghosts. And also meddling in their business. Well, Frankie and Molly business anyway. It seems Frankie is getting some cold feet about spending "Forever After" with Molly because... well, they're ghosts. And forever after is a darn long time for them.

I think you definitely will have want to have read other books in the series. It may not be absolutely necessary but it adds layers to the story.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 17th, 2021

Follows Southern Bred and Dead

Followed by Give Up the Ghost

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Southern Bred and Dead by Angie Fox

Verity and Ellis have hit a rough patch. Their romance has been pretty idyllic so far (his mother and the fact that Verity was engaged to his younger brother notwithstanding) so how they handle thsi figh will set the tenor of the rest of their relationship. Big doings.
The central mystery though is why Josie, a good friend of Verity's grandmother, died. It is the annual fundraiser for one of the local churches and Josie has fallen from the steeple. But did she really just fall?
We also get to learn more about Frankie's relationship with his brother and exactly why Frankie died.
This was overall a very nice addition to the series. I hate the "amateur detective does stupid things and almost dies" trope and Verity is very much skirting the line of intelligence that she has generally shown in earlier books in the series. I'm hoping that doesn't continue in future books since it mostly seems like a plot device specifically in this book.

Four stars
This book came out August 28th
Follows The Ghost of Christmas Past

Followed by The Haunted Homecoming 
ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books
Opinions are my own

The Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox

I should have figured out that this was a riff of the Christmas Carol from the name, especially since it's a series about a woman who sees ghosts so why wouldn't she see one on Christmas Eve? Especially when her boyfriend's mother has been particularly horrible and Ellis doesn't immediately side with Verity.
I thought the idea was nice but the execution was a little heavy handed and the connection to the woman who brought Lucy into Verity's life was shaky.

Three stars
Follows The Mint Julep Murders
Followed by Southern Bred and Dead
This novella comes out November 29th
ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Mint Julep Murders by Angie Fox

An old asylum doesn't seem like it should be a place that Verity would want to visit. I mean, it is going to be rife with ghosts. But that's where Scalieri is being held, the ghost who has the answer to who killed Frankie. But he's not alone. Of course, there are the ghostly guards keeping him in, but there are also inmates of the asylum who never left. One of who is named Crazy Charlie. Also included are the director of the asylum and one of his dedicated nurses. They are disturbed because the corporeal owner of the asylum is turning it into a haunted house/paintball arena. They just want to live their afterlives in peace.

In addition to all of the ghostly players, there are two people who have paid to sleep in the haunted asylum as well as the owner, Barbara, Verity, and Ellis. A sudden storm traps them all on the island and then something else traps them in the asylum. And someone ends up dead.

A very nice addition to the series and I am really excited to see what Frankie does with the information that's been given to him.

Four stars
This book came out April 25th
Followed by The Ghost of Christmas Past
ARC provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Pecan Pies and Dead Guys by Angie Fox

Inspector DeClercq is still after Frank but he makes a deal, if Verity and Frank can help him solve the mystery that's stumped him for decades, he'll get Frank a posthumous pardon. The two will have to accompany him to a local mansion where, during the course of a three-night revelry, a judge was killed. DeClercq has made the partygoers relive those nights every year since he died (or they all died? I'm not remembering if that was explained, but it didn't matter while reading). He's narrowed down the options to five people. The hosts, a couple who are their best friends, and the lover of the female best friend.
In the present day, a young woman is found dead near the pecan orchard and Ellis calls Verity in for help, even as his workmates mock him. But Verity can't find the girl's ghost.
There were some things that were glossed over in this book but I enjoyed it too much to care overly much. A nice addition to the Southern Ghost Hunter series.

Four stars
This book came out September 18
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Murder on the Sugarland Express by Angie Fox

The book opens with Verity Long celebrating the opening of her boyfriend Ellis' restaurant. Too bad the picture the local paper uses is one of her... in his brother's (her ex) arms. They decide to take a break on the recently re-started Sugarland Express. Frankie (the mobster ghost that Verity connects with) decides that he wants to go along and brings his sweetheart with them. Too bad the ghosts of the people who died on the original Sugarland Express are still on board and at least one is warning Verity that murder is going to happen again.
I liked this book for the way it moved Verity's relationships forward; with Ellis, his brother Beau, and their mother Virginia. The story itself... parts seemed to try to capitalize on <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> (murder on a train, woman in a kimono) but don't connect and this was one of those books with not a lot going on in the first 3/4 of the book and then a dump of info at the end.

Three stars
This book came out November 25
Follows Sweet Tea and Spirits
ARC provided by NetGalley

Sweet Tea and Spirits by Angie Fox

Verity Long and her skunk are back along with her ghostly friend, Frank. She's been hired by the newest president of the local heritage society; the one who beat out her boyfriend's mother (who hates, HATES Verity.) Too bad Julia is dead. But Verity is concerned that Julia appears to have been moved. Was it something on the physical plain or a malevolent ghost? Julia had hired Verity because somebody in the heritage house keeps moving the mannequins into... inappropriate positions.
But who would have wanted Julia dead? Her husband whose previous two wives both died? Or someone else from her past? And why would the ghost of a former Widows and Orphans house be moving items around the house?
Not a lot of plot but I don't think regular readers will be too upset.

Three stars
This book came out April 25
Follows Deader Homes and Gardens
Followed by

Deader Homes and Gardens by Angie Fox

Verity Long wasn't sure if she would ever get hired as a ghost hunter but the day has finally come, Lee Treadwell has asked for her house in ridding his family home of ghosts. The ghosts have been around long enough for even Frankie to remember having seen them. It seems Lee's grandfather was a famous Egyptologist and nearly his entire family died within a week, supposedly the work of a curse. First he died, then his daughter, his wife, and then his brother-in-law. The only person who seemed to have escaped the curse was the family's nanny. She drew protective signs on the house but then was horrendously injured by a fire. It is seemingly her life force that is haunting the house but there is also a little girl who seems to be running some pranks on Lee. But someone in that house seems adamant that everyone should be kept out. And when another person seemingly dies from the curse, it's up to Verity to finally put an end to the cycle.
A nice addition to the Verity Long series. LOVE that there are no love triangles cluttering up this contemporary cozy mystery series.

Four stars
This book comes out October 11
Follows The Haunted Heist
Followed by Sweet Tea and Spirits

The Haunted Heist by Angie Fox

Verity and Frankie are caught up in a new mystery. When the book opens, Verity is still reeling from the effects of her ex-nearly-mother-in-law who has blackballed her with everyone in town. Verity has had to sell off the furnishings from her family home just to keep it. When her best friend LauraLee brings by her banker uncle so that Verity can bump up the bank's website. Too bad Verity's first visit with Uncle Reggie ends with him being murdered in the bank's vault. With a signature mark that indicates that it may have been done by someone who is no longer living.
It's up to Verity along with Frankie and Ellis to solve if this murder was done by someone on the earthly plane or the ghostly plane.

Three and a half stars
This book came out in March
Followed by Deader Homes and Gardens

The Skeleton in the Closet by Angie Fox

I didn't read the first book in the series and do feel like I missed out on some of the story. Such as why there's an Ellis Wyatt in the first book by an Ellis Wydell in the second. But it was a fast read and just fun.
Verity Long is back again. Her ghostly companion Frankie is still grounded to her house (or his urn? Because he can travel with her?) She's trying to help her sister, Melody, when Melody's rather irritating volunteer is found dead, by the sisters, in the reading room of the library. Why was she calling people late at night? What did she find that would change the course of the town's history? And why is Frankie so reluctant to get involved?
I'll be interested in reading the next one. Especially to see how Verity and her new love interest/ex-fiance's brother pans out.