Cute & Cosy murder mystery tale that will cheer you up on a rainy day.

Meet Verity and her cute Skunk, Lucy, who live in her inherited grandmothers house…. Along with a gangster ghost called Frankie…
What could go wrong?

When local hairdresser gets murdered with her own scissors in her shop, Verity is on the hunt for the murderer with Frankie roped in to help her with the spectral side.

Easy read but not for me. I think theres a lot of this genre being written and it’s just didn’t grab me they way others do. Not an awful story though, so if you’re looking for something to switch off to this is great for that.

This was my first Angie Fox read and it was my first cozy mystery. It was hands down, one of the best books I read in 2022. I ended up going back and buying the first ten books to read. I laughed pretty hard and just thoroughly enjoyed this read. It is the reason I’ve fallen in love with cozy mysteries. I can’t wait for the series to be continued!

I love a cozy mystery, especially if there’s witches involved! This book is a quick and fun read. I think it’s a great start to a series that I will definitely ready from again.

This is book 11 in the Southern Ghost Hunter series.  Verity and most of her friends and family are at the opening of the time capsule.  When several secrets are revealed and a murder takes place, Verity, her pet skunk Lucy and ghost sidekick Frankie are on the case.  This book  can be read as a stand alone but I'd recommend reading several earlier books to help understand Frankie's story. A cute read for lovers of ghosts.

It's the first book I've read from this author. I'm a sucker for pretty book covers, and this one caught my eye. I'm glad I chose this book, Girl; it's a well-written, fun mystery story that keeps you engaged from start to finish. I learned that this book is part of a series but okay to read as a stand-alone. I'll make sure to read the entire series, and I can't wait for more books from this brilliant author. 


Thank you, Netgalley, publisher, for the ARC.

Verity without Frankie?  Say it can’t be true!  That would be like Tom without Jerry, Scooby without Shaggy!  The eleventh book in the Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries, Give Up The Ghost sees Verity and Frankie hot on the trail of the ghost of blackmailing hairdresser Erma Sue Bryce, Verity in the pursuit of solving another murder and Frankie because the ghost in question holds the key to his deepest desire – his freedom.  Erma is definitely a believer in taking secrets to the grave but only so that she can use them
 
With booby trapped, haunted houses, homicidal ghosts, a phantom racehorse, not forgetting goats and donkeys.  Throw in a startling character transformation that I still can’t believe as I’m sure normal service will be resumed soon when it comes to this particular character, this book was a rollicking romp from start to finish and, for me, was the best book in this series to date.

I swear even after 11 books I still have not been bored with Verity and Frankie’s shenanigans. They still crack me up and even though I was a little worried about how this book would end, I still throughly enjoyed it. I can not wait for the next book to come out.

*** 3.5 ⭐️ ***

A cute little witchy investigative adventure. Even though this was book 11 of the series, it serves well as a standalone if you’re not familiar with the history of Verity Long and her penchant for assisting her boyfriend with legal matters. The character development wasn’t in depth, but I didn’t feel that it needed to be for the story to progress. The crime was solved well before the end of the book, which was a nice change of pace from other mystery tales, and didn’t feel rushed at all. I would read more from this series, if only to figure out how Verity became who she is and what happened to her family.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I have read almost all the previous books in this series and am a great fan so it was a treat reading this one just before Halloween. 
Frankie is my favourite character and I enjoyed the high jinks. It was also good to see Virginia get her comeuppance (finally). The ending was in the storage facility was unexpected but thrilling!

Give up the ghost follow on from the previous book. The haunted homecoming. The whole town of 
Sugarland is astonished when the contents of the time capsule include an infamous blackmail book.
Its well known that women talk in the hairdressers chair. The late Erma Sue who owned the salon
Two Sues House Of Beauty. When Erma Sue died the local towns people thought her reign of terror had ended. When Twyla Sue who is Erma's daughter is found dead things really kick up. Who wants her dead whats in the book? Even worse Ellis and Verity find his mum standing over the body.
Give Up The Ghost is a fun read , you have the antics of Frankie to keep you entertained. Lucy the skunk and her cuteness. A ghost booby trapped house. Secrets being unleashed. As well as ghost that is just as much a nasty person in her after life as she was in life. Will Frankie ever get free? 
Pick up a copy and settle down for an entertaining read. This series just gets better and better.
Highly recommended for all fans of cozy mysteries.

In Give Up the Ghost, a time capsule is dug up, and in it is a blackmailer's book of secrets, and her daughter claims it.  And you know that means it's the beginning of problems!

Verity and Frankie have their work cut out for them investigating a murder, a blackmailer and a member of Verity's boyfriend's family being implicated in the murder!

This is a cosy mystery fantasy series which I've been enjoying for a while.  It's an entertaining and light read series, with some of the books being scarier than others!

Give Up the Ghost was published on 31st May 2022 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

Angie Fox has a Facebook page and a reader group.

I've previously read and reviewed the below books in the series:

Southern Spirits, A Ghostly Gift and The Skeleton in the Closet - book 1, 1.5 and 2

Pecan Pies and Dead Guys - book 7 

The Mint Julep Murders - book 8

The Ghost of Christmas Past - book 8.5

Southern Bred and Dead - book 9

The Haunted Homecoming - book 10

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Moose Island Books and Author Collective 20  (the publishers) for this book.

I enjoyed this cozy ghost hunter mystery. I hadn’t read any of the previous books, while it would have probably provided a richer experience, I was able to follow along without feeling so was missing ‘something’ 
If cozy mysteries are your thing then you will love this story.

I hated to end this book.  This series is so fun and I always look forward to reading this series.  This is book 11 in the Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries. Verity Long and Frankie are on another adventure and this time Lucy the skunk has a love interest! When a burn book turns up with secrets that should have been left buried it could lead to a deadly situation.  Twyla Sue claims her mother's burn book and starts using it for no good, it's no surprise she ends up dead but the question is who did it? Remember the dead can be just as deadly to the living so will Verity be able to figure out who did it without ending up permanently in the ghost plain?

You can pick up this book and not be lost but, it will make you want to know how Verity and Frankie's relationship came to be.  This book is fun and of course a cozy mastery.  So before you get to the end of the book let me know who you think did it.  That is always the fun of these books trying to figure out who did it.

Even though I enjoy this cozy paranormal series, this book just didn't interest me. I found the plot line to be stale, and while I liked the eccentricity at first, it wears a bit thin in this 11th book of the series.

Another delightful adventure the author of Verity Long et al entertains us.
Verity and her boyfriend Sheriff Ellis are up for the next case. And this time his mother is involved. The reigning smalltownqueen who made Verity's life difficult till today is now in a bind herself and needs help.
A muder mystery you don't want to miss.

A vicious Burn book, a murdered hairdresser, and a town roiling as past secrets come out.  I was jazzed to pick up the latest ghostly murder mystery with the loveable amateur detecting team of Verity and ghost gangster Frankie.

The books are standalone murder and ghost mysteries, but there is Verity’s ongoing story and build of relationships particularly her side plot romance interest with sheriff’s deputy, Ellis Wydell, the brother of her ex-fiancé and son of the woman who has most made Verity’s life miserable. So, reading in order gives the background ongoing story.

In this latest, Give Up the Ghost, the daughter of a former gossip queen and blackmailer gets back her mother’s burn book that held all the secrets the hairdresser learned about the people in town, but then is murdered and the book is missing.  Unfortunately for Ellis who is a sheriff’s deputy, he arrives on the scene to find his mother near the body and she has blood on her.  He’s taken off the case, ordered to handle a stakeout outside of town, and can’t be there when his mother is deserted by the rest of the family and her so-called friends when pages from the burn book show up to tattle on her past. 

Virginia Wydell has made Verity’s life a nightmare since she walked away from her wedding with Beau and started dating Beau’s brother, Ellis.  Ellis knows what he’s asking when he calls on Verity to use her connection to the ghost world to get at the truth and help his mother. And, Verity’s heart is big enough to take care of the woman for Ellis’ sake.

But one more startling bit ups the ante for Verity and Frankie.  A ghost they go to interview knows how to free Frankie from Verity, accidentally grounding his spirit to her family land. They have slowly become a partnership and they often fret about being stuck with each other, but when the possibility of freedom is offered?  Neither are as excited as they thought they’d be.

Give Up the Ghost was a wonderful blend of ghost adventure, small town antics, murder mystery, and some character plotting. Virginia Wydell has been the bullying snobbish woman through the whole series so it was both gratifying and a bit of a shock to see her get her just desserts in this one.  I didn’t figure out the murder mystery even though the suspect list wasn’t very long, but I also wasn’t surprised when the truth came out, either.  The murder was backburnered for much of the book and I was more interested in what was going on with Virginia and Frankie’s storylines.

My biggest relief was discovering this was not the final book and there will be more ghostly mysteries to solve. Granted, it will be interesting to see what the reveals do to the rest of the series, but I am all in to find out. The Southern Ghost Hunter series falls in the paranormal cozy category, but it has some good excitement and even some creepy moments. I whole-heartedly recommend these to the cozy crowd, but even some of the urban fantasy lovers out there who like a good ghost story.

A fun easy to read ghost mystery. I have read some of the previous stories involving Verity and whilst not necessary it did help knowing some of the background.
In this book Verity, her sidekick ghost, Frankie and her pet skunk are up their necks in the issues caused when a time capsule is opened in Sugarland, Tennessee.

There is plenty of humour and antics that keep this story moving swiftly along. All in all a fabulous cozy mystery book.

Ok, so I’ve not actually heard if this author before, however, the cover really caught my eye. I love anything Ghostly/Spooky, and this drew me in when I saw the writing style was totally different to what I’ve read before. 
This is written in a very matter-of-fact way, it’s almost like you could be having this  conversation with your best friend. Brilliant! 
It’s definitely not what I usually get from a ghost story, but I really did enjoy this. It’s a lot more easy going, so easy to follow, funny, cozy-mystery kind of story and very engaging.
I’ll definitely be going back and seeing what other books there are for me to read. Truly, a lovely, perfect. Summer read.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.

pet, skunk, situational-humor, ghost-hunting, ghosts, cozy-mystery, small-town, gossip, law-enforcement, family, family-dynamics, friendship, gangsters, verbal-humor, paranormal, series, extortion, entitled-attitude, bullies*****

Another great read in this series and a much-needed getaway from reality with lots of laughs!
Even if you've never met Verity, Frankie the gangster ghost, local law Ellis and his horrid mother, you've still got to enjoy this! Ellis's mother calls him to a murder scene and looks guilty as sin. That starts a sequence of events originally caused by a blackmailing hairdresser, continued by her daughter who is the murder victim now. Lots of fallout on all this! Meanwhile back at Verity's home, Frankie has brought home a ghostly racehorse (and other farm animals) because he is bored. Let the madness begin!
Not an unbiased review because I absolutely love the real star of this series--Lucille Desiree Long AKA Lucy, Verity's pet skunk!
I'm not sure about stand-alone quality since I am addicted to this series, but I think that it should do.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Moose Island Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Now I just have to wait to get the audio!