REVIEW: SOUTHERN SPIRITS, The Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries, Book 1, by Angie Fox.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars by Iris Chacon.

(An electronic copy was provided in exchange for an honest, objective review.)

Quirky, original, surprising, and delightful.

In this charming, lighthearted tale, Verity Long travels from Chicaco with her pet skunk, Lucy, to try to save her late grandma’s beloved old house in the declining small Southern town of Sugarland. Verity sells everything from the house except a sleeping bag, a lantern, and the dented urn on the mantel. Still, she must come up with $20,000 more by tomorrow morning or the house goes on the auction block

Enter Verity’s unexpected ally, and former ashy resident of the dented urn: “Frankie the German,” who is the ghost of a Roaring-Twenties-style mafioso. Frankie knows of a deceased criminal associate’s buried treasure on the property of a crotchety old widow up the road. The property is haunted, but the ghostly Frankie has no problem with that. He’ll make it possible for Verity to see and talk with the spirit realm. Of course, the property owner’s shotgun and itchy trigger finger could be a problem for Verity, who doesn’t want to become a ghost. Add to that the possibility of arrest for trespassing by a deputy sheriff who is “drop dead gorgeous,” but no fan of Verity’s since she jilted his brother at the altar.

Author Angie Fox lets Verity narrate her own story in the first person, and Verity’s Southern charm and wit carry the reader gently and happily through all her natural and supernatural encounters. The book is an easy, satisfying read, with no offensive material.