The Haunted Heist

I adore cozy mysteries, love gripping suspense and totally addicted to anything supernatural but throw in a little sweet romance and I'm totally smitten! Sadly, it's often difficult to find all four elements in one book but fortunately, I've found an author that brilliantly combines them all into one exceptional story. Angie Fox has delighted her readers yet again with The Haunted Heist, the third standalone release in the Southern Ghost Hunters Mysteries Series and I totally loved it! This story is imaginative, unique, exciting, cute, sweet, heartwarming, well crafted and well edited with a beautiful, eye-catching cover. The narrative is exceptionally well written in the first person from the perspective of the heroine Verity Long. The dialogue is smart, well executed and flows effortlessly. I love all the components of this story but it's the characters that completely steal the show. They are fascinating, captivating, realistic, engaging, relatable and humorous. Fox skillfully combines these elements to craft a deliciously cute and delightfully entertaining whodunit filled to the brim with danger, drama, action, mystery, suspense, humor, ghosts and even a little heartbreaking angst and heartwarming romance. Life has been nothing but difficult during the last several months for beautiful aspiring graphic designer Verity Long. She's lost absolutely everything after breaking off her engagement with her cheating, now ex-fiance Beau Wydell, youngest and favored son of wealthy, influential town aristocrat Virginia Wydell. Her graphic design services had been in demand until her almost mother-in-law used her influence to ruin her and her business. Now it seems no one in Sugarland other than her best friend Lauralee, and her almost, still-figuring-it-out, sort-of boyfriend, Ellis Wydell wants to have anything to do with her. And yes, Ellis and Beau are related - they're brothers! Huh? Oh yes, brothers! And let's not forget her sweet little pet skunk Lucy and her very dead, black and white gangster ghost housemate, Frankie. Yup, I said ghost who has become trapped on Verity's property when she unknowingly dumped the ashes from his urn onto the roots of her rose bush. Oh my! After all, she had no idea what they were and what would happen. And now, she's stuck with a not so nice criminal from the flapper era, no money, no job and no prospects - until her bestie, Lauralee rides to the rescue with a potential job offer from her Uncle Reggie Thompson, the new president of the First Sugarland Bank. Maybe things are finally looking up for Verity. Or not! Just when it looks like she may have the job in the bag, Reggie Thompson is called away and murdered in the vault right in the middle of his meeting with Verity! Oh no! Oh yes! And Verity may be a suspect since this is the second murder scene at which she has been present in the same number of months. Last time, her involvement almost cost her life and would have, had it not been for help from her ghost pal, Frankie and handsome law enforcement officer, Ellis Wydell. Nope, she's not getting involved - not again! But it is her best and only friend's uncle and naturally, she'd do anything for sweet Lauralee. But Verity's luck maymay finally have run out this time when a killer sets their deadly sights on her - again. Oh goodness! Will Verity be able to discover the identity of the murderer before it's too late? We'll see!

Verity Long is at it again in Angie Fox's third installment of the Southern Ghost Hunter series. As with her other books, Fox has a great way of painting a picture and immersing her readers into Verity's world. For some reason the way that she cuddles her skunk, Lucy, makes me want to get my own skunk even though I know that would be ridiculous, and I would love to have my own Frankie, even if he is annoying at best. In this latest installment, the story begins with Verity meeting with her best friend Lauralee and Lauralee's Uncle Reggie, who has taken over Sugarland Bank. He wants to do advertising for the bank, and Verity offers up her graphic design services to him. She makes an appointment to meet Reggie at the bank. While Verity is there, Reggie is murdered in the vault, leading her on the hunt for his killer, which may or may not be a violent and very dead hitman from the 1920s. The story is full of action, and we get to learn a little bit more about Frankie when Ellis and Verity unearth a speakeasy (with Frankie’s help) directly beneath the Southern Spirits kitchen. We get to meet Frankie’s gangster friends in what is a very humorous interaction between Frankie, Verity and Ellis that ends with a ghostly car chase. We also get to meet Frankie’s best friend Suds, who has been trying to break into the bank’s vault since the 1920s via an underground tunnel. This tunnel, Suds and Frankie may help Verity get out of the inevitable bind she always seems to finds herself in. I pride myself on being a good detective when reading mystery series, and in every one of her books in I have been surprised with who ends up being the killer in the end, Haunted Heist being no different. It is a very entertaining and well-written story, with a little romance thrown in. *I was provided ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Angie, for another fun romp with the gang. I am so happy to have found these, and all of your books. Can't wait to see what comes next!

Another fun read in the Southern Ghost series from Angie Fox. I swear if Verity didn’t have bad luck she probably wouldn’t have any luck. Verity does manage to improve what goes from a fantastic situation to a horrible situation and solve the crime. You are drawn in such that you are excited when success seems possible and saddened when things don’t go as planned but then again who doesn’t want to cheer for someone that has an adorable pet skunk named Lucy. Frankie the ghost moves a bit closer to having his dreams realized. Ellis pulls a surprise move in their romance. The book was an easy read and very enjoyable. While it isn’t necessary to read the other books in the series before you read this one it certainly helps to understand some of the interactions between the different characters. I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review

*I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review only* Things have taken a turn for the worst for the characters in this installment! Poor Frankie has found out he can be ungrounded from Verity's ancestral home so long as he can find the thing he loves the most, and bury it with his urn near his ashes! However finding out what Frankie loved the most proves to be a troublesome task! That Gangsters feelings are locked down tighter than fort knox! Poor Verity has figured out she wants to give Ellis a chance only to be saddled with Mrs. Wydell who is bound determined to make Verity's life awful while keeping her away from all of her sons! Finally catching a break Verity gets an offer for a job with the local bank doing actual graphic work! Only that seems not to have meant to be, because after having gotten the offer the Bank Manager Reggie is killed in the Vault..... What you say, that sound so unfair! I thought so to. Frankie who went along to case the bank for old time sake swears that Reggie was killed by South Town Gang's hit man Handsom Henry, who has been dead for awhile! So of course Verity can't let the cops hunt for a possibly dead killer all by themselves. However since Frankie is an opportunistic ghost Verity must promise Frankie that she will help him find his favorite gun before he'll help solve the murder. Frankie is pretty sure this gun is what he loves most, and will set him free! I really enjoyed this one. I liked that it was a little more serious than the first two. While Frankie is kind of depressed through a large portion of the book that doesn't mean it still doesn't have the humor, and spunk of the last books! It does; it was cute, funny, and has an interesting plot. Verity and Frankie get themselves into heaps of trouble in this book. They end up needing help from many old friends and a few new friends to find out who the murder is. I'd recommend this one to anyone one who has read the past books, and anyone who enjoys mysteries with a hint of paranormal. Its a cute, fun series though, so you should start at the beginning!

What can I say about The Haunted Heist, that has not been said already? Is this book amazing? Yes! Does it make you want to keep reading without putting it down? Yes! Does it make you laugh out loud, cry, cringe and feel everything that is happening in the book? YES! In short this book is everything that it was expected to be, from all of the other books written by Angie Fox. The best part about Angie Fox's writing...... when you read you are not just reading the words written on the page, you are living and experiencing everything that is happening! You will experience the anticipation of Verity actually going to promote her business at the bank, the heartbreak as she finds that her best friends uncle is found dead in the vault, the ever growing love between Verity and Ellis, and the complete devotion that Verity feels for everyone around her. Angie Fox is one of those great writers that always has each page filled with adventure, romance and comedy. There is never a dull moment in this book or any of her other books. I am happily awaiting the next book to see where everything goes with her relationship with Ellis, if the not-so quite ex- monster, I mean, mother in law, will Franky finally be free to roam once again, and the undoubtedly crazy adventure that she will stumble upon!

This one flies by! Angie Fox has released The Haunted Heist, the third book in her Southern Ghost Hunter series. In this new installment, Verity looks forward to a job with the local bank. Life for her will soon be more than a breakfast bar for lunch and borrowing her sister’s clothes when she has an important meeting. What could possibly stand in her way? But when another murder takes place in Sugarland, and Verity is in the building when it happens, and it takes away her first real job, lots of things begin standing in her way of getting a normal life. One of the obstacles is the fact that the main suspect in the murder is a ghost. Verity will again need to borrow Frankie’s power to enter the plane of ghosts and investigate. She owes it to the living—and the dead—to solve this crime. Handsome officer Ellis Wydell provides assistance and companionship. Ms. Fox has packed this volume with humor, a touch of romance, enough suspense to keep the story flying, and plenty of ghostly appearances and cold spots. She also deftly develops her characters into people we love and want to follow right into book four. We hope it will be a short wait.

Verity Long is a graphic artist living in her home town of Sugarland Georgia when she loses everything thanks to a vindictive almost mother-in-law. She’s living in the home her grandmother left her and in the first book of the series she inadvertently “grounded” the ghost of a long dead gangster to her grandmother’s prize rose bush. The ghost, a gangster who seems to have been shot based on the bullet hole in his ghostly forehead, becomes her sidekick and is able to share his energy with Verity allowing her to see and interact with other ghosts. Frankie the German as he was known in life, was a tough guy gangster from the 30’s who knew all of the other bad guys in town and shows Verity a world she wouldn’t have ever seen without him. Oh, and her other crime fighting sidekick is the delicious Sherriff Ellis Wydell, brother to her slimy ex-fiancé Beau. He’s yummy, and nice but tough, and likes Verity as much as she likes him. In this third book in the series Verity has an opportunity to get a real job updating the graphics for the local Sugarland Bank, thanks to her best friends Uncle Reggie, the bank manager. She’s at the bank showing her work when Uncle Reggie is murdered in the vault, but no one can figure out how it happened. Verity, thanks to a shot of Frankie’s energy, is able to talk to the other ghosts and they tell her that this death has the signature of the notorious “Handsome Henry” hit man for the South Town Gang. The only problem is that Handsome Henry, along with the rest of the South Town Gang, has been dead for decades! This leads to Verity and the yummy Officer Ellis Wydell chasing around town and with Frankie’s urn in tow they’re able to hunt the killer in modern times and also in ghostly places that only Frankie can show to Verity. This book is a fun who dunnit that has a satisfying ending and sets us up perfectly for the next installment in the series. It stands alone but there are some characters that could be more richly filled out for readers that haven’t read the first and second books and short stories in the series. As a whole this series is lots of fun and adventure I will continue to read these books from one of my favorite authors.

Loved It ! This is the third in the series about Verity can communicate with the dead through the help of her resident ghost gangster Frankie. In this installment Verity is in the center of yet another murder in her small quiet town. It seems to follow her everywhere and people are getting suspicious. Lucky for her she and a local deputy are an item. There are lots of twists and turns in this book. It is a fun and easy read. Great for spring break or the beach. Be sure to grab a copy.

Verity's life starts to look better and then the proverbial hammers fall. Her soon to be boss is murdered and life really gets interesting. Frankie, a ghost, who I really think doesn't want to be saved and able to move around is very helpful. Her love life takes unusual twists because Ellis wants to move ahead but Verity has issues. Lucy is still a cute favorite of mine along with Frankie. I love the book and it has a couple of chuckles for me and the story moves right along. I do not want to spoil by giving a lot of information because it is like going to the movies with a friend and have them spoiling the plot. Ms. Fox has written an very interesting and captivating story!