A Frightenly Good Murder Mystery 👻

I love Angie Fox’s writing style. I find her books very easy to read and I like the way she weaves all the elements of her stories together. The mystery, the prejudice Verity’s ghost whispering brings out, the strained relationship between Verity and the rest of the townsfolk of Sugarland who are loyal to the Wydell family and, of course, the ghosts and their issues.

Tavia Gilberts is a wonderful voice actor.
Tavia’s performance was once again impressive. I like the pace at which she read this story and was blown away by how much energy and emotion her performance contained. She adds all the appropriate inflexions to the sad, funny or tense scenes. Tavia created many voices for all the southern folk in this story which were subtly different, meaning that I wasn’t ever confused as to who was speaking during the various conversations. Plus, each voice she created seemed to suit the characteristics of each one to perfection. Tavia’s narration increased rather than diminished my enjoyment of this story.

There’s a fantastic array of characters in this story.
I loved that the characters, both living and dead, were complex and multifaceted. All having their own stories, agendas and personalities. Some are wonderfully warm and kind-hearted while others are funny and feisty in equal measures. Plus of course, there are a few that I just love to hate. Verity’s pet skunk, Lucy, is adorable 💚 🦨 and Frankie is a fabulously incorrigible character – I loved his emotional journey through this story.

Verity is the epitome of a fantastic heroine for me.
She’s loyal, funny and has a strong sense of moral obligation to help others (dead or living). Ellis Wydell is definitely one of my book-boyfriends and a great partner to have to watch your back. I’ve enjoyed watching their relationship blossom and grow during this series, however, their relationship was really put to the test in this story.

A great mystery to sink my teeth into.
We have a couple of mysteries to solve in this story and I enjoyed the journey Angie took me on. I loved all the twists, turns, revelations and red herrings. My Miss Marple tendencies were satisfied and my little grey cells kept busy. I love it when authors can surprise me and Southern Bred and Dead did on more than a couple of occasions.

OK, for a “cosy” mystery this book has a definite “horror” feel, I mean c’mon haunted church, people!! *shiver* I did find some scenes quite frightening, there are plenty of tense moments and I think I actually held my breath on more than a few occasions – goosebumps scary! Plus, I’d like to add that I usually work out the ‘who dun it’ aspect in cosy books before the big reveal at the end. However, that wasn’t the case here; lots of second-guessing and I loved all the uncertainty!

I really loved Southern Bred and Dead, although some of the scenes were less than cosy.
It has everything that I look for in a 5-star story. Rest assured, dear reader, it’s not all bumps, jumps and scares, there are funny, light-hearted moments too. Plus, some rather moving scenes and even a bit of romance that’ll just melt your heart.

Murder, mystery, humour and a sprinkling of romance what more could a girl want!
I’d recommend Southern Bred and Dead to anyone who enjoys cosy mysteries with a paranormal focus.

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