The Mint Julep Murders by Angie Fox Series: Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries #8
Published by Moose Island Books on April 25th 2019
Genres: Paranormal, Cozy Mystery
Pages: 331
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Publisher
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I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
For Southern girl Verity Long, friendship means sitting down to stories and sweet tea on the front porch. For her gangster ghost housemate, it means dragging Verity out to a remote haunted asylum during a raging thunderstorm to do a favor for a long-dead mob boss.
But Verity is always ready to help out a friend, even one as eternally eccentric as Frankie. And in the case of Mint Julep Manor, the stakes are too high to refuse. The criminally insane mob boss holds a secret to Frankie’s past, one that might set Frankie free. Do the favor—survive the favor—and they might change Frankie’s afterlife for good. Fail, and they might never leave the asylum.
In this latest ghost hunting adventure for Verity and Frankie, they must brave an old haunted insane asylum if they want to get answers that might help Frankie. Not long after their arrival, they are up to their necks in murder and trapped inside with a bunch of insane ghosts and a killer.
The Mint Julep Murders is the eighth installment of the Southern Ghost Hunter mysteries. These fun blend of paranormal and cozy mysteries work well read/listened to in order as the reader gets to see how it all began with Verity and Frankie and Verity’s relationship with cop boyfriend, Ellis. But, that said, they are all standalone mysteries so could be gotten out of order in a pinch.
Most of the time, these get a little bit creepy with a nice ghostly, scary setting, but this one took the cake. A decrepit insane asylum where the traumatic old-style treatments took place and every room more chilling than the last with a bunch of ghosts and odd people was a perfect spooky read. I was more into the description of the setting and the situations for all those poor haunts than the murder mystery.
Verity was her usual Pollyanna naive self that gets on more by luck than anything else which gives her a bravado that had me rolling my eyes along with Frankie and feeling sympathetic to Ellis’ worry that she’s in over her head. The trouble is that she has a tender, giving heart and blithely ignores danger because she thinks she’s Mother Theresa to all those ghosts. She manages to fumble and bumble her way through each case including this one. When she ends up in a tight spot and the death is knocking, she admits that maybe Ellis and Frankie have a point, but then later, she’s back to offended that they ever doubt her. She’s a sweetheart and funny. I admire her for doing as well as she is after all that has happened to change her life and I’m not just referring to all the ghost adventures.
Verity can be a trip at times, but I have a pretty good time with each story in this series and this one was no exception. Frankie was his usual gangster wise-cracking self, reluctantly at her side, and comes through when it counts. Verity poo-poos Ellis’ worry, but she’s actually got it pretty good that she has a man who stalwartly believes in her ghost business and in the ghosts, who isn’t scared off, but only struggles because he cares about her safety. I sure hope she figures out how to compromise instead of the path she’s on insisting he do all the bending.
The murder mystery wasn’t hard for me to figure out even when the twists happened, but I enjoyed trailing along behind Verity as she worked to get to the truth.
All in all, I zipped through this one enjoying it thoroughly. It was the first cozy mystery series I liked and remains a firm favorite that I can gladly recommend to those who enjoy spooky-style cozy mysteries that focus on old historical settings around a small town in Tennessee.
I rec’d this book from Net Galley to read in exchange for an honest review.
About Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
This sounds like so much fun, and it says a lot that it’s the only cozy series you’ve liked! Love the small town setting! Wonderful review!
These are a blast. I’ve got a few I love, but this was the first. I do tend to be drawn to the paranormal cozies.
Love the premise of this one. It sounds like a really fun book - and series!
-Lauren
These are so entertaining. 🙂
You had me at decrepit insane asylum!
Oh yeah, talk about a spooky setting. It’s not horror, but it still had some thrills. 🙂
Ohh, a bit of scary too? That does intrigue me
Just a wee bit scary. I can’t handle the real horror. LOL
I don’t stick with too many cozy mystery series, so I am curious about this one as it is on volume eight and you are still loving it. I will have to add it to my list for the next time I reach for a good cozy.
I’ve got a few I like and I don’t necessarily get into every series an author writes, but I do enjoy this series.
Oh, and the first book is free if you want to give it a go no-risk, Heidi. 🙂
I read and enjoyed the first book and need to get back to it. Glad you are still liking this one eight books in, Sophia Rose!
Yay, glad you liked that first one. The audios are great if you get the chance to go that route, Carole.