This was a great book. I was very excited to get Frankie's pov. The story had just enough creep in it that I was a little afraid of what was going to happen. I just knew there was going to be a jump scare somewhere. Verity had me also worried how she was going to handle everything that was going on and Ellis. I hope everything works out for them. This was a good read and I am glad to have gotten it through NetGalley.

I am becoming a huge fan of the cozy mystery genre due to books like this. You can read this as an escape from the everyday in a weekend. A  really good mystery.

Just like with a lot of mystery series, you can read this out of order. Should you? Maybe. Honestly, my being lost in this outside of the mystery really was on me reading the ninth book in a series first. But, I liked it so much that I feel that I need to go back to the beginning and get all the wonderful plot this world has to offer.

I loved this addition to Angie Fox's Southern Ghost Hunting series. I haven't read all the books in the series yet, but was able to enjoy "Southern Bred and Dead" anyway. Fox does a great job of giving just enough backstory to let the reader understand the current actions and motivations of the characters without bogging down or detracting from the current story.

There are 3 main plot lines in the book: Ellis and Verity's relationship, a mystery surrounding the old church where Verity's grandmother's good friend Jorie tragically dies, and Frankie the German's investigation of his own death, his brother and family matters. There's a lot going on! Fox does a great job of weaving all of these elements into a seamless whole. 

Very enjoyable, and I am really looking forward to the next story in the series. In the meantime, I'll hunt down the earlier books I've missed. Can't wait!

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

I think this series has "jumped to shark" for me. Both the last book and this one just don't have the same flair of the early books. Ghost hunter Verity appears to be a little more of the air head blond and cop boyfriend Wyatt is far to serious. Throw in ghost Frankie coming to terms with his death and who killed him and you get a lot of angst.

This time around we have a mysterious death in the real world that takes place at a haunted church in full view of the elite of Sugarland society. Verity was picking up on some nasty vibes from the time she arrived at the fundraiser for the Three Angels of the Tabernacle Blessed Reform Church of Sugarland. She only wanted a fun day off and was looking forward to spending time with her grandmother's best friend, Jorie. When a body drops from the bell tower, everyone assumes it was an accident, except Verity.

Between solving this latest real life crime, assisting Frankie in tracking down the gangster who killed him to find out why, and dealing with a very unhappy Wyatt, Verity has her hands full. She is determined to help Frankie find his answers so she follows him to a ghostly speakeasy, a haunted movie theater and to a long ago mob safehouse where, finally, Frankie gets his answers. She unlocks a secret that gives a lot of ghosts their final rest and solves the real life death. And, she and Wyatt finally discuss their relationship and why he is uncomfortable with her ghost hunting.
3 1/2-Stars

I absolutley love this series. When I saw that netgalley had it I had to request it even though it was already out, and I knew I would be buying a copy of my own
If you havent read any other books in this series I highly recommend to start at the beginning.. 
Verity lives in this cute little town, with her pet skunk lucy, and her roomate a ghost named Frankie the German.. 
Verity and Frankie have been working towards trying to figure out who killed him. Now that they know who it is, they need to find the person that did it, (another ghost) and figure out why.. Verity is also trying to navigate her relationship to her boyfriend Ellis. In a previous book he confided in Frankie that he is worried about Verity helping ghosts, and he doesn't know if he can handle it.. Verity happened to overhear the conversation, and now we are going to have them finally hash it out face to face. 
Even Beau came through in this book, he decided to follow Verity while on one of her ghost missions for Frankie, It turns out he actually helped with that, which was a surprise to everyone. and he gave Verity some great advise about her and Ellis.. 
Everything about this book was absolutely perfect and I hope we get many more in the future,, 

Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this book, all opinions are all my own,,

Once again Verity's life just isn't easy, with her and boyfriend being at odds over her career of choice, Frankie having her help chase down the ghost who killed him and get some answers, and her grandmother's friend falling from a bell tower window in a church where the ghosts don't behave quite right. Verity is in for a long week.

I raced to read this book as soon as I got it. I've been following this series since the beginning and was particularly keen to see what happened in this book after the previous Christmas short story, where there had been some interesting development in Verity's relationship with the Wydell family. While that was not referenced in any way after all, I do want to note that I very much enjoyed the absence of Virginia Wydell in this book and the positive interactions Verity had with Beau. It was nice to no longer see Verity at loggerheads with these two characters and I think it will help the series continue to grow and develop (as well as be good for her relationship with Ellis). Really enjoyed reading.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Author Collective 20/Moose Island Books for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is part of a series, I believe this is number 9.  I have not read them all , but they do read well as stand alones.  I really enjoy these cozy mysteries.  Not everyone has a pet skunk.  Add in ghosts and a small town and mysteries.  Fun times.  Sometimes, I get frustrated with Verify she's open with most people except for Ellis her boyfriend.  Overall still a good read. 4 stars

Southern Bred and Dead is the ninth book in Angie Fox’s Southern Ghost Hunters series.  The story begins innocently enough as Frankie the German accompanies Verity to a fundraising event at the Three Angels of the Tabernacle Blessed Reform of Sugarland. As Frankie has plugged Verity into the ghostly realm, she is able to see many residents of the church graveyard, all of which seem angry.  In fact, there is a point in which Verity is running for her life and on his special app Ellis receives the message of the danger she is in.

Ellis and Verity have words because of this and she lets him know of the conversation she heard in the prior book.  Can they put all of this beyond them and go back to where they were?

As Verity does her best to help the restless souls find peace, she also works to help find peace for Frankie, his brother Lou, and sister in law Charity.  This quest takes Verity on a number of adventures until she can lead them all to closure.

Will Frankie learn the reasoning behind his murder at the hands of his brother? Will they be able to come to terms and move forward? In a very convoluted story, Verity becomes the conductor to a symphony of differing strands in a story with great historical depth and modern meanings.  This may we’ll be the premier story in this series. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

Jorie Davis, an old friend of her grandmother’s is found dead at the bottom of a church tower mere minutes after she had told Verity that she had an old photograph of her grandmother for her, but did she fall or was she pushed?  And what had happened to the photo?  What happens next is a rollercoaster of a ride through a haunted speakeasy & movie theatre culminating in a showdown in a cemetery that is reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

This is another fantastic addition to the Southern Ghost Hunter series.  The humour is still there but Southern Bred and Dead is a little more solemn than we’ve come to expect from Angie Fox but this in no way lessened my enjoyment of the book.  More of Frankie the German’s past life & death is revealed and there’s trouble in paradise between Verity and Ellis as he struggles with her ‘deliberately putting herself in danger’ as he sees it.  Both elements which just add more depth to the series for me.  We meet more eccentric characters both living and dead – wait until Ellis finds out about his ghostly competition and after hating Beau for the previous 8 books he’s slowly beginning to grow on me.  I love how this series is evolving without losing the any of the humour and quirkiness that drew me to it in the first place.  I can’t wait to read what Verity and Frankie are going to get up to next.

Southern Bred And Dead is the first book in this series I've read and while I did enjoy it, I honestly think it would have benefited from being a touch shorter. I liked the characters - particularly Lucy the Skunk and Frankie. 
Based on this book, I'll definitely go back and read this series from the beginning!

Angie did it again. Mystery, murder, humour, and a skunk named Lucy. It was lovely to meet Frankie's family. Can't wait for the next in the series.

I've just finished reading Angie Fox's Southern Bred and Dead. This is a fair and honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
 This book picks up where the last book left off. Frankie found out the Lou his brother is the one who shot and killed him. Now Frankie wants to know why, so he and Veirty are off to find him. Also at a Fundraiser Jorie a friend of Verity's Grandmother falls out the church window of the bell tower and dies. Verity is convinced it was murder.  What happens is a wild ride that will keep you turning the pages, till you find out how it all ends. I love this series, each book keeps getting better! Mrs. Fox does it again will another winning book in this series!! I would highly recommend this book to everyone, who loves a great supernatural cozy mystery!

Southern Bred and Dead by Angie Fox is the 9th tale in The Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries.  It can be read as a standalone if you are new this engaging paranormal series.  Verity Long lives with her pet skunk, Lucy and her ghostly friend, Frankie “the German” Winkelmann.  One day Verity accidentally dumped Frankie’s ashes out of the urn and onto a rose bush.  That is the day she met her first ghost--Frankie and it has been a wild ride ever since.  I thought Southern Bred and Dead was well-written with developed characters and steady pacing.  Sugarland, Tennessee is a small Southern town full of quirky residents.  We get to meet Maybelle Clemens who is quite a character.  She comes from a family of ministers, so she likes to go out of her way to shock people with her behavior.  I liked all the action in this book.   Verity has her hands full in Southern Bred and Dead.  She must find out who killed Jorie Davis, who was an old friend of her grandmother’s.  Frankie wants to know why his brother, Lou killed him.  To top it all off, Ellis is not happy with Verity’s ghost hunting business and it has caused a rift in their relationship.  The mystery surrounding the death of Jorie was multifaceted.  It was interesting and fun to solve (I love figuring out the guilty party before the reveal).  I liked learning more about Frankie and his family.  We finally learn why Frankie was killed.  I found Southern Bred and Dead to be a more serious book than the others in this series.  There are humorous moments especially with Maybelle, but it lacked that laugh-out-loud humor that is normally present.  That did not hinder my reading enjoyment.  I love visiting Sugarland with its unique residents, cozy small-town feel, plethora of specters, and Southern manners.  Let us not forget the adorable Lucy.  My favorite part of the book was Verity at the speakeasy.  She gets to enjoy some jazz music, meet a new friend, and experience a felonious first courtesy of Frankie.  Southern Bred and Dead is a delight with menacing mobsters, frightening phantoms, a deadly dagger, a bothered beau, a pious pastor, and a sweet skunk.

Love this cozy mystery series.
This instalment is a bit different than the others, with a more complex plot.
An old character is back, giving an unexpected twist.
And some new ones that will surprise you.

After Verity tosses the contents of a vase onto her garden, she is shocked to be told that the contents were ashes and now the ghost attached to those ashes is now grounded to her property - only able to leave when the vase does. Verity is even more shocked, when it is the actual ghost who is the one tell her this..dressed in his pinstriped suit, hat and matching bullet hole blazoned on his forehead. Lending Verity his ghost sight, Verity uses this skill to be a Ghost Hunter, sleuthing for both the living and the dead, while helping to find a way to free Frankie from the property’s bond.

In this book, number nine in the series, Frankie has found out who shot him dead and is about to face his killer. Verity is investigating the death of a family friend, trying to stay out of the grip of the tortured ghosts haunting the church and trying to find time to have a heart to heart with her police officer boyfriend, Ellis. Just an average day in the life of a ghost hunter.

Like all the previous books in the series, this instalment was absolutely fantastic. Fun, quirky and laugh out funny at times. A true cozy mystery written with witty, likeable characters...even those characters who you just love to hate. The relationships are genuine, with depth. The writing is smooth and easy with enough flourish to see everything In glorious colour. This book can be read by itself, as Angie Fox does introduce the characters and their story to date (without disrupting the flow of the book), however do yourself a favour and go and read from book number one. It won’t take you long, trust me. You’ll just inhale each book, I know I did. 

A perfect way to spend a lazy day...but start in the morning because you won’t want to stop reading until its wonderful and satisfying conclusion. Can’t wait for book ten. This book was provided by netgalley in lieu of an honest review. 

Now stop reading this review, and GO GET THIS BOOK!!

Verity and Ellis have hit a rough patch. Their romance has been pretty idyllic so far (his mother and the fact that Verity was engaged to his younger brother notwithstanding) so how they handle thsi figh will set the tenor of the rest of their relationship. Big doings.
The central mystery though is why Josie, a good friend of Verity's grandmother, died. It is the annual fundraiser for one of the local churches and Josie has fallen from the steeple. But did she really just fall?
We also get to learn more about Frankie's relationship with his brother and exactly why Frankie died.
This was overall a very nice addition to the series. I hate the "amateur detective does stupid things and almost dies" trope and Verity is very much skirting the line of intelligence that she has generally shown in earlier books in the series. I'm hoping that doesn't continue in future books since it mostly seems like a plot device specifically in this book.

Four stars
This book came out August 28th
Follows The Ghost of Christmas Past
ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books
Opinions are my own

3 1/2 stars.  This paranormal mystery is high on the ghost meter but it is not used by the author as an easy way to reveal clues.  Rather it makes sense for there to be a lot of ghostly activity because a major part of the plot is Frankie (a 1920s gangster), who I love, is searching for his brother and why his brother killed him.  Verity's trip to a ghostly speakeasy is great, particularly when Verity is able to interact with the ghosts in lively manner--except for a small touch problem--and they are not stuck in an endless loop.  This is far from a static event.
	Verity's encounters with ghosts are often fun and are always richly textured and exciting.  She even makes friends with some of these ghosts and helps solves their problems.  It is no wonder that she is just as fascinated with these encounters, even if sometimes they lead to breaking the law and danger, as anything in her real life which causes problems with her boyfriend in this book.  He wants her to cool the ghostly activities but she isn't willing to.
	Verity annoys me at times.  She is all about communication and opening yourself emotionally to others which she gladly shares this message with other but is not willing to follow the same advice in her own life.  She expects her boyfriend to accept anything she does and does not want to listen to his side (though he is a bit bullheaded the way he goes about it).  The relationship drama really is a drawback for me.  Maybe if I had read others in the series I would be more invested in the characters and it wouldn't bother me.  Here it seems like she is a bit of a hypocrite.  Though, by the end she realizes what she is doing.  She definitely grew on me at the end.  
	Overall, it was a good book.  The mystery was solid, there were funny incidents and I loved Verity's skunk and Frankie.

I was provided with a copy of the ARC by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Oh what can I say. I don’t usually do mystery’s but Angie Fox and The Southern Ghost Hunter series never lets me down. I love this series, it’s always such a fun read and Southern Bred and Dead was no exception. While this one was a little more emotional then the others, I loved every page I read. You cannot go wrong with this series.

I've been waiting for the new installment in my favorite series since the Mint Julep Murders and Angie Fox didn't disappoint. This book has everything- angry ghosts, a murder (or not) and finally an answer to Frankie's quest, all somehow connected to an old wedding photo of Verity's Grandma's best friend. Lucy is there eating garbage, Beau is helping make ghost connections and Ellis is threatening to arrest Verity for breaking and entering. Not to mention Verity's first hold up, Frankie's family reunion and a few surprises along the way.
My only gripe is that i have to wait another year for the next book! Keep'em coming!