Title: Dread and Buried
Author: Angie Fox
Reviewer: Sophia Rose
Rating: B
What I’m Talking About:
What could be more fun than Verity, Frankie, and the gang meeting ghost pirates and participating in a treasure hunt? I dove in with enthusiasm to this latest of a sassy fun series that entertains and delights each time.
Dread and Buried is book twelve of the Southern Ghost Hunter series. Most books work well as standalone mysteries, but the last few have contained strong ties to earlier books making them work better knowing how matters came to be. In Dread and Buried, the focus is on Verity learning to look with acceptance on her sister’s relationship with Verity’s long-time nemesis, Detective Alex Duranja. Duranja thinks she’s loo loo when it comes to the ghosts and gets in his way on murder cases and she doesn’t think much of him for her sister, either.
For her birthday, Melanie takes matters into her own hands and plans a double date to an island known for pirate history to participate as one team in a treasure hunt game. She and Ellis decide that close proximity will give Verity and Duranja a chance to get over the past. Plus, they would all like to win.
There are three other teams of people who have strong skills to bring to the hunt, but from the get-go, someone is working to sabotage the teams or the whole pirate-themed getaway. With the aid of Frankie’s ghostly power, Verity also learns that the ghosts of the island are not happy they are there. Slowly, the danger increases and Verity, Ellis, Melanie, and Alec realize that the treasure might prove to be a real one and someone wants it badly enough to kill.
At first, I was not into Verity and Alec Duranja sniping at each other like two siblings, but as the treasure hunt and ghostly mysteries kicked into gear, I was pulled more into the story. I did end up enjoy seeing if Verity and Alec could get past their issues. There were some good surprise twists in both mysteries.
Always a good time with this series and Dread and Buried was no exception. I can heartily recommend this series for those who love paranormal cozy mysteries.
My Rating: B Liked It — Recommend
Sophia Rose
About the Book:
Dead men tell no tales.
Until they meet ghost hunter Verity Long.
Verity Long is proud to say she gets along with just about anybody—dead or alive. But she’s put to the test when her well-meaning boyfriend and her sweet-as-pie sister con her into a remote island “double date” weekend with her sister’s new flame and Verity’s long-time nemesis, Alec Duranja.
Her plans to avoid the uptight police officer go up in smoke when the four of them team up for a weekend treasure hunt competition based on the island’s legendary pirate past. And it doesn’t take long for Verity and her team to discover more than game clues. Someone is using the game to dig up real pirate gold…and they’re willing to kill to keep it.
There’s no escaping the island or the game. And when the killer targets someone Verity loves, she realizes she’s the only one who can uncover the truth behind the legend. She must stay one step ahead of the dangers of the island and two steps ahead of Frankie’s new ghostly pirate buddies—all in a race against time to solve a centuries-old puzzle and take down a real live killer before he strikes again.
Release Date: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Moose Island Books
Series: Southern Ghost Hunter #12
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Format(s): paperback (320 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: NetGalley
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)