Angel's Advocate (A Beaufort & Company Mystery)

I seldom read paranormals but having met the author, who is very engaging in person, I thought I would give this one a try. I'm glad I did; it's an engrossing read with some fun and original characters. I was able to set aside my usual disbelief and get with the paranormal program. This might be a good place to start if, like me, you are not too familiar with the genre.

How do the dead get justice? Do they contact a lawyer? In Mary Stanton's latest release, Angel's Advocate, we get a paranormal glance at the funny, and sometimes dangerous, side of lawyering for the Celestial courts. When a 17-year-old girl decides to mug a Girl Scout selling cookies, the old Savannah family network kicks in. A young lawyer by the name of Briana Beaufort, Bree for short, is coerced by her aunt to take on the case as a family favor. Through twists and turns in the "Cookie Mugger" case, Bree gets tangled in a web wherein she finds herself with the real client--the teen girl's dead father who may have been falsely condemned to one of the lowest planes of Hell. Working with Angels as your backup should be a walk in the park, but it's more like a walk in the cemetery for Bree, as she thinks to herself: "Well, let's see. In the past twenty-four hours, I've retained another dead soul as a client, dealt with a kid so screwed up she torments dogs, and discovered that yep, I'm being followed by a pair of corpses who've jumped through the barricades between this world and the next so they can take me on a permanent, highly unpleasant tropical vacation." I giggled out loud as I met some of the quirky characters and shuddered at some of the spooky scenes, so it's easy to get involved in this book. I did get a little tired of hearing so many people tell the heroine how tired and unwell she looks, but the upsets in the plot kept me intrigued through to a surprising end. This new twist on mystery is sure to be a fun series to follow. by Rhonda Esakov for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

She had no idea what she let herself in for when she agreed to take over the legal practice of her late uncle's Beaufort & Company. The practice located at 66 Angelus St in Savannah cannot be found by mortals; only angels and sprits can enter; except for Brianna Winston-Beaufort as she is the firm's only lawyer and sole mortal. Her clients are spirits appealing their sentencing in Celestial Court as unfair. She has an angel dog Sasha as her companion and guard. Her latest case starts in the mortal realm which gives her hope she might bring in some real money. Seventeen year old Lindsay Chandler stole $165 from an eight year old selling Girl Scout cookies. Bree goes out to the Chandler estate to meet her client. A few months ago Lindsay's father died in a car accident, but when Bree sits in his chair, he claims he was murdered and wants her to represent him in Celestial Court. Bree has a hunch that the father and daughters cases are related to the robberies of pseudophedrine occurring in Chandler's warehouse. She soon finds herself protected by angelic guard dogs as the powers that be believe the lawyer to the afterlife is in mortal danger. Once again DEFENDING ANGELS, Bree stars in an exciting paranormal legal thriller anchored by a strong investigation and by things that go bump in the night that are really there; the audience will need to sleep with a light on. The whodunit is clever so that readers cannot easily connect the dots as Mary Stanton provides an off-beat quirky mystery filled with eccentric characters; on earth and beyond. Harriet Klausner

Angel's Advocate is a welcome second Beaufort and Company paranormal cozy from Mary Stanton. Taking up where Defending Angels left off, Brianna Winston-Beaufort, attorney at law is working on a new case. Stanton deftly brings readers up to date in this excellent stand-alone story. Bree returns for her sophomore case in beautiful Savannah, the most haunted city in the world. Still awaiting renovations to her main practice, Bree and her staff have settled in at their temporary office adjacent to the historic all-murderers cemetery. A seventeen-year-old high school cheerleader stole $165.26 from a Girl Scout selling cookies in a mall parking lot. In plain site, Lindsay pulled up to the front of the mall, got out of the car, pushed the young girl, and grabbed the shoebox of money, taking off with her girlfriends in her daddy's Hummer. Unfortunately, a quick thinking kid in the parking lot filmed the whole scene on his cell phone and the dirty deed was soon all over the news. Surprising everyone, including herself, Bree takes the case as a favor to her Aunt Cissy. Not only did the cheerleader attack the much younger Girl Scout in broad daylight, Bree soon discovers Lindsay is a member of the Probert Chandler family of Marlowe drugstore fame. With her beloved rescued dog Sasha by her side, Bree attempts to find a way to help the wayward teen. In the meantime, her loyal staff, consisting of Ron and Petru, and Livinia, her landlady, uses their own special otherworldly skills to help Bree as only they can. Also making a return appearance is the hunky Lieutenant Sam Hunter. Mary Stanton has delivered a smash hit as the endearing series continues to entertain. Her quirky cast of characters maintain an engaging realism certain to satisfy the most avid mystery lover. Angel's Advocate (A Beaufort & Company Mystery)