Reviewed by Jeanne
Full confession: I am
not a podcast listener, so the information that the authors host “the hit
podcast And That’s Why We Drink”
meant nothing to me. The subject matter
sounded interesting though, so I picked it up.
The book is a collection of brief articles about various paranormal
or true crime stories, arranged geographically by region and then by city. For the Southeast, for example, the cities
include New Orleans (obviously a must!), Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, and
Charleston. While factual, the writing
is punctuated with light-hearted comments. There are also recommendations for
other paranormal or crime-related places to visit or stay in the city. There is
a reference to the podcast connected with each one, so you can go listen to it
if you are so inclined.
The two hosts of the podcast add some personal notes along
with each location. One is a wine drinker while the other is an ice cream
aficionado: the stories of hauntings and crimes are followed by the authors’
recommendations for good places for wine or ice cream. If the place is also the scene of a haunting,
that’s just a nice bonus.
It’s an interesting collection, even if you haven’t been to
any of the places discussed. Some of the stories are well known (the ghosts of
the White House, for example, or the Boston Strangler) while others were
definitely new to me. There was also a
good mix of time periods for crimes and hauntings, including some fairly recent
cases (your mileage may vary on this but I think of the 1990s as “fairly
recent” since I do remember them) as well as some dating back centuries (which
I don’t remember, thank you very much!)
I was entertained by the book and might, just might, even try
to figure out how to listen to a podcast, which says a lot right there. It sounds as if these are two friends who are
just swapping stories and having a good time. My only worry is that I might
start craving ice cream.
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