Publishers Weekly
10/10/2022
Haines’s Southern charm–drenched 25th mystery featuring Zinnia, Miss., PI Sarah Booth Delaney (after Lady of Bones) takes Sarah Booth and her business partner and best friend, Tinkie Richmond, to Bay St. Louis, Miss., to serve as judges at the local library’s annual Christmas tree decorating contest. Their entourage includes various family members and Jitty, a shape-shifting ghost who assumes the guise of famous movie stars of bygone eras. Their fellow judges are bestselling authors and fierce competitors Janet Malone and Sandra O’Day, whose epic and very public battles have captured the public’s attention. When Sandra and Sandra’s assistant go missing at a book signing, Janet becomes the prime suspect in her rival’s disappearance and hires the visiting private eyes to find Sandra and clear her name. Appealing characters and amusing digressions, such as Jitty’s stories of the stars she impersonates, compensate for a host of red herrings that serve to pad what in the end amounts to a shaggy dog tale. Fans will love catching up with their favorite detectives, who never forget that they are Southern ladies at heart. Agent: Marian Young, Young Agency. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"Fascinating characters dripping in grit and Southern charm highlight a twisty puzzler." —Kirkus Reviews
"Charm-drenched....Fans will love catching up with their favorite detectives, who never forget that they are Southern ladies at heart." —Publishers Weekly
“Haines shows Sarah at her madcap best back in her hometown in this clever adventure. This is crazy cozy with a little something for everyone: paranormal doings, plenty of Evanovich zaniness, and a cast of eccentrics.”
—Booklist on Bone to Be Wild
“Enjoyable…Jitty, the headstrong ghost who shares Sarah Booth’s family home, is just one of the many well-drawn characters who help bring this Southern tale to colorful life.” —Publishers Weekly on Rock-a-Bye Bones
"Distinctive characters and an atmospheric setting elevate this paranormal cozy. Series fans and newcomers alike will be satisfied." —Publishers Weekly on Game of Bones
"A dark mystery, effectively framed by its well-drawn Mississippi Delta setting." —Booklist on Game of Bones
"A sure pleaser in both the mystery and the romance department. If you like a satisfying cozy Southern whodunit, Charmed Bones fits the bill." —RT Book Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2022-08-17
A mysterious disappearance disrupts a very Southern Christmas.
Detective duo Sarah Booth and Tinkie Bellcase Richmond are in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, along with Tinkie’s baby, Maylin, and the ladies’ significant others to judge a Christmas tree decorating contest. Their fellow judges, authors Sandra O’Day and Janet Malone, are always at daggers drawn, and the sleuths soon get to see their fraught relationship up close. When Sandra and her assistant, Daryl Marcus, vanish from a party, leaving traces of blood behind at her mansion, which Al Capone built for a daring actress, Janet surprises Sarah Booth and Tinkie by hiring the pair to find them. They’re soon entangled in past and current tales of Capone’s missing fortune, which could very well be hidden in the house or somewhere on the Gulf Coast, where he brought in loads of illegal booze. Along the way, the women learn that Sandra and Janet are not the bitter enemies they portray in public, making them wonder if it's all a publicity stunt, but rumors of the dangerous Gulf Coast Mafia suggest another possibility. Although Daryl’s fishing family claims to know nothing, the contacts of Sarah Booth’s lover, Sheriff Coleman Peters, come in handy in getting information from unlikely sources. As the tough Southern belles continue the search, they get threats and are stalked by unknown people. But they won't back down in their search for the missing pair and possibly a very large fortune.
Fascinating characters dripping in grit and Southern charm highlight a twisty puzzler.
