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"Latest book in A Mystery from the Mississippi Delta series is exceptional."
Reviewed by Vicky Gilpin
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted March 10, 2004

When she isn't trying to juggle her multiple mishaps with men, talking to the haunt of her family home, or prepping her new P.I. office with her partner, Sarah Booth Delaney is attempting to prove the innocence of a flighty, but supernaturally calm, "healer" concerning the death of the woman's Read more...

"Intriguing private investigative case"
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 18, 2004

The Delaney Detective Agency moves into its new office in Zinnia, Mississippi. Owner Sarah Booth Delaney and her friend Tinkie Richmond are delighted with their new setting including a Kinky Friedman inspired red phone. They get a client right away when New Orleans based Sister Mary Magdalen hires Read more...

Summary

The southern Delta has never been more exhilarating, evocative, and wickedly funny than in the mysteries of Carolyn Haines. Now she takes readers on another rollicking ride across the Mississippi cotton fields and into the glamour of New Orleans?as P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney follows a winding trail of murder and deception into a world where ghosts make fashion statements?and where one person?s miracle is another person?s mayhem. The leaves of the calendar may be shedding faster than the sycamores on her family?s decaying Mississippi plantation, but thirty-something southern belle Sarah Booth Delaney isn? t ready to sing the blues. Not when she?s got a thriving detective agency and the outspoken, outrageously attired ghost of her great-great-grandmother?s nanny to keep her on her toes. But the matchmaking phantom may have the last word on motherhood when Sarah Booth takes on the controversial case of an accused baby killer. Although Doreen Mallory?s been arrested for feeding sleeping pills to her ten-week-old daughter, no one could accuse her of lacking faith. A healer who, tragically, couldn?t save her own baby girl, born with multiple birth defects, Doreen has her own crosses to bear. While the local law seems convinced of Doreen?s guilt, Sarah Booth isn?t so sure. But why is Doreen reluctant to talk about the men in her life? Like the televangelist who stands to lose a lot more than his flock. Or the married politician with family ties to the Mob. Either of them could be little Rebekah?s father; either of them could also be her killer. With Halloween approaching and her own personal life up for grabs, Sarah Booth could use a little faith healing herself. Torn between a married sheriff and an old flame who?s literally sweeping her off her feet, she?d better be prepared for the fallout of her most unpopular case yet. Justice may not stand a ghost of a chance as a decades-old secret explodes, unleashing a storm of fury on Sarah Booth and all those she loves. Witty, suspenseful, and featuring a cast of memorable characters, Hallowed Bones is a riveting tale of faith, murder, and maternal love. It is Carolyn Haines?s most accomplished novel yet.