Charmed Bones
A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery
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4.3 • 27 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines will once again delight readers with Charmed Bones, the next sparkling Sarah Booth Delaney mystery.
Zinnia, Mississippi is rife with quirky characters, but the arrival of three sister witches—and their intention to open a Wiccan boarding school—sets the small town on its ear. And bodies begin to accumulate as a result. Faith, Hope, and Charity Harrington are sexy and smart. They’re setting up their boarding school in an old dairy—a piece of property with tremendous development potential. And they’re standing in the way of “progress,” according to some in the town.
When young Corey Fontana goes missing, Delaney Detective Agency is hired to find the youth—who’s well known as a local hooligan. His mother, Kitten Fontana, who is married to the kind of land development, believes the witches have abducted her son and makes no bones about it. She’s willing to pay hard cash to find her son, especially if she can implicate the witches in his disappearance.
When Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner, Tinkie Richmond, find Corey, unharmed, it is only the beginning of a series of events that include midnight dances under a full moon, love potions, and murder. Are the sister witches criminals… or victims? Do they truly have magical powers, as they claim? Sarah Booth and Tinkie must find the answer before more people are harmed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Haines's enchanting 18th Sarah Booth Delaney mystery (after 2017's Sticks and Bones) pits a trio of sister witches against the Zinnia, Miss., school board. Bob Fontana, the board's chairman, and his wife, Kitten, are opposed to the plan of Hope, Faith, and Charity Harrington to open a Wicca-based school in the community. That the sisters intend to use the valuable Musgrove Dairy owned by artist Trevor Musgrove property that Bob wants to develop is just one matter of contention. Bob and Kitten, unscrupulous and underhanded, do what they can to undermine the reasonable sisters. When Musgrove, a notorious womanizer, is found dead, it's up to Sarah Booth, proprietor of the Delaney Detective Agency, to investigate the many suspects. Weird supporting characters including Corey, Kitten's 16-year-old delinquent son, and Malvick, who claims to be the leader of the Harrington coven add to the fun. Fans of humorous paranormal cozies will be rewarded.
Customer Reviews
Sarah Booth at her finest
Even after seventeen (and a few novellas in between) stories, the Sarah Booth Delaney series continues to provide an entertaining mystery which weaves a wonderful story with the “Who Done It?” a complete surprise. The ending is guaranteed to leave you thinking, "Wow, I didn't see that coming!"
In addition to its intricately delivered mystery, the story’s impressively original cast of characters (including Sarah Booth et al.) created another layer to the story which served to keep the me guessing up to the very end...one thing I've learned about this author's stories, they accomplish whetting my Sarah Booth Delaney appetite for more. The next installment cannot come soon enough. Satiated
This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.
Cozy mystery with witches, ghosts, and Southern charm to spare
The 18th installment of the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series does not disappoint as readers are treated to another romp through the Mississippi Delta, a locale as steeped with genteel tradition as it is bound by quirky superstitions.
Whether you are new to the series or a longtime devotee, you are sure to appreciate Haines’s knack for layered storytelling as plots and subplots gently lead readers deep into a mysterious coven of witches as characters wrestle with bumbled trysts and empty wombs—nothing a little spell can’t fix, right? But it will take more than a little spell to quell the furor over the Wiccan school that the gorgeous witches hope to open in Zinnia, Mississippi. Can private investigator Sarah Booth and her BFF Tinkie keep the witches (and themselves) safe as Zinnia residents threaten to start their own witchhunt?
Richly developed characters and highly tuned plot twists ensure that readers will be kept guessing until the end. A dash of romance, a bit of ghostly premonition, just the right amount of humor and Southern charm, and Haines has cast the perfect spell in Charmed Bones.