JOY TO THE BONES by Carolyn Haines
Fiction, Cozy Mystery, last in series
4****
BLURB: In this final installment of the series, sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney is up against her biggest–and most personal–mystery yet. Still reeling from the discovery that her parents’ deaths, decades ago, might not have been an accident, Private Investigator Sarah Booth Delaney doesn’t know who to believe anymore. Her best friend and business partner, Tinkie, purposefully kept her in the dark; her lover, Coleman, intentionally lied to her; and her meddlesome ghost-turned-spiritual-guide, Jitty, kept more secrets than she can count. Now, even the people Sarah Booth once trusted more than anything are suspect. Armed with new knowledge about her parents’ car crash, Sarah Booth sets out to solve her biggest case her parents’ murder. And she’s prepared to do it alone if she has to. But the Mississippi Delta doesn’t pause for anyone, not even Sarah Booth. While trying to untangle the truth about her parents’ fate, Sarah Booth gets roped into investigating the DeLonge Mansion, a magnificent old house with seemingly no one left alive to claim it. With the return of her nemesis, Gertrude Stromm, looming over her head–and the pieces of her failed relationships still scattered around her–Sarah Booth has her work cut out for her this holiday season.
THOUGHTS: This is the last of a 31-Book series but you don’t *have* to have read all the others to come up to speed with the characters and the story arc. Sarah Booth Delaney lives on her Mississippi Delta family farm with dogs, horses, a black cat, a crow who spouts “Nevermore” on occasion, and a sassy ghost named Jitty. She’s a PI who is partnered with her best friend Tinkie and has a heart throb in the local sheriff, Coleman.
In this book, Sarah Booth (and yes, she goes by both names), is trying to find out who killed her parents 20+ years ago. Her search leads to crooked judges, drug runners, and an obsessed woman who wants her dead. It is an interesting story with a lot going on. What’s nice is that everything is tied up nicely by the end giving you not only a satisfying ending to the story, but to the entire series.
Recommended.
Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
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