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Summary
Summary
In rich, atmospheric mysteries set against the backdrop of modern-day Mississippi, Carolyn Haines has given the southern belle a brilliantly hip makeover. Now Haines and her unforgettable heroine, Sarah Booth Delaney, are back with a tale about skeletons in closets--and elsewhere. Crossed Bones Sarah Booth Delaney is no ordinary P.I. A born-and-bred Mississippi belle, she struggles to hold on to her family's plantation and keeps up a running conversation with the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, a busybody who decks herself out in a stunning new outfit every day--and schemes to save Sarah Booth from spinsterhood. Not one to wait around for a white knight, Sarah takes on the kind of cases no one else will touch. Like trying to exonerate a man accused of murdering Sunflower County's most popular musician. The two men met in prison: Ivory Keys, a gifted black blues pianist, and Scott Hampton, a rich white boy turned racist. Somewhere between the two men, a spark was lit. And by the time he came out of the joint, Scott Hampton had not only renounced his racist ways, he had learned to play a blues guitar that made grown women go weak in the knees. So why did Scott plunge a steel shank into his mentor's chest? Ivory's widow doesn't think he did, and she's paid Sarah Booth to prove it. No easy task, especially since the delicate racial harmony of Sunflower County is threatening to come undone under the heat of Sarah Booth's investigation. For a woman feeling a little heat of her own--navigating between a rich, available businessman, a married lawman with a waffling heart, and the sexy bluesman who is angling to become much more than her client--this case is taking dangerous twists. A town's slumbering passions have awakened with a jolt, a matchmaking ghost is dressed up like Jackie O, and Sarah Booth is caught between her need to know the truth and the consequences it will have on her town--and on her life. With riveting suspense and a sparkling cast of unforgettable characters, Carolyn Haines has woven a rich portrait of a part of America grappling with its past, its illusions, and its hopes. Crossed Bones is the most dazzling work yet from a uniquely gifted writer. From the Hardcover edition.
Author Notes
Carolyn Haines grew up in Lucedale, Mississippi, and graduated from high school there in 1971. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi in 1974 and a master's degree in creative writing from the University of South Alabama in 1985. For over ten years she was a reporter and journalist for newspapers. She was born May 12, 1953 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The Mississippi delta in the summer heat is not all that's steaming in Haines's (Splintered Bones, etc.) fourth outing featuring PI Sarah Booth Delaney, an atypical Southern belle who's fiercely independent and outrageously witty. Sarah is enjoying her family home, a mansion in Zinnia, Miss., complete with cotton fields, coral honeysuckle vines and the ghost of Jitty, her great-great-grandmother's nanny. When nightclub owner and black blues pianist Ivory Keys is stabbed to death at his club, Ivory's wife asks Sarah to vindicate the prime suspect, Scott Hampton, a talented white blues guitarist with a history of racism. Aided by her partner Tinkie Richmond, Sarah inadvertently stirs up passions among the townspeople that were long thought forgotten. Jitty's continual lectures on marriage and family and Sarah's mixed feelings about Sheriff Coleman Peters and two new suitors complicate the investigation. While the ghostly Jitty's advice can be wearying and the clothing details verge on the tedious, Haines delivers some real heartwarming moments in a mystery with some fascinating twists. This cozy read is the next best thing to curling up with a mint julep on the porch swing on a lazy afternoon. Agent, Marian Young. (Apr. 8) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Zinnia, Mississippi, has two things going for it: The best white blues-guitarist, Scott Hampton, strums away at African-American Ivory Keys's roadhouse, Playin' the Bones; and a passel of Daddy's Girls (DG), who've grown up, like Tinkie, to epitomize southern womanhood--except for Sarah Booth Delaney, the slightly askew DG who runs her own detective agency and so is hired by Ida Mae Keys to prove that, despite the evidence, Scott didn't murder her husband. So who did? Her black-supremacist son Emanuel is a possible candidate. So are ex-con racist bikers Spider and Ray-Ban and wealthy, impossibly perfect blues collector Bridge, who begins courting Sarah to the despair of smitten but married sheriff Coleman Peters. As Sarah Booth and Tinkie, their beloved dogs Sweetie Pie and Chablis, and a smart-mouthed ghost who's been hanging around Sarah Booth's house for years try to sort out the good 'uns from the others, race blasts the community apart, with nooses dangling, white-supremacist tattoos peeking out from beneath good-ol'-boy T-shirts, Molotov cocktails, and tombstone desecration. Scott's biggest fan is a certifiable nutcase even if she is a DG, and there are rumors of a stash of never-released studio recordings of Elvis and Ivory that are worth millions. But who has them, and who'd kill for them? A down-home valentine, far superior to Splintered Bones (2002), that couldn't be more southern if it were packaged with grits. Haines plays every race card in the deck and throws in some bedroom scenes for readers who like a little romance. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Reluctant southern belle and PI Sarah Booth Delaney is hired by Ida Mae Keys to exonerate Scott Hampton, the man who is accused of killing Ida's husband, blues pianist Ivory Keys. Hampton, a former racist and Ivory's protege, maintains his innocence, but the murder weapon and some bloodstained cash are found in his possession. Hampton's offensive attitude and lack of cooperation hinder Sarah Booth, but she perseveres despite the rising racial tension in her rural Mississippi community. Sarah Booth's life is further complicated by her attraction to Sheriff Coleman Peters, who has just returned to his wife to try to save his marriage. Despite the serious issues addressed in the story, the mood is lightened by the commentary of Sarah's partner, Tinkie, and the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, both of whom believe that Sarah Booth should be wedded and bedded. Sarah Booth is a charming, likable hero, and this fourth installment of her series continues to provide a vivid snapshot of southern life. --Sue O'Brien
Library Journal Review
Sarah Booth Delaney, series PI (Splintered Bones), Southern belle, and owner of a Mississippi plantation house with its own interactive ghost, defends up-and-coming blues guitarist Scott Hampton (white), accused of murdering popular juke joint owner Ivory Keyes (black). Sadly, Hampton's previous life as a convict and his blatant racism condemn him in locals' eyes. Ivory's widow (immediately) and Sarah Booth (eventually) believe in Hampton's innocence, but the road to the truth is mined with ex-prison buddies, noose-hanging threats, and ghostly cautions. A sympathetic heroine, colorful small-town characters, and Southern allure commend this title to most mystery collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.