Publisher's Weekly Review
In Haines's charming 12th mystery featuring Zinnia, Miss., PI Sarah Booth Delaney (after 2011's Bones of a Feather), Sarah Booth and her partner, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, investigate wealthy Marjorie Littlefield's involvement in the mysterious Heart's Desire secret society. One of the services the society claims to provide is contact with the dead, something Sarah Booth is intimately familiar with, since family "haint" Jitty interacts with her in the guise of fictional detectives like Nancy Drew and Jessica Fletcher. Sarah Booth and Tinkie pose as Marjorie's maids at the society's secure resort, where they must deal with a snooty butler, a hostile head chef, a strong-minded feline, and the concerns of their respective sweethearts, even before the bodies start to fall. Meanwhile, Marjorie tries to discover whether her son was responsible for her daughter's death. A somewhat convoluted and contrived plot won't bother cozy fans. Agent: Marian Young, the Young Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A much loved cat stands to inherit billions. Marjorie Littlefield, who's getting on in years, refuses to leave her fortune to her son Chasley because she believes that he may have caused the drowning death of his sister Mariam when they were kids. Did he? Eager to find out for certain, Marjorie falls under the sway of a mother-and-daughter duo who claim they can call up spirits at Heart's Desire, their well-guarded retreat. They promise to rouse Mariam at a sance so that Marjorie can ask her directly what Chasley did or didn't do. A lot of humbug, think Marjorie's friends, who ask Sarah Booth Delaney and her best pal Tinkie (Bones of a Feather, 2011, etc.) to investigate, a mission that requires them to gain entrance to the compound by masquerading as Marjorie's personal maids. They snoop around the other guests and antagonize the resident staff, which includes a starchy butler with kinky sexual proclivities and a cook who brandishes carving knives with the panache of an assassin. After a kitchen maid and a guest are murdered and Empress Josphine wafts by, but not Mariam, Sarah Booth's fiance, Graf, and Tinkie's husband, Oscar, lie their way onto the premises to help them out. Lots of things will go bump in the night before the secret that demanded two die within two days is revealed and Marjorie disinherits her cat, who has fallen in love with Sarah Booth's fiance. Tinkie has all the best moves, but Jitty, the spirit only Sarah Booth can see, has the best disguises.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Marjorie Littlefield, well-off, alone, and estranged from her son, has been convinced that the medium at Heart's Desire, a gated retreat in the delta outside New Orleans, will help her talk with her daughter, who drowned as a preteen. But her friends think it's a scam and call in Sarah Booth Delaney and her investigative partner, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, to infiltrate Heart's Desire and induce Marjorie to leave the retreat. Sarah Booth and Tinkie go undercover as maids, thinking it will only be a day or so and assuring their significant others they'll be perfectly safe. Marjorie won't listen, wanting only to talk to her daughter and to be with her cat, Pluto. But the rigged seances aren't the only things not right. After the sous-chef is murdered and another guest goes missing, it's clear that Heart's Desire is not a safe place to be. Even if the occult is not your thing, this is an entertaining romp with enough twists to hold interest to the end.--Muller, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Sarah goes undercover as a maid in her 12th adventure (after Bones of a Feather) to try to figure out who's scamming an eccentric old gal from her fortune. This Mississippi-based cozy series always circulates well. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
