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Sarah Booth Delaney #5
Hallowed Bones
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2004
About the author
Carolyn Haines
117 books1,619 followersCarolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over 70 books. In 2020, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. She was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alabama Library Association, the Harper Lee Award for Distinguished Writing, the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence, as well as the "Best Amateur Sleuth" award by Romantic Times. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Alabama on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
September 12, 2014
In this 5th book in the 'Sarah Booth Delaney' series, the private detective is hired by a woman accused of killing her child. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
*****
Doreen Mallory - a spiritual healer living in New Orleans - is accused of murdering her severely handicapped infant daughter. Doreen is visiting her dead mother's grave in Zinnia, Mississippi when she's arrested.
Private detectives Sarah Booth Delaney and Tinkie Richmond are hired to prove Doreen's innocence.
Turns out that Doreen's mother - who she never knew - was the unmarried "street corner preacher" Lillith, who used to harangue the local teens with rants against unwed sex.
Sarah Booth and Tinkie look into Lillith's past and are surprised to discover that she had three children out of wedlock. The detectives then travel to New Orleans, where Doreen is jailed, to look into her case.
Doreen admits that several men - a senator, a preacher, and a financial advisor - are candidates for father of the child, and the detectives proceed to question these men, thinking one of them may be the real murderer.
Most of these characters are rather two-dimensional but serve their purpose as possible suspects.
Many of the recurring characters in the series are on hand, including Jiffy - the fashionista ghost that gives Sarah Booth life advice (I love this character).
Other returning characters are Coleman - the married cop in Sarah Booth's life; Connie - the married cop's mentally disturbed wife; and Sarah Booth's friend CeCe - the tough transgender reporter. Sarah's handsome former lover Hamilton also puts in an appearance, and Sarah is conflicted between her attraction to Hamilton and her love for Coleman.
This is just an okay cozy mystery with detective work that seems rather superficial and uninspired. It's entertaining though, to visit with the characters in Sarah Booth's circle and observe their familiar shenanigans.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
November 25, 2013
Don't get me wrong, I love this series. But a huge part of why I read them book by book is because of my curiosity to know who Sarah Booth will end up with. And the last few parts of Hallowed Bones left me emotionally drained. Anyway, the plot was quite a tricky one. Faith healers, fake healers, spawns of Satan, catfights(!]), what a mess! Of course, nothing's too difficult for our beloved Southern P.I. & her assistant/s. Looking forward to the next book. :)
July 6, 2009
2.5 stars.
This one misses the mark. There is just too much going on. And I'm getting tired of Sarah Booth's inability to decide between the two men in her life. Still, she has to stay in the Delta ... it would be better if Hamilton came back from Paris.
This one misses the mark. There is just too much going on. And I'm getting tired of Sarah Booth's inability to decide between the two men in her life. Still, she has to stay in the Delta ... it would be better if Hamilton came back from Paris.
December 24, 2009
Still working my way through this series although I am reading them out of order. I am not sure if I will search them all out...I may be done with them.
April 30, 2012
Kind of fed up with the whole "which boyfriend should I chose" thing. How many more books will she drag it out? At least both of Stephanie Plum's boyfriends are eligible...
November 6, 2020
Good one!
June 15, 2025
Love Sarah Booth, her friends and cases. Always fun.
September 22, 2010
Sarah and Tinkie and Cece... Coleman and Hamilton... Jitty... and Doreen...
It is the fall... and Orange and Black Ball in New Orleans is the social event... and Doreen is the client... a spiritualist, who preaches love, reads tarot cards, beautiful, whose touch heals - though she says it's the individual who heals themselves when they open up to the Divine... who shares sex with 3 men whom she feels needs it to truly feel loved - a Senator, a televangelist & her accountant(here's the clue... the accountant harbors more anger than most)... she gave birth to a deformed child, loved it, but it died at 10 weeks of age - murdered by sleeping pills in the bottled milk...
Sarah is still alone, haunted by feelings for Coleman who struggles to do right by his pregnant, crazy wife - though they have a few conversations about things... and Hamilton shows up at New Orleans - they have great sex, he is not troubled by her working... and they make plans for her to join him in Paris, to see if she would like it... but she ends up going to Connie's bedside - and leaving Hamilton... Although she enjoys and like Hamilton, her feelings seem to be more for Coleman - who takes Sarah to a Sanitarium in
Arizona until the baby is born.
Tinkie is more assertive as a detective... she has a lump in her breast and trusts Doreen to help her heal (forgoing the scheduled biopsy ???).. is tormented and has a tantrum with Oscar because he refuses to consider having a baby...
and it ends up that Doreen's acccountant is actually her brother, who she didn't know about and who had staged his own death... their mother was Lilith, the crazy woman in town who would scare the teens especially with bible preaching against sex at street corners, but who had a long relationship with the sheriff, and had 3 babies out of wedlock... The brother inherited the crazy gene & decided Doreen had to be punished...
It is the fall... and Orange and Black Ball in New Orleans is the social event... and Doreen is the client... a spiritualist, who preaches love, reads tarot cards, beautiful, whose touch heals - though she says it's the individual who heals themselves when they open up to the Divine... who shares sex with 3 men whom she feels needs it to truly feel loved - a Senator, a televangelist & her accountant(here's the clue... the accountant harbors more anger than most)... she gave birth to a deformed child, loved it, but it died at 10 weeks of age - murdered by sleeping pills in the bottled milk...
Sarah is still alone, haunted by feelings for Coleman who struggles to do right by his pregnant, crazy wife - though they have a few conversations about things... and Hamilton shows up at New Orleans - they have great sex, he is not troubled by her working... and they make plans for her to join him in Paris, to see if she would like it... but she ends up going to Connie's bedside - and leaving Hamilton... Although she enjoys and like Hamilton, her feelings seem to be more for Coleman - who takes Sarah to a Sanitarium in
Arizona until the baby is born.
Tinkie is more assertive as a detective... she has a lump in her breast and trusts Doreen to help her heal (forgoing the scheduled biopsy ???).. is tormented and has a tantrum with Oscar because he refuses to consider having a baby...
and it ends up that Doreen's acccountant is actually her brother, who she didn't know about and who had staged his own death... their mother was Lilith, the crazy woman in town who would scare the teens especially with bible preaching against sex at street corners, but who had a long relationship with the sheriff, and had 3 babies out of wedlock... The brother inherited the crazy gene & decided Doreen had to be punished...
January 1, 2017
Sarah Booth and Tinkie are off to solve a mystery in New Orleans. I am really hooked on this series. The mystery was good and the cliffhanger at the end of this one was heartbreaking. It immediately made me buy the next in the series so I could keep following the plot line.
January 30, 2013
Sarah Booth and Tinkie are hired to investigate after a new age leader is arrested for the murder of her infant.
December 2, 2021
In this one, Sarah Booth travel to New Orleans to investigate the real murderer of an infant. There was too much focus on Sarah Booth;s love life.
January 29, 2024
Sarah Booth Delaney is single, in her thirties, the last of her line, living in her family's plantation and is a private detective. Doreen is a faith healer in New Orleans. When her 10-week-old baby dies and it's determined she was murdered, Doreen is arrested. The police officer in charge assumes she did it so does very little investigating. A nun friend of Doreen's hires Sarah to investigate to find the real killer.
This is the fifth in the Sarah Booth Delaney series (there are currently 26 books in the series) ... it works as a stand alone as there is enough background provided but it's helpful if you've read the previous ones. It is written in first person perspective in Sarah's voice. As a head's up, there is swearing.
I recently read the first four and liked them enough to keep going with the series. I gave up on this one, though, about 65% into it. All the storylines were ridiculous and I'd had enough so I skipped ahead to the end to see the "whodunnit".
Sarah is still torn between two men ... Coleman, the local married police sheriff who is in love with her but staying with his wife because she's pregnant, and Hamilton, who she met in the first book and has barely had any contact with him but he suddenly reappears from Paris and wants a future with her.
At a fancy ball, two well-dressed society women get into adumb physical fight ... really?! Sarah's not a very responsible pet owner ... she has a dog she lets run free, even when she's out of town for days at a time. Coleman has his wife's best friend working for him and she is extremely rude to and about Sarah and Coleman doesn't discipline her. Sarah has a friend who may have cancer and rather than let the doctors take care of it, she instead puts her faith in Doreen to heal her.
Sarah's mother's last name was Booth and her father's last name was Delaney and I think it's weird everyone calls her "Sarah Booth" rather than just "Sarah". It's odd that Jitty, the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, "lives" with her. Jitty is still really annoying ... she's very negative and always putting Sarah down and nagging her about being single and childless. I'm tired about hearing about Sarah's womb.
I think I have to take a break from this series for a while.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2024/01...
This is the fifth in the Sarah Booth Delaney series (there are currently 26 books in the series) ... it works as a stand alone as there is enough background provided but it's helpful if you've read the previous ones. It is written in first person perspective in Sarah's voice. As a head's up, there is swearing.
I recently read the first four and liked them enough to keep going with the series. I gave up on this one, though, about 65% into it. All the storylines were ridiculous and I'd had enough so I skipped ahead to the end to see the "whodunnit".
Sarah is still torn between two men ... Coleman, the local married police sheriff who is in love with her but staying with his wife because she's pregnant, and Hamilton, who she met in the first book and has barely had any contact with him but he suddenly reappears from Paris and wants a future with her.
At a fancy ball, two well-dressed society women get into adumb physical fight ... really?! Sarah's not a very responsible pet owner ... she has a dog she lets run free, even when she's out of town for days at a time. Coleman has his wife's best friend working for him and she is extremely rude to and about Sarah and Coleman doesn't discipline her. Sarah has a friend who may have cancer and rather than let the doctors take care of it, she instead puts her faith in Doreen to heal her.
Sarah's mother's last name was Booth and her father's last name was Delaney and I think it's weird everyone calls her "Sarah Booth" rather than just "Sarah". It's odd that Jitty, the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, "lives" with her. Jitty is still really annoying ... she's very negative and always putting Sarah down and nagging her about being single and childless. I'm tired about hearing about Sarah's womb.
I think I have to take a break from this series for a while.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2024/01...
June 1, 2024
3.5 stars, rounded up
It's been several years since I read the previous book in this series, so I was a bit lost at first re: characters, relationships and circumstances, but once that all came together, I was invested in finding out what was going on and who was responsible.
I'm not sure how I feel about the recurring characters in the book, but that's probably because I don't remember much about them, their situations and their connections to each other. Since a good portion of the book is set in New Orleans instead of their home base in Mississippi, there weren't even any of the peripheral characters involved.
The mystery was complicated and hard to follow, but that could be because I was still trying to figure out the characters. While there were several characters I hoped would be guilty of the crime, one of them was at the top of my list before it became apparent that this person was indeed the culprit.
It may take another book or two to get back in the groove with this series, but I want to read at least one more to see how some of the personal developments at the end of this book work out.
It's been several years since I read the previous book in this series, so I was a bit lost at first re: characters, relationships and circumstances, but once that all came together, I was invested in finding out what was going on and who was responsible.
I'm not sure how I feel about the recurring characters in the book, but that's probably because I don't remember much about them, their situations and their connections to each other. Since a good portion of the book is set in New Orleans instead of their home base in Mississippi, there weren't even any of the peripheral characters involved.
The mystery was complicated and hard to follow, but that could be because I was still trying to figure out the characters. While there were several characters I hoped would be guilty of the crime, one of them was at the top of my list before it became apparent that this person was indeed the culprit.
It may take another book or two to get back in the groove with this series, but I want to read at least one more to see how some of the personal developments at the end of this book work out.
June 19, 2018
Sarah Booth Delaney and her best friend, Tinkie, run a PI business in Zinnia, Mississippi. They are hired by a nun in New Orleans to investigate murder charges brought against Doreen Mallory, who is accused of murdering her disabled daughter. But no one believes Doreen is capable of murder, her entire life is devoted to healing and works of faith. Sarah Booth and Tinkie travel to New Orleans to figure out who benefited from the death of a child who did not have long to live. But what they discover there is confounding, it wasn't the baby who was the target, it was Doreen. Could it be the Senator, looking to eliminate a source of blackmail? Could it be the televangelist, who has lost his faith and his power? Could it be Doreen's business partner, who might be more than he seems? Life is never dull around Sarah Booth and Tinkie and their transgender friend, Cece. Read this series for the setting, the Mississippi Delta in all its glory.
January 16, 2026
Doreen Mallory is beautiful, mysterious—and claims to have the gift of healing. But why couldn’t she save her own daughter, who died mysteriously at ten weeks? Convinced of Doreen’s guilt, local law is asking the same questions—and it’ll take a modern-day miracle for P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney to prove her innocence. Especially when Doreen refuses to talk about the men in her life. Like the shady televangelist . . . or the married politician with 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. And she’d better be prepared for the fallout of her most unpopular case yet—especially when a decades-old secret explodes, unleashing a storm of fury on Sarah Booth and all those she loves.
With Halloween approaching and her own personal life up for grabs, Sarah Booth could use a little faith healing herself. And she’d better be prepared for the fallout of her most unpopular case yet—especially when a decades-old secret explodes, unleashing a storm of fury on Sarah Booth and all those she loves.
February 26, 2018
This was an interesting book that takes place in the South - Mississippi and New Orleans. Sarah Booth Delaney and her best friend Tinkie have started a detective agency. They are asked to help a healer - Doreen - who is accused of killing her baby. Sarah has several distractions - the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, her love for the married sheriff and the return of an old flame. Her best friend finds a lump in her breast and is arguing with her husband who doesn't want any children, while she's decided that she does. While everyone is sure that Doreen didn't kill her baby, it proves very difficult to find out who did.
November 12, 2020
I have come to enjoy these books and Sarah Booth Delany and her crowd of crazy friends and life on the Mississippi Delta. Sarah has managed to save Delilah House and now she and Tinkie have a Private Detective Agency. Their first client is a woman accused of murdering her own child. There are many twists and turns in this story and plenty of red herrings but in the end, Sarah and Tinkie, with the help of Cece get their murderer. along the way their are love interests that wax and wane. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the next addition to the series.
October 5, 2021
The first one I’ve read of this series. Got pretty dark with the incest. Ekkk. A PI is asked by a nun to help a child that she raised who is now an adult and heals people. She is accused of killing her own daughter. Also, of course the protagonist, Sarah has two hot attractive men vying for her attention. She has to clear the healer’s name…she just has to find out who the father is first. He may hold the key. I liked how progressive the story line and characters were. Also that it took place around Halloween and in New Orleans. B
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2019
I just finished Wishbones by Carolyn Haines. The 8th book in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series. I read them all in order. I don’t read books in the paranormal category, but I am so glad I read these, and grateful my library has the series. The characters are fun and believable, the story flows very well, and the plot had me guessing right to the end. I also loved the “character” interviews at the end of some of the books. I would recommend these to anyone who loves cozies.
October 29, 2019
Hallowed Bones (sara Booth Delaney mystery) by Carolyn Haines (rb digital audiobook ) this was probably my favorite book so far. Sara and Twinkie are hired by a nun in New Orleans to help prove that a popular healer did not kill her baby daughter. So off they go to New Orleans where solving the mystery will take them to a tent revival preacher to the governor. Plenty of laughs and an interesting side story await you as well. I’m off to the next book in this series.
October 7, 2020
I found this book very unrealistic. There is no place in this country where a woman could behave as Coleman's wife does and not have been immediately put into a psych hold. Add it to the extreme racial anger and violence from both white and black in the last book and I find this series totally unreadable. And it's not because I have trouble reading difficult subject matter but I expect it to be handled realistically.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2023
Ok so the fault of 2022 was not picking up a book from this series. This one was Sarah Booth Delaney mystery on crack!! It took place majority in New Orleans, but she drove back up to the delta and I hate to say it but I’m really relating to my girl Sarah Booth…. The idioms and colloquialisms of the south plus the social issues… these books really tug at my soul strings.
But the plot of this one was insane and the ending just whew
But the plot of this one was insane and the ending just whew
August 23, 2026
Honestly not sure what everyone’s mad about with this one. Hamilton has made it very clear he will always live in Paris and he’s show us what comes to the families he tries to help. Why on earth would you choose that for Sarah Booth? She isn’t going to leave Jitty, sweetie pie, her home, her business, or Tinkie. It would end the series! Coleman isn’t my choice either but considering she’s known him her entire life she did owe it to him to make sure his wife didn’t off herself or him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2017
In this book, Sarah Booth Delaney is hired to find the person who murdered an infant. The person charged and arrested is the babies mother. Sarah and Tinkie travel to New Orleans where the case happened. Sarah is also trying to decide between two men , Hamilton and Coleman. The book was a quick easy read.
December 21, 2019
It's no surprise that Sarah Boot gets another case. It is a series after all. But this new case costs her the two men in her life and almost her own and her client's lives. Any more detail, I'd have to hide the review to avoid spoilers. I can offer an opinion, though. If you liked any of the other books in the series, you'll like this one too.
October 10, 2020
Sarah Booth and her partner Tinkie are called to help with a case against a "healer" in New Orleans for killing her baby.
This was a first time author for me and when I first started the book, I didn't think I would like it. The more I got into it, the more I really became attached to the characters and the story. Very cute, and I will be reading more by this author, starting with book 1.
This was a first time author for me and when I first started the book, I didn't think I would like it. The more I got into it, the more I really became attached to the characters and the story. Very cute, and I will be reading more by this author, starting with book 1.
July 9, 2021
This was the first book in the series that I actually kind of enjoyed....but then the ending ruined it for me. A woman who makes such colossally stupid decisions in her personal life deserves to be alone. I've disliked the mean, judgmental ghost but now seeing a good reason that she constantly feels a need to trash Sarah Booth. Utter stupidity on her part.
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August 3, 2021I enjoyed this book, I love the characters. I love how relatable they are. Tinkie is my favorite character in the series. How this book ended I was a little thrown off. Without giving spoilers, the ending was slightly off putting. Family relations in this book threw me for a loop. There are three on again off again love interests in this series thus far. I am on the fence between two of them. I
September 24, 2025
Listened to book five and it has a lot of twist and turns. Sarah and Tinkie has been hired to out who killed a baby that was a healer (Doreen) by a nun from New Orleans. New Orleans has more surprises for both of them. Someone from the past come back and Coleman is having a hard time with his wife. The ending is something else boy can't wait for the next book.
August 18, 2017
This was not as good me as the others. The mystery was good even though I figured it out but still a twist involved that I didn't see. I used to like Sarah Booth's character but this time around not so much. I plan reading the next book in the series and see how that goes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews