Lady of Bones
A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Carolyn Haines's Lady of Bones is the next novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.
It’s Halloween season in Mississippi as Sarah Booth and the gang gather to decorate and gush over Tinkie’s new baby, Maylin. Sarah Booth is just about to refresh the cocktails when she hears a knock on the door and opens it to find a woman named Frankie, distraught at the disappearance of her daughter Christa, a young journalist. Christa had been investigating the disappearance of young women in New Orleans over a five-year period—one every year around Halloween. Now Christa herself is missing, and Frankie fears it may be connected to a cult based in the Garden District, called People of Eternity.
People of Eternity are known to have far-reaching connections which Frankie worries may reach as high as law enforcement. Refusing to contact the authorities, she turns to Delaney Detective Agency as her only hope.
Despite initial reservations, Sarah Booth accepts the case, which takes her on a journey to a secret underworld of beguiling cult leaders, witchcraft, and potentially human sacrifice. She’ll have to keep her wits about her if she wants to crack this case…and make it home alive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Haines's taut 24th Sarah Booth Delaney mystery (after 2021's Independent Bones), the Zinnia, Miss., PI is approached by Frances "Frankie" Moore, an old friend of her late mother, to find Frankie's daughter, Christa, who has gone missing in New Orleans. When Sarah Booth travels to the Big Easy and delves into the case with her sheriff boyfriend, Coleman Peters, and her partner in the Delaney Detective Agency, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, she discovers a trail of disappearances—not only Christa but also Christa's artist friend, Britta Wagner, as well as a friend of Britta's. As a budding investigative journalist, Christa was examining the disturbing activities of a local cult, heightening Sarah Booth's apprehension about the intended fate of Christa and Britta, as well as her own personal danger, as Halloween—a key event for the cult—approaches. Haines's message about vulnerable people who are prey to unscrupulous individuals, juxtaposed with the determination of Sarah Booth's circle to find the missing women, adds poignancy. Cozy readers will enjoy spending time with Sarah Booth and company.