Game of Bones

December 1, 2018

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 25, 2019
In Haines’s appealing 20th Sarah Booth Delaney mystery (after 2018’s A Gift of Bones), someone cuts the throat of archaeologist Sandra Wells and hangs her body upside down. This ritual murder takes place at a sacred Native American mound in Mississippi’s Sunflower County that a team of archaeologists is excavating. When Sheriff Coleman Peters identifies dig leader Frank Hafner, who has a reputation as a ladies’ man, as the prime suspect, Frank asks the Delaney Detective Agency for help. Sarah Booth and her partner, Tinkie Richmond, soon find several other suspects with reasons to kill, including attorney Peter Deerstalker, who may have been upset by the dig for tribal reasons. Supernatural twists seem to imply a curse, and Sarah Booth’s ghostly friend, Jitty, who haunts Sarah Booth and her home, appears in the guise of various Native American women to warn of more danger to come. Sarah Booth and Tinkie also find hints of more down-to-earth motives. Distinctive characters and an atmospheric setting elevate this paranormal cozy. Series fans and newcomers alike will be satisfied. Agent: Marian Young, Young Agency.

May 1, 2019
Archaeologist Frank Hafner hires Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner, Tinkie Richmond, after he becomes the chief suspect in the macabre murder of his colleague and rival, Sandra Wells, who was disliked by all, including her own students. The two archaeologists were digging at Mound Salla, a newly discoverd Native American burial ground in the Mississippi Delta. Soon a second murder, mimicking the first, occurs, and Sarah Booth and Tinkie begin to wonder if there is a serial killer in Sunflower County. The students are spooked by tales of angry spirits and dark magic, and a Native American attorney demands Hafner cease digging. Jitty, Sarah Booth's haint, who appears here as various long-dead women, warns Sarah Booth of grave danger to someone she loves on the night of the Crow Moon. Working closely with the local sheriff, Coleman Peters (also Sarah Booth's boyfriend), the two unravel the mystery but not before one friend disappears and someone close to them is badly injured. A dark mystery, effectively framed by its well-drawn Mississippi Delta setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)