Hallowed bones

The newly formed Delaney Detective Agency of Zinnia, Mississippi, consisting of southern belles Sarah Booth Delaney and her friend Tinkie Richmond, is hired by Sister Mary Magdalen to prove miracle worker Doreen Mallory didn't murder her infant daughter as charged. Doreen denies she placed the sleeping pills in her severely handicapped infant's bottle, so Sarah Booth and Tinkie investigate Rebekah's three possible fathers: a married politician, a well-known televangelist, and the man who handles Doreen's accounts, although all deny being the baby's father. While working on the case, Sarah Booth must also deal with two additional issues: her feelings for the married Sheriff Coleman Peters, whom she loves but whose wife has deliberately become pregnant to keep from losing him, and her concern that Tinkie may have breast cancer. Sarah Booth makes an endearing heroine, and her first-person narration draws readers close to her.itty, the ghost of Sarah Booth's great-great-grandmother's nanny, adds humor to this story of faith and hope, the fifth in the series. --Sue O'Brien Copyright 2004 Booklist

Amour and a murder make this Mississippi Delta whodunit from Haines (Crossed Bones, etc.) sure to please. Since PI Sarah Booth Delaney's most spiritual aspect is her live-in ghost, it's more than surprising when a nun hires her to help a "healer" who was raised in the sister's orphanage. Doreen Mallory, tarot card reader, charismatic teacher and object of a large following's devotion, sits in a New Orleans jail cell, accused of murdering her baby. Was it a case of "if you can't heal 'em, kill 'em," or was someone else responsible for the crime? Sarah Booth's associate Tinkie Richmond joins the hunt, and the two set off for the Crescent City, intent on finding the truth. The trail forces Sarah Booth into close quarters with Sheriff Coleman Peters, whose almost-indiscretion with the Southern belle turned detective has left them both wondering what might have been, barring Coleman's wife's first dibs on the lawman. But, par for the course, it's either feast or famine in Sarah Booth's love life, so re-enter her former flame, Hamilton Garrett. Between her own problems and delving into an impressive trio of could-be sperm donors for Doreen's daughter, a number of reasons for wanting the child dead reach the surface. The twists and turns take the reader through the labyrinth of the charming French Quarter and into the settings of high and low society. When the dots are connected, the conclusion is both clever and impressive. (Mar. 30) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Owner of a ghost-inhabited plantation in Zinnia, MS, series sleuth Sarah Booth Delaney (Crossed Bones) investigates a case of infant murder brought against an unmarried charismatic New Orleans woman with ties to Zinnia. The alleged perpetrator, one Doreen Mallory, runs a lucrative healing "ministry" but also had three lovers at the time of the child's birth, all of whom have reasons for wanting the baby dead. Family secrets pop up everywhere as Delaney sleuths, dallies with an old love, and agonizes about a married one. Haines's comfortable prose, familiar characters, Southern settings, and fascinating plot makes this a good choice for fans of cozies and comic regional mysteries. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Comfort, southern style: A healing touch, gossip and beignets with chums, and a ghost in flapper garb giving lessons in romance to a private eye in need of a pedicure. Sarah Booth Delaney and her lifelong friend Tinkie, now ensconced in their newly decorated office in Zinnia, Mississippi, are hired by a New Orleans nun to prove that stunning Doreen Mallory, a natural healer and good soul, didn't murder her badly malformed infant daughter Rebekah. Of course, she didn't. She's been too busy offering her special brand of divine love to financial right-hand man Michael Anderson, lapsed healer/con artist/televangelist Oren Weaver, and very married senator Thaddeus Clay--any of whom might be Rebekah's daddy, and sorry about it. So Sarah Booth, Tinkie, and tagalong Cece, gossip columnist extraordinaire, head for New Orleans. Soon they dig up lots of dirt: the senator's luscious wife is a transsexual; the preacher is paying people to claim he healed them; the right-hand man has made some mighty spurious investments. Moreover, Doreen's dead momma, Lillith, may have been murdered, and there's some question about whether her son Adam actually wound up dead in the river. With very little help from Jitty, an irrepressible family ghost in a cloche, Sarah Booth manages to absolve Doreen and seriously mangle her own love life. Lacks the charm and joie de bayou one expects from tales of the Big Easy. And where's the fun in a ghost who nags? Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.