Bone to Be Wild

March 30, 2015
At the start of Haines’s engaging 15th cozy set in Zinnia, Miss. (after 2014’s Booty Bones), Sarah Booth Delaney badly needs a diversion after her fiancé, Graf Milieu, suddenly breaks off their engagement and returns home to L.A. Fortunately, an old flame, guitarist Scott Hampton, asks her to help track down the person who has threatened him and his band members. Someone doesn’t want Scott to open his new blues club. Is the threat serious? The sheriff isn’t sure until the club’s bartender is gunned down. This is only the beginning of Scott’s troubles, and Sarah is determined to find the killer before he or she strikes again. Why would anyone be so angry about a blues club? Is it a personal attack aimed at Scott? Meanwhile, Sarah Booth’s ghostly friend, Jitty, provides romantic advice, but it will take a lot of work from the living to solve this perplexing mystery. Agent: Marian Young, Young Agency.

May 1, 2015
PI Sarah Booth Delaney just wants to hide out at home in Zinnia, Mississippi, recovering from breaking up with her fiance, when an old boyfriend, blues musician Scott, asks her help to try to find out who is threatening his blues band just as he prepares to open a new club in the small town. On the club's opening night, Sarah is standing next to the bartender when he is killed in a shooting. Several suspects, including developers, competitors, and the leaders of a nearby cult, were not pleased with the opening of the club. Sarah and her partner, Tinkie, investigate the backstory, with the help, as always, of the Delaney family's personal haunt, the irrepressible spirit Jitty. The feisty, funny detective uses intelligence and creativity, along with the help of her loyal friends, to find several villains and uncover some big surprises at the end. Haines shows Sarah at her madcap best back in her hometown in this clever adventure. This is a crazy cozy with a little something for everyone: paranormal doings, plenty of Evanovich zaniness, and a cast of eccentrics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)