Independent Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery (Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery, #23)

by Carolyn Haines

When Dr. Alala Diakos, a visiting professor of Greek literature, comes to teach at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, it doesn't take long for controversy to follow. With her fervent feminist ideals and revolutionary leanings, she quickly earns the admiration of many-and the ire of others. During a speech in the park, in which Alala tries to organize the women of Zinnia to demand equal pay, the crowd gets unruly, with men heckling the professor. And when PI Sarah Booth Delaney finds a sniper rifle and scope in the bushes, she begins to worry that there are more than fighting words at stake.

Sarah Booth calls her boyfriend, Sheriff Coleman Peters, who offers the protection of the Zinnia police department, but Alala rejects him, saying she has no use for the law or men. And when a notorious domestic abuser is found dead the next day, suspicions turn to Alala herself, who was overheard bragging that she would take him down. Tensions deepen when connections are drawn between Alala and two similar, previous deaths.

But Sarah Booth doesn't want to believe Alala is a murderer, and when the professor shows up at Sarah Booth's doorstep, asking her to find the real criminal, Sarah Booth embarks on a case stretching across the Delta. Yet Alala remains at the center of it all, and Sarah Booth can't help but wonder if the killer has been with her all along...

• ISBN10: 1250257875
• ISBN13: 9781250257871
• Publish Date: 18 May 2021
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 6 August 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Independent Bones is the 23rd Sarah Booth Delaney cozy mystery by Carolyn Haines. Released 18th May 2021 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an entertaining and engaging book in an engaging series by a competent writer. There's a strong paranormal element (the main character's sort of haunted by her great-great grandmother's nanny, a black woman named Jitty who has Opinions and lots of cryptic advice). MC Sarah Booth Delaney's also a PI and this installment sees her untangling a multiple-murder mystery involving misogynistic abusive men whilst trying to avoid having her very pregnant best friend go into labor in the middle of a stakeout.

Sarah Booth is still trying to define and stabilize boundaries with her handsome lawman, Coleman, and the counterpoint of their healthy and supportive relationship is even more poignant compared to the many unhealthy abusive relationships written into the book.

The plotting is often meandering (it's a cozy with almost 400 pages), and there's quite a lot of "fluff" to add humor. Ms. Haines is quite an adept author and I never found my interest waning, although there were a few eye-rollingly silly moments. The denouement and resolution weren't overly surprising, but they were satisfying. This series is dependably entertaining and fun, and this entry is worth a read. The ensemble cast and returning characters mean that readers who are new to the story might want to read a few in the series prior to this one first, although it's simple enough to probably work well enough as a standalone. There are dogs, some cats, positively portrayed LGBTQIA+ characters, the language is clean, and there's light (off page) sexual content, but nothing explicit. The book is full of southernisms like "bless your heart" and "y'all" and more sweet-tea than you can shake a stick at.

Four stars. Cozy mystery comfort food.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.