Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews. The recipe reviews and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.
Lights Camera Bones
A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery
Carolyn Haines
Minotaur Books
Sarah Booth Delaney has gone Hollywood. Well not really, but it looks like Sara Booth and her BFF Tinkie are going to be going back to work without so much as a long weekend off after two straight years of work. If you are not familiar with the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series, you will need to channel your inner Steel Magnolia because Sarah Booth is not your typical Southern belle. Just a heads up that this is not a fluffy cozy, there is Southern sass and a little language now and again, these ladies mean business after all. This is book 27 of 28 (yes the next one is already in the works) and I have enjoyed every one that I have read over the last decade. I still need to start at the beginning but it doesn’t hinder my enjoyment for the story or its characters of which there are some definite “characters,” including a ghost/haint of nannies past named Jitty who is forever antagonizing Sarah Booth to have babies and also driving Sarah Booth crazy by making enigmatic statements that are meant to aid in investigations and then disappearing. Jitty says there are rules about being straightforward.
Jitty isn’t the only one disappearing, a gaffer named Jules is missing, then Marlon Brandon the big star/screen writer, and grandson of former Senator Brandon Brandon (yes that is his name) goes missing. Local loudmouth Lamar Bilbo and bookstore owner Mary Dayle McCormick have been showing up on set and doing their best to shut down the production. Lamar and Mary Dayle claim that the movie is going to show unpleasantness and blatant racism instead of the heroic rescue of stranded folks by a Brandon ancestor and his boat. Tensions are high and they get even higher when a severed foot is fished out of the water. Now it is really getting interesting isn’t it?
This plot had me hooked with all of the inter-linking
clues such as family history that some felt should remain in the past. There
were well placed red herrings, and the tips and hints from the many personas of
Jitty who seems to be exceedingly vexing to Sarah Booth, even more so than
usual. It is very easy to be caught up in the story as if you were there with Sarah
Booth and her friends since emotions are running high. I was turning page after page eager to learn
the truth but unable to figure out the puzzle, which is just how I like my
mysteries. I also like it when I learn something new such as the fact that the background
of this story is based on actual history; there was a horrific flood in 1927
that devastated Greenville, Mississippi due to the loss of property, livestock,
and lives. This is an excellent read and I am looking forward to seeing what
Ms. Haines has in store for us in book 28.
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