Splintered Bones

Sarah Booth Delaney is over thirty years old and still not married. This
alone would be enough to set her apart from all the other "belles" in
Sunflower County, Mississippi, but she's also struggling and determined to
keep the home and land that has been in the Delaney family for generations.
She lives there with a red tick hound named Sweetie Pie and the opinionated
ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, who is determined that Sarah
should be wed and bred (or at least bred) to produce an heir for Dahlia
House. Sarah has a flair for nosiness and knows how to ask the right
questions, so she runs a private investigating business to bring in money,
and when an old friend is in trouble, Sarah Booth doesn't hesitate to get
involved. show more Eulalee McBride is one of the "Daddy's Girls." who was raised to
be more decorative and manipulative than business-like, but she broke out of
that pack and became a very savvy horse breeder. Now, Lee has confessed to
murdering her husband, the truly despicable Kemper McBride, and hires Sarah
to dig up enough dirt on him to prove that he got what he deserved. Sarah
knows how dangerous the "he needed killing" defense was, and also suspects
that Lee is lying through her teeth to protect someone. As Sarah digs into
Kemper's dirty dealings, she find no shortage of suspects, and as she puts
the pieces together, a killer prepares to strike again.

I thought the plot was well thought out, though I figured out who the murderer really
was about 2/3 of the way through the book. But there were a couple of plot
contrivances (including a special "appearance" by Kinky Friedman) and the
way Jitty (the ghost) kept changing clothes tended to get on my nerves a
bit. Still, there was enough there to make me read more in this series.
I'll give it a 3.5. show less

Another excellent stand-alone novel, this one set in the Equestrian Set of down south. I love that the friend Tinkie is helping the heroine out with things, and somehow is quite good. The dog is a nice addition, but I still find the ghost/friend annoying and rude. I will come back to these novels soon, they make a damn nice change of pace from all the hard-reads, the fast-paced thrillers, and the busy schedules of summertime with children.

This is a used hardback in fair-ish condition; the front corner has been chewed (by a puppy, I hope!). Otherwise in good condition. Very readable with no marks (except Bookcrossing label and ID) nor dog-ears.

A humorous murder mystery. Who killed Lee's husband, a no-good jerk nobody liked? Was it Lee, who has confessed, or her daughter, a 14 year old wild child? Or was it the cowboy horse trainer, or one of his many lady friends? The suspense builds as more and more characters are introduced, some friends and some fiends.

More Southern Mississippi Delta mystery - still entertaining, but getting predictable. I may give Sarah Booth a rest for a while.

Three plus. Kinky Friedman shout out! I loved that. My other favorite parts were the unsuitable suitors. I can see the wheels turning but it was still a fine southern mystery. I think I may have read the first one a decade ago.

Another enjoyable installment of the antics of Sarah Booth Delaney. Predictable, but fun read. I am hoping that we can get some character development in the next few books. Sarah needs to develop. Marry her off. Give her a baby. Have a book about Jitty.

I have to say again I loved this book just as much as the first one. We get to see more of Sarah Booth and Jitty along with the usual characters with some new ones as well.