Bøger af Carolyn Haines

In rich, atmospheric mysteries set against the backdrop of modern-day Mississippi, Carolyn Haines has given the southern belle a brilliantly hip makeover. Now Haines and her unforgettable heroine, Sarah Booth Delaney, are back with a tale about skeletons in closets--and elsewhere.Crossed BonesSarah Booth Delaney is no ordinary P.I. A born-and-bred Mississippi belle, she struggles to hold on to her family's plantation and keeps up a running conversation with the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, a busybody who decks herself out in a stunning new outfit every day--and schemes to save Sarah Booth from spinsterhood. Not one to wait around for a white knight, Sarah takes on the kind of cases no one else will touch. Like trying to exonerate a man accused of murdering Sunflower County's most popular musician.The two men met in prison: Ivory Keys, a gifted black blues pianist, and Scott Hampton, a rich white boy turned racist. Somewhere between the two men, a spark was lit. And by the time he came out of the joint, Scott Hampton had not only renounced his racist ways, he had learned to play a blues guitar that made grown women go weak in the knees. So why did Scott plunge a steel shank into his mentor's chest? Ivory's widow doesn't think he did, and she's paid Sarah Booth to prove it. No easy task, especially since the delicate racial harmony of Sunflower County is threatening to come undone under the heat of Sarah Booth's investigation.For a woman feeling a little heat of her own--navigating between a rich, available businessman, a married lawman with a waffling heart, and the sexy bluesman who is angling to become much more than her client--this case is taking dangerous twists. A town's slumbering passions have awakened with a jolt, a matchmaking ghost is dressed up like Jackie O, and Sarah Booth is caught between her need to know the truth and the consequences it will have on her town--and on her life. With riveting suspense and a sparkling cast of unforgettable characters, Carolyn Haines has woven a rich portrait of a part of America grappling with its past, its illusions, and its hopes. Crossed Bones is the most dazzling work yet from a uniquely gifted writer.

Blue Christmas Bones is the next Christmas mystery in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as "Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.Sarah Booth Delaney and her friends can't help falling in love with Christmas this year, which they plan to spend celebrating the King of Rock n' Roll at the annual Elvis Festival in Tupelo. The main attraction is an Elvis impersonator competition, drawing impersonators from all over the world to honor the king.But before the revelry can get underway, a priceless jewel-encrusted replica of a belt once worn by Elvis is stolen from its display case, and Sarah Booth and Tinkie are roped into one of the biggest heists in the history of Mississippi. Soon suspicious minds are lurking around every corner, with one eyewitness even claiming to have seen Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's long deceased and highly questionable manager, prowling around the festivities. Sarah Booth will have to find the devil in disguise or she might just end up singing Jailhouse Rock herself.

The latest novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as "Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.Delaney Detective Agency gets a taste of the spotlight when they are called to a case on a movie set in Greenville, MS, right on the Mississippi River. Marlon Brandon, heir to a wealthy and influential political family, has brought a film crew to town to film a drama about the 1927 flood that submerged a great deal of Greenville. Marlon wants the world to know the story of the flood-and the heroic role the Brandon ancestors played in rescuing dozens of local residents from drowning.Or at least that was the plan until he disappeared. If that weren't concerning enough, the situation appears even more dire when a severed foot is discovered in the Mississippi River, and clues indicate that Marlon may have fallen victim to a freak bull shark attack. But as rumors swirl around the Delta, about Marlon's motives for making the film, Sarah Booth and Tinkie have to wonder whether a shark is to blame, or an equally ferocious human offender. The show must go on, and Sarah Booth and her crew will have to investigate all manner of creatures, over land and sea, in order to solve the mystery and save the day.

"Sarah Booth Delaney helps her old flame Scott Hampton investigate a mysterious message threatening him and his bandmates. The threat becomes reality when the bartender from Scott's club is gunned down in a drive-by and Sarah Booth is caught in a race against the clock as she tries to stop a killer from striking again"--

"Private Investigator Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner Tinkie just happen to be in Sheriff Coleman Peters's office when Elisa Redd storms in. She wants Coleman to reopen the investigation of her missing daughter, Lydia Redd Maxwell, the heiress to a large fortune who disappeared along with her friend Bethany nearly seven years ago. Lydia and Bethany were rumored to be working as human rights organizers abroad, but Elisa suspects Lydia's problems might have started closer to home. Now Lydia's husband, Tope, is set to inherit the fortune, and Elisa believes he's behind the disappearance. Sarah Booth and Tinkie soon connect the case to a series of mysterious disappearances over the years, as well as to a perplexing recurring dream. With another woman's life at stake, the friends follow an increasingly twisty trail all over Sunflower County, leading them to a tree and an empty grave in the county cemetery. A grave that's said to be haunted . . ."--

Conflicts in a small Southern town bubble to the surface in this tale of repression and prophecy, the second book in The Jexville Chronicles trilogy. Sixteen-year-old Mattie comes to Mississippi in the summer of 1926 as a mail-order bride and finds a quiet, deeply religious community wrapped in rigid views of a woman's proper role. When Duncan McVay, the nine-year-old daughter of Jexville's most controversial woman, is struck by lightning while dancing, the townspeople are horrified when she doesn't die but survives-and is given the gift of prophecy. Abused and mistreated by her handsome husband, Mattie defends Duncan. She finds comfort in her friendship with JoHanna and the McVay family, but defying the town has consequences. When a hurricane lashes the area, the townspeople blame Duncan. Action leads to tragedy. For both Mattie and Johanna, the future holds heartache, but ultimately a long-awaited and stunningly executed revenge.

Zinnia, Mississippi, is rife with quirky characters, but the arrival of three sister witches--and their intention to open a Wiccan boarding school--sets the small town on its ear. And bodies begin to accumulate as a result.aur Books.

Carolyn Haines's Tell-Tale Bones marks the next novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as "Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.Private Investigator Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner Tinkie are in Sheriff Coleman Peters's office, consulting Coleman about cold cases, when Elisa Redd storms in with a case of her own. She wants Coleman to reopen the investigation of her missing daughter, Lydia Redd Maxell, the heiress to a large fortune who disappeared along with her friend Bethany nearly seven years ago. Lydia and Bethany were rumored to be working as human rights organizers abroad, but Elisa suspects Lydia's problems might have stemmed closer to home. Now Lydia's husband, Tope, is set to inherit the fortune, and Elisa believes he's behind the disappearance.Sarah Booth and Tinkie soon connect the case to a series of mysterious disappearances over the years, as well as to a perplexing recurring dream. With another woman's life at stake, the friends follow an increasingly twisty trail all over Sunflower County, leading them to a tree and an empty grave in the county cemetery. A grave that's said to be haunted...

The next charming mystery from Carolyn Haines is Game of Bones, featuring spunky southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney. Will her latest case leave Sarah barking at the moon?When a ritually murdered corpse is discovered at a Native American temple site smack in the middle of Sunflower County, Mississippi, the archeology crew on the dig is immediately under suspicion-with particular focus on its easy-on-the-eyes, charismatic leader, Dr. Frank Hafner. So when Sheriff Coleman Peters closes in on him, Hafner hires the Delaney Detective Agency to clear his name."Appealing...distinctive...atmospheric...Fans and newcomers alike will be satisfied." -Publishers WeeklyRumors swirl around the Mound Salla burial mound, where more dead bodies are turning up. Sarah Booth and her partner, Tinkie, have too many likely suspects to whittle down the list. It's a race against time once Sarah Booth's resident ghost, Jitty-in the guise of various Native American warrior women-points to the waxing of the coming Crow Moon as the time of maximum danger. As history and mystery cloak the site, Sarah Booth isn't sure what to believe, or whom. Can she dig up the truth before she herself ends up six feet under? "A dark mystery, effectively framed by its well-drawn Mississippi Delta setting."-Booklist

Sarah Booth Delaney knows the perfect way to begin recovering from both the recent attack on Scott Hampton's blues club and her broken heart. She's going to host a Thanksgiving feast for all of her friends at her ancestral home in Zinnia, Mississippi. But one bitterly cold night with the holiday just around the corner, Sarah Booth awakens to the insistent ring of her doorbell. She opens the door to find a newborn baby in a basket sitting on her front porch...and a pool of blood slowly seeping out from the basket. Before she can respond, an engine guns and a dark vehicle takes off.After the police and a doctor ensure the baby is otherwise safe and healthy, Sarah Booth calls Tinkie Richmond, her partner at the Delaney Detective Agency. They know they need to do everything they can to find the baby's mother...even if they are starting to fall in love with the baby themselves. But as they track the baby's mother, Sarah Booth soon begins to suspect the woman might have been in danger; in fact, she might have been running for her life. And following in the woman's footsteps, Sarah Booth might find her own life on the line next.USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines will once again delight readers with the next sparkling Sarah Booth Delaney mystery.

"Carolyn Haines's delightful Southern series heads out West when Sarah Booth Delaney lands a lead in a sultry Hollywood film and an even hotter mystery."It's time for Sarah Booth to pack up her hound dog and her P.I. business and take a shot at stardom! Soon she aces the screen test for a racy remake of the movie "Body Heat" alongside leading man Graf Miliau. The chemistry between them is undeniable and why not? Graf has already starred in one of Sarah's previous affairs and is well on his way to landing a big part in the sequel."Light, breezy, and just plain fun. Call Haines the queen of cozies." "Providence"" Journal-Bulletin"Thrilled as Sarah is to be in Hollywood, her dream-come-true comes at a price. She has to leave behind her family's ancestral home in Mississippi, her closest friends, and the possibility of settling down with her longtime love to film on location in Costa Rica. It's not long before rivalries flare, unexplained accidents occur, and this leading lady mysteriously finds herself in some steamy tabloids without turning up in a single frame of film."Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood! Non-Southerners will find the madcap adventure an informative peek into an alien culture." "Kirkus Reviews""

Waverley Mansion, a unique and lovely antebellum home in northeast Mississippi, offers the most dangerous challenge yet to Raissa James and her partner in the Pluto's Snitch private detective agency. They specialize in hauntings, possessions, and the occult.In the isolation of Waverley, Raissa's special gift, her ability to see and communicate with the dead, puts a target on her back. The entity that resides at Waverley Mansion covets Raissa's sensitivity. But Raissa is not the only one in danger. She and her partner Reginald Proctor must save eight-year-old Amanda Sheridan from the dark forces roaming the grounds of Waverley.The bitter past plays a major role in the nightmare of the present-and Raissa and Reginald must find the answers to who-or what--was Nora Bailey, a woman reputed to be not only a Union spy in the heart of the South, but also one whose promiscuity put the men who loved her at risk.Raissa and Reginald can trust no one-especially not the dead--because the dead lie.

CATS, COTTON, AND…MURDER-The worlds of Sarah Booth Delaney's Zinnia, Mississippi and Trouble, the black cat detective, collide in this fast-paced tale of high stakes cotton research, abduction, and murder.Trouble, the Sherlockian feline, falls in with Pluto, another cat with a yin for detective work, to find the missing Trudy Wells. But the cats aren't alone. Tabitha Kingsley, posing as a psychic medium, has come to the Mississippi Delta to find her missing sister.Standing in Tabitha's way is the cynical-and compelling-Roger Long. Roger manages the vast Long Agricultural Products farm and business. Trudy was his newly hired receptionist-and possible lover--before she disappeared.In a world of wealth and privilege, Tabitha must discover the truth of what her rebellious, sometimes law-breaking, sister was really up to. And she must trust Roger to help her.Trouble and Pluto aid the bipeds in finding the answers-to Trudy's vanishing act and also to the path to trust.

Professor Olive Twist has come to Zinnia, Mississippi to study a mysterious grave wherein lies the Lady in Red, a perfectly preserved and stunningly beautiful but unnamed and unclaimed body. Olive claims she can not only identify the corpse, she can also prove the woman's scandalous role in the nation's history. Olive takes it a step too far, though, when she starts connecting elite Zinnia families with the same scandal.Dander up, Zinnia's society ladies know only one way to handle Olive: they call on the private investigative services of Sarah Booth Delaney. But Olive's real agenda is clear as Mississippi mud, and when Sarah Booth discovers a present-day dead body, she knows there's more than just family pride and Southern heritage at stake. If she can't find the murderer and fast, it might just be Sarah Booth's life on the line next.Carolyn Haines pulls out all the stops in Smarty Bones, the next charming, sassy, Southern-fried Sarah Booth Delaney mystery.

USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines will once again delight readers with Charmed Bones, the next sparkling Sarah Booth Delaney mystery.Zinnia, Mississippi is rife with quirky characters, but the arrival of three sister witches-and their intention to open a Wiccan boarding school-sets the small town on its ear. And bodies begin to accumulate as a result. Faith, Hope, and Charity Harrington are sexy and smart. They're setting up their boarding school in an old dairy-a piece of property with tremendous development potential. And they're standing in the way of "progress," according to some in the town.When young Corey Fontana goes missing, Delaney Detective Agency is hired to find the youth-who's well known as a local hooligan. His mother, Kitten Fontana, who is married to the king of land development, believes the witches have abducted her son and makes no bones about it. She's willing to pay hard cash to find her son, especially if she can implicate the witches in his disappearance.When Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner, Tinkie Richmond, find Corey, unharmed, it is only the beginning of a series of events that include midnight dances under a full moon, love potions, and murder. Are the sister witches criminals... or victims? Do they truly have magical powers, as they claim? Sarah Booth and Tinkie must find the answer before more people are harmed. "A sure pleaser in both the mystery and the romance department...A satisfying cozy Southern whodunit."-RT Book Reviews

Elizabeth Maslow is an educated woman living in the isolated town of 1920's Mission, Alabama. She's defied the town's definition of a woman's place-she's unmarried and given birth to a child with webbed hands and feet. In a town fraught with superstitions and religious repression, Elizabeth is dangerous.But Elizabeth is much more than an unwed mother. Since the birth of Callie, who she believes is fathered by an angel, she's been able to "dream the truth." And she's determined to testify in behalf of Slater McEachern, a man charged with the brutal murder of a local woman.Elizabeth insists McEachern is innocent. She's determined to speak, no matter the cost.Spirit detectives Raissa and Reginald arrive to help Elizabeth save McEachern-before she ends up on the gallows with him.Raissa and Reginald must unravel a crucial question. Does Elizabeth's gift come from an angel, or from something much, much darker.In the world of spirits and the dead, Raissa has learned to trust no one, especially not the dead. The dead lie.

Aine Cahill has escaped her troubled past through her studies. A graduate student researching Henry David Thoreau, Aine has a secret. One that may bring her fame and a guaranteed job.The notoriously reclusive Thoreau had a companion at his Walden Pond retreat. Aine's aunt Bonnie, a woman ahead of her time in many regards, lived with Thoreau in his small cabin-and Aine has her aunt's diary to prove it.Aine's dissertation will blow a hole in the legend of Thoreau, but as Aine wanders the wooded Massachusetts land near Walden, she discovers a much darker, and far more dangerous secret. Someone is following her. A young girl who disappears without leaving a trace. Who is this child and what does she want?The Cahill family, with a long and bloody past of piracy and whaling, has left Aine a legacy. One she doesn't want. When tragedy strikes the town and Aine becomes the prime suspect, she must discover the truth of her "gift," the young girl, and the diary. Is any of it real, or is Aine losing her mind?