Doggone Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery
Minotaur Books, 2025
Hardcover: $28.00
Genre: Fiction/Mystery and Detective/Cozy
Reviewed by Lisa Harrison
Carolyn Haines fans have a thoughtful chew-treat of a tale in store in her new release, Doggone Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery. Taking center stage in this rollicking whodunit are Sweetie Pie and Chablis, the beloved canine companions of Southern sleuth extraordinaire Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner in the Delaney Detective agency, Tinkie Bellchase Richmond.
When a local psychic begs Sarah Booth to take on the case of a dog napping, the detective assumes the situation will fit the typical profile of a revenge prank against the pup’s owner, an outspoken activist who has made several enemies with her frequent op-eds questioning the ethics of local officials. But there is also the possibility that something more sinister could be in play: a dog fighting ring or criminals stealing pets to sell to medical research labs. As the initial crime is followed by a string of similar dog thefts, Sarah Booth and Tinkie find themselves faced with numerous suspects, including the owner of a professional wrestling school (who might be operating a criminal operation on the side), bickering neighbors, a corrupt police chief, and the son of a dognap victim, who just happens to know several workers at the wrestling operation. The complications reach a new level when a mentally unstable long-time nemesis of Sarah Booth, who was thought long gone, emerges from the past, and the dognapping becomes personal.
As the engaging tale zips along from intrigue to intrigue, the detectives meet a variety of crime victims and possible perpetrators whose reliability varies from one encounter to the next. The sleuths discover unreliable explanations often stem from experiences the speaker would prefer to leave behind. Haines’s handling of the classic unreliable character reveals one of her strengths among cozy mystery writers: serious lessons are embedded in the mayhem of the tale. In their zeal to nab the baddies, Sara Booth and Tinkie are often quick to stereotype or jump to what seems to the reader to be perfectly logical conclusions about a suspect or self-declared victim, only to have their theories upended by fresh information about the case. Revelations about characters’ pasts are not just gripping plot twists but serve to remind the reader, through the understanding of the protagonists, that humans are morally complex beings who often can’t be pigeonhole into “good guy/bad guy” categories.
More lessons manifest through the machinations of Jitty, the resident “haint” of Sarah Booth’s ancestral home, who appears to the detective throughout the book in the guise of animal rights activists both living and deceased, educating Sarah Booth, and by extension the reader, on the history of animal rights and suggested practices for concerned citizens today. The timely subject of surveillance video also gets a nod, with municipal CCTV footage playing an integral role in the investigation, even while complaints about its presence are registered by citizens concerned about the scope of its use.
Doggone Bones continues Carolyn Haines’s winning formula of endearingly eccentric characters, intricately woven plots, and richly atmospheric Southern settings, with timely social issues gently woven into the plot. Her witty exposition, cheeky dialogue, and page-turning plot curveballs keep the reader enthralled. Doggone Bones is a delightful addition to the Haines collection of cozies with a heart.
Lisa Harrison is an avid reader who spent 15 years in the book publishing industry. When not curled up with a cup of tea, a book, and a rescued cat or two (or more), she enjoys all varieties of needle crafts.
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