Ode to the Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery  

By Carolyn Haines  

Minotaur Books, 2026 

Hardcover with dust jacket: $28.00  

Genre: Fiction/Mystery, Detective/Cozy  

Reviewed by Lisa Harrison  

  

The South’s sassiest female detective team, Sarah Booth Delaney and Tinkie Belchase Richmond, returns in Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines. This rollicking new adventure for the partners of the Delaney Detective Agency features intrigue worthy of a Bobbie Gentry song and an apparition reminiscent of a Wilkie Collins tale. 

The follow-up to Doggone Bones finds Sarah Booth musing on the return of her arch-nemesis, Gertrude Stromm, and on the still-unanswered questions about the past. Sarah Booth has little time to ponder the situation, as she quickly finds herself the sole witness to a woman standing on the Tallahatchee bridge who seemingly vanishes. Directly after this strange incident, Tinkie’s bank president husband hires the sleuths to investigate the disappearance of Danny Anderson, whose farm he recently foreclosed.   

Possibilities to explain the disappearance of the local agricultural leader include suicide, murder, or simply a planned but undisclosed absence from his home. Adding to the intrigue, there are rumors about his close relationship with the wife of an admired preacher. The cast of characters expands to include a local gossip, a sleazy farm buyer’s agent, a local-girl-made-good, and fortune hunters in search of buried treasure. Then, when the body of a local farmer is found, another wrinkle arises: could Danny be a suspect rather than a victim? 

Jitty, the resident ghost of Sarah Booth’s ancestral home, visits her often from beyond the veil both at home and at sites where the detective is deep in an investigation. Jitty often enjoys manifesting her presence in the form of celebrities. In Ode to the Bones, Jitty is in her 1960s folk/country singer era. Her renditions in the guise of famous musicians provide clues to the mysteries and offer commentary on social issues faced by the South in both the past and the present. 

Haines’s deep-fried Southern prose pays homage to the best of the region, from its expanses of natural beauty to the charm of its xxx folklore. Her engaging storytelling also juxtaposes aspects of the South that are less idyllic, from the recalcitrance of a population determined to ignore scientific fact to their own detriment, to a history of misogyny, to a tolerance for oppression, at least among those not likely to be oppressed. Farmers in Ode to the Bones face the real consequences of climate change denial and corporate interests more concerned with profits from dangerous chemicals than the health and well-being of the population. Female characters reckon with being viewed very differently from their male counterparts when adultery is suspected. While never cracking a moral horsewhip, Haines gently draws the reader’s attention to these troubling issues as Sarah Booth ponders the fallibilities of her beloved Mississippi. 

While the primary mystery of Danny Anderson’s disappearance reaches a satisfying conclusion after a number of unexpected and entertaining twists, Sarah Booth’s personal story takes a dramatic turn, with a cliffhanger at the book’s end. Avid fans of the series will eagerly await the next installment. In the meantime, they can create a playlist of the songs and artists featured in the story, to be enjoyed with a recreation of Sarah Booth’s favorite vegetable plate: a fitting homage to the South so lovingly depicted in Haines’ vivid prose. 

 

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.