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Apr 25, 2008

Deanna rated it:

This was a fun read! Decent writing, the story moved along at a nice pace. Sarah Booth Delaney falls somewhere in between Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. She's not as much of an acident prone scatterbrain as Stephanie Plum, and not as dull as the mostly business Milhone. If you are a fan of either of those series, as I am, you should like this one. Amusing characters, interesting plot full of twists, a little romance and a ghost... sounds like a good read More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2011

Nikki rated it:

I continue my project of reading a mystery set in every state. The
other requirement is that it be by an author I haven't read before. I
chose the first in Carolyn Haines' series set in the Mississippi
Delta, THEM BONES. What an enjoyable book, and it also reinforced my
understanding that every region of our country (and our world) has its
beauty and those who love it, even if that place sounds like hell on
earth to me! (I don't like heat and humidity.) Actually, THEM BO More...

5 comments like

Jul 13, 2009

Theresa rated it:

Set in Mississippi (in the delta area), the author makes wonderful use of setting. Sarah Booth Delaney lives in Dahlia House, her family's plantation home, but is having cash flow problems and is behind in paying her mortgage. Not to mention she's unmarried and over 30.

With the help of her great-great-grandmother's nanny's ghost, she concocts a scheme to ransom her friend's dog, Chablis, for money. Somehow, after Sarah Booth becomes the go between between her friend and "the More...

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Jan 05, 2012

Desiree rated it:

"I wondered if any other Delaney woman had combined theft and baking."
This is Sarah Booth Delaney. Poor Sarah was unwed, unemployed, over 30, flat broke and fixing to lose the family plantation. Whats a girl to do? Well Jitty, Sarah's great-great grandmothers nanny (who just so happens to be a ghost) had plenty of ideas. She needed to marry a man who was well off and fast!

I really enjoyed this book. Carolyn Haines has some great characters that made this a re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 04, 2009

Chris rated it:

I started with the first book in this series and I am glad that I did. Sara Booth Delaney has proven to be a very enjoyable character and I look forward to reading more of her adventures. She is over 30, unwed, unemployed, broke, and about to lose the family plantation. In order to save face and the family home, she comes up with a scheme to kidnap one of her fellow "Daddy's Girls" dog, Chablis for a ransom that could buy her some time with the creditors. I didn't much care for her pla More...

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Jun 30, 2010

Kathy rated it:

Sarah Booth.. of Zinnia Mississippi’s aristocracy, though her parents were unorthodox… with a mother who worked on getting people to care… raised around ‘Daddy’s Girl’ , girls who would someday be women of wiles, knowing how to wield their feminine power… and though Sarah knew the rules, she opted out… after her parent’s accidental death, she finishes college, tries (and fails) to become a star in New York, and returns home (at age 33) to Dahlia House … to her roots… but she’s about to lose her More...

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Aug 10, 2009

Vickie rated it:

I had so much fun reading this book. I can't believe it's taken me this long to find this series. Sarah Booth Delaney is a Daddy's Girl, a group of privileged young ladies whose only real goal in life was to marry well and live a life of leisure. Sarah Booth jumped that ship and went to New York after college (Catching the male was an entire course of study for Delta girls and Ole Miss was the preferred hunting ground) to become an actress. That didn't pan out so well and she came home to Zinnia More...

1 comment like

Dec 14, 2008

Jamie rated it:

When I read this:
"Women in my family have a penchant for madness and mysterious "womb" disorders. It's never been clear to me whether one is the result of the other, or if both maladies are a curse upon the Delaney women for acts of desperation, usually associated with a man more deeply involved with either a bottle or a gun than a female."

I KNEW I was going to enjoy this book.
I did. Our herione Sarah Booth Delaney is a Daddy's Girl rebel. Raised in t More...

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Aug 07, 2010

Sara rated it:

A friend of mine recommended this book as I was looking for something fun to read. This book was definitely fun. Set in the Mississippi Delta, the main character, Sarah Booth Delaney, is ornery and head-strong--everything Southern belles aren't supposed to be. Some knowledge of southern culture helps understand the background I think, but is not required to enjoy Haines' wit or sarcasm. As a first book in a series, I think Haines does a nice job developing the main characters as well as the plot More...

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Jan 11, 2012

Julia rated it:

Sarah Booth Delaney, much like Scarlett O'Hara, is desperate to save her family home, Dahlia House. The bank is knocking at the door everyday, so she and the resident ghost, Jitty, cook up a plan involving dog-napping. She's so successful, she's hired by Tinkie Bellcase Richmond to delve into the Garrett family secrets to unearth what happened almost two decades ago. The return of the mysterious Hamilton Garrett the fifth has many women in Zinnia, Mississippi very curious. This was a fun souther More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Lindsey rated it:

This was a tremendously fun book. It's a murder mystery, not much gore, and big on personality. The characters are varied, and the women in particular stand out, although the male characters blurred a little for me.

The high point of the book is definitely the protagonist, Sarah Booth. The author does a great job of making her an individual without condemning the society that raised her. She consistently uses the elements of southern gentility that suit her and rejects the rest to g More...

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Jan 08, 2011

Jennifer E. rated it:

I've seen this book on the bookstore shelves for years and always picked it up, but then put it back down again. The whole dog-napping bit seemed too stupid to me. But it's really such a very small part of the book - literally less than a chapter, and the rest of the story was quite good. I really enjoyed the characters - the author painted them very clearly - and the setting of the Mississippi Delta really came to life and added to the mystery of the story. I didn't see the end coming and w More...

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Aug 18, 2011

Kieraanne rated it:

This book was okay. I liked it enough to read the second, but I'm not so sure about committing myself to the whole series. Sarah Boothe was likable enough, but I was hoping the seeing ghosts thing applied to more than just Jitty. I didn't think the "relationship" with Hamilton seemed very believable, it was so random with no real interaction between them that I wasn't really buying into it. The mystery was interesting enough though I thought the ending was a little unfair in that t More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Lynn rated it:

Loved it...found a new author to follow.."unconventional southern belle, Sarah, who has a knack for uncovering the truth in the Mississippi Delta"...Jitty is one of the characters...she is a ghost from long ago... Sarah'sgr grandfather's nanny.Quick read and very entertaining..was so tired of books that were so predictable...this is NOT..many fun surprises along the way.

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Aug 22, 2009

Yvonne Young rated it:

Can't Wait!!!!

Loved the book!! I especially loved the interview at the end. I thought I knew who had done it but I was wrong. Fell inlove with the characters all over again. Hamilton and Sarah Booth were great. Still truely would watch this on television. Getting tired of the "reality" television. They are not all "reality" anyway.

Great characters, Carolyn...Starting another book!!!

0 comments like

Jul 02, 2011

Katie rated it:

While some of the plot details strained the limits of credulity, the characters were quirky and engaging enough to keep my interest. I think I would have been happier with a clean ending instead of the set-up for a series...not sure I would bother with more of the series. But an enjoyable summer read.

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Dec 19, 2008

Alicia rated it:

Carolyn Haines has the talent to take the reader into the old South. Feeling like your walking down the street under low hanging oak trees filled with moss and the smell of the fields rich with crops! Doesn't take a rainy day to read this series of "Bones" books!!

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Jun 30, 2011

K rated it:

Read for the second time. I read maybe four or five, and then lost track of the author's series. When I saw the latest I realized I needed to reconnect with Jitty and crew. So I am re-reading in order...what better way to make my way thru a hot, humid southern summer?

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Apr 09, 2011

Melissa rated it:

Went back and read the first book--now I have a better understanding of the later book that I read first. Fun read. A little interesting with the ghost! But written in and handled in such a fun manner it was endearing! Entertaining and light.

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Dec 08, 2009

Sara rated it:

A promising beginning to a new series. As someone who occasionally thinks she was a "Southern Belle" in a former life ;-) I enjoyed this tale of the small-town Southern culture of women who know how to get what they want (Daddy's Girls) and the men who do their bidding. Sarah Booth Delaney isn't typical of "her kind" and that's what makes it all interesting. I look forward to the next in the series!

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Aug 19, 2007

LJ rated it:

THEM BONES (Amateur Sleuth-Zinnia-MS-Cont) – G+
Haines, Carolyn – 1st in series
Bantam, 1999-Paperback
Sara Booth Delaney is trying to save Dahlia House, the antebellum family home, where she lives alone, except for Jitty, the ghost of her great-great-great-Grandmother’s nanny. She gets some money by taking her friend’s dog, sending a ransom note and pretending to rescue him. In turn, her friend wants Sara to find out who killed Hamilton the Fourth and his wife in separate, supp More...

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Mar 03, 2009

Shelly rated it:

I keep hearing that these are fantastic, and I remember trying one from the library but not finishing it - probably due to my mood, not the book. IF I can get my ebook reader to cooperate with the .lit file format, I'm lookintg forward to finishing it.

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Nov 29, 2011

Bonnie rated it:

I think I have found another town that I want to keep going back to visit. Sarah Booth has drawn me in to the Delaney mysteries as the heroine who lives in Zinnia Mississippi. The cast of characters in this town all have their quirks that make them appealing, vulnerable and wanting me to come back to learn more about each and every one of them. The mystery was fun to follow and had me guessing until the end. Many different murders revolve around each other with many suspects thrown into the l More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Sue rated it:

Very light hearted book and fun to read. After some of the deep intense books I read, this was a book in which you didn't have to do thinking to keep everything straight.

1 comment like

Aug 19, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

1st in the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. Fun, original. "Daddy's girl" about to lose the family plantation is haunted by her advise giving great-great-grandmother's mammy.

0 comments like

Nov 19, 2008

Pat rated it:

A delightful "chick" mystery - an easy read with some information of the South thrown in - informative for a Yankee born girl. - I'm on to more of her mysteries.

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Jan 22, 2012

Kim rated it:

This is the first in the series. I fell in love instantly. Something is just simply romantic about the south, a big old house, and a ghost. I'll be reading more!

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Dec 01, 2011

Andrea added it

The protagonist of this book talks to ghosts, animals and her womb. Her womb is quite a conversationalist.

Neither the plot nor the characters worked for me.

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2010

Joanne rated it:

Sarah Booth Delaney is a terrific character. She has a resident live-in ghost she converses with, and the secondary characters also have depth, which is nice.

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Jun 07, 2010

Dora rated it:

If you like a light story with a little mystery told by a 30-something Southern girl, you'll like this one. I'm sure I'll read the next in the series.

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