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Sarah Booth Delaney's parents died in a car crash when she was 12 years old. Now, she investigates deaths that are not accidental or natural, with the help of her friend, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond. Sarah Booth's reason for becoming an investigator is her love for the family manse, Dahlia House, where she lives with her hound dog, her horse, and the resident ghost, Jitty. Jitty was a house slave who took care of an ancestor of Sarah's. Now she exists seemingly, only to hassle the last living Delaney into marrying, as a good southern belle should, and having babies. Jitty turns up at the most unexpected moments, always dressed exquisitely, in the clothes of some period in history (in this book, it is the period just before the French Revolution), and gives Sarah advice. She never appears when anyone else is in the house. Humphrey Tatum III, of Tatum's Corner, asks Sarah to try and find the murderer of his sister Allison's partner, Quentin McGee. Quentin and Allison had been planning to marry, as soon as same sex marriages would be allowed. Quentin had written a tell-all book, describing the sordid affairs of the society families of the Delta, and has been found face down, suffocated in a bog. Allison has been arrested for the crime. Tinkie and Sarah get on the case and, as in the other books in the series, manage to find the real murderer. This is the first of the series that I have read. I listened to some of the others on audiotape (now also available on CD) but I could hear the narrator's voice as I read. Kate Forbes does a great job of getting the cadence and sounds of the upper class Mississippi delta residents. The books are gentle reminders of what life was like in the deep south and how things have changed, even within the last few years. If you are looking for something that is not demanding but well written and with endearing characters, even some of the bad guys seem to be good guys, then you should try BONES TO PICK. You can go back and read or listen to the others afterwards. The audiobook versions of CROSSED BONES and HALLOWED BONES are available from Recorded Books (www.recordedbooks.com).
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, May 2006
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