Hallowed Bones

Judiciously using accents, Kate Forbes imbues Haines's fifth Mississippi Delta mystery with subtle Southern flavor. Her skillful vocal characterizations include a ghost, an evangelist, and a glamorous transgendered journalist. P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney and her best friend, Tinkie Richmond, try to help a beautiful mystical healer who has been accused of murdering her own baby. With no false steps and total consistency, Forbes produces a seamless reading that allows the listener to glide right into the story with a clear picture of which character is speaking at all times. D.T.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

March 1, 2004
Amour and a murder make this Mississippi Delta whodunit from Haines (Crossed Bones
, etc.) sure to please. Since PI Sarah Booth Delaney's most spiritual aspect is her live-in ghost, it's more than surprising when a nun hires her to help a "healer" who was raised in the sister's orphanage. Doreen Mallory, tarot card reader, charismatic teacher and object of a large following's devotion, sits in a New Orleans jail cell, accused of murdering her baby. Was it a case of "if you can't heal 'em, kill 'em," or was someone else responsible for the crime? Sarah Booth's associate Tinkie Richmond joins the hunt, and the two set off for the Crescent City, intent on finding the truth. The trail forces Sarah Booth into close quarters with Sheriff Coleman Peters, whose almost-indiscretion with the Southern belle turned detective has left them both wondering what might have been, barring Coleman's wife's first dibs on the lawman. But, par for the course, it's either feast or famine in Sarah Booth's love life, so re-enter her former flame, Hamilton Garrett. Between her own problems and delving into an impressive trio of could-be sperm donors for Doreen's daughter, a number of reasons for wanting the child dead reach the surface. The twists and turns take the reader through the labyrinth of the charming French Quarter and into the settings of high and low society. When the dots are connected, the conclusion is both clever and impressive.