"Crossed Bones" is my favorite entry into the Mississippi Delta mysteries. At first, the plot seemed to be very typical-- a white man murders a black man-- but there is much more to this mystery than meets the eye. The pace is fast, & we also get to see Sarah Booth grow along the way. She still hasn't found the perfect man, but I have a feeling that she will in time. As always, Jitty offers the yin to Sarah Booth's yang, & the series would not be the same without her.

I have been a faithful reader Ms. Haines, but this time, she did not come through. The main character of the books, Sarah Booth Delaney, has turned out to be too much of a slut. In love with a married man!!! Where is the true Southern Belle, don't kiss and tell?? By the time Sarah drops her panties, and she drops them all the time, the whole town knows about it. Does Sarah have everyone in town on speed-dial? A southern lady - Sarah is not! I don't believe I can struggle through another book.

Ugh, who cares about Sarah Booth at this point. Where is the mystery? These books can be figured out in nanoseconds. The author seems intent on creating her main character as a femme fatale. I don't buy it (though to my regret, I did buy this book.) Who else thinks it very unsexy that the main character is becoming hooked up with a married man?

Beyond that, the book was tiresome. How many times do we have to be told that the guitar man is sexy in order for us to believe it. Apparently, many more times that the author forced down our throat.

Mystery? As soon as the bikers showed up, I figured them for the murderers.

Weak, weak, plot. Characters are becoming card board and predictable. I'm sick of the author's gimmick of having her character be haunted by a black, ex-slave. Wouldn't the ghost have family members of her own? She is obsessed with her former owner's bloodline and has to ensure that it continues. Why? Who cares?

Tinkie continues to be the one bright spot in this lackluster series.

Just wonderfully enjoyable reading. This series is quirky (a ghost with a past we have yet to be told), a decaying but well loved southern mansion as background, and an otherwise regular woman, with hopes and dreams, foibles and strengths. Characters become less two dimentional as the series unfolds, but the situations continue to surprise. I like the weaving of the background stories, the southern culture (up to a point, the "daddy's girl" references and some of the female stereotypes are tedious and stop the flow of the story, but all in all a series to read, enjoy, if not to ponder deeply.

I really enjoyed this entry in the Mississippi Delta series. It deals with a more serious subject than previous entries - that of a racism that is, unfortunately, still prevalant in some communities.
In this episode, P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney is asked by the widow of a murdered black blues musician to find out who really killed him as she doesn't think the man accused, a white formerly racist bluesman, is guilty.
Sarah Booth must deal with, among the normal problems an investigation brings, a town that is divided along racial lines due to the killing, a son of the murdered man who hates all white people, two biker friends of the accused (also racist), and, of course, Jitty, her house ghost. I must admit that I agree with one of the other reviewers that Jitty can be tiresome as she contradicts herself repeatedly and, for some reason, the author insists on describing her various outfits down to the smallest detail.
Also in the plot is some romance - Sarah Booth is in love with the married sheriff, she is falling in love with the accused, and she has a few dates with a rich northerner who is in town to buy the club that the murdered man owned.
I think that this book is the best of the series thus far - it seems to reach a new level of competence in its style of writing and tackles a very serious subject with sensitivity. For me, it was almost a 5-star book, and would have been even closer to 5 stars if Jitty had been dropped completely or been a smaller part of the book.
Will definitely be reading the next in the series, "Hallowed Bones."