I've loved this series since book #1 and this book was not a disappointment. Only Sara Booth and Tinkie can find murder wherever they travel. I grew up in Mississippi and I love remembering the places that are familiar to me.

This is another great story with a intriguing mystery. The characters seem like old friends with relationships that are growing stronger with each book. After reading this one, I'm ready for the Christmas season especially after the parade.

I'm looking forward to visiting with these ladies again.

A Garland of Bones, the 22nd in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series by Carolyn Haines, finds Sarah Booth and her friends visiting a B&B in the town of Columbus deep in the Mississippi Delta. The holiday setting seems idyllic until it becomes apparent that Columbus is also reality tv worthy. When the accidents start to happen and a holiday cruise leads to a person overboard, Sarah Booth and Tinkie turn this trip into a working vacation.

This mystery was complex and well-crafted. Sarah Booth, Tinkie and the whole gang are authentic, quirky and even flawed, yet they make you want to be friends with them. This series just gets better and better. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.

Sarah Booth can never seen to get away from a "who done it", not even by traveling to Columbus, MS for a holiday weekend with the girls. Also don't forget that she always gets "her man who done it". Carolyn Haines could not write a bad book on her worst day. Her books are always entertaining and enjoyable to read and Sarah Booth, Tinkie, & Jitty make a great cast of characters (don't forget the men folk!).

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone's favorite southern detective duo is back for another holiday themed adventure, this one taking place just before the start of the Christmas holidays. Sarah Booth, Tinkie, as well as their spouses and many of their nearest and dearest friends are headed for a vacation across the state. Although the group has plenty of fun, festive events planned and loads of Christmas shopping to get through before the holiday hits, It's not long before their relaxing vacation quickly turns into a case the Delaney Detective Agency feels compelled to investigate. A series of mysterious accidents that are befalling the residents of the small town leads one haughty local to seek out the assistance of Sarah Booth and Tinkie. As the pair investigates and more strange accidents keep occurring, they must rely on the help of their loved ones to figure out who is behind these nefarious incidents so they can get home in time for the holiday.
Wherever Sarah Booth and Tinkie go, hilarity and mayhem are sure to follow and this new adventure featuring the Delaney Detectives has plenty of both. A Garland of Bones is the newest release in the charming southern cozy series centered around Sarah Booth and her detective agency. Full of plenty of southern sass and charm as well as feel good Christmas cheer to get readers in the holiday spirit. The mystery itself was complex yet light and although the who was relatively easy to figure out the why had me guessing right up until the end. The love between the characters in this series is one of my favorite aspects and what honestly sets it apart from many of the other cozy series out there. I highly recommend A Garland of Bones as well as the earlier releases in this series for those looking for a light, comical, and well written cozy mystery.

Another romp with characters you love. A new background doesn’t stop the fun. A charming southern mystery.

I could not get into this book at all. I really believe that you have to have read previous books to even begin to understand the characters and what was going on. Very confusing to me.

A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines is the 22th book in the Sarah Booth Delaney series, and I loved it!! I love the whole series, please keep them coming. Not only is this book really funny at times, it can also be emotional, and feel like visiting old friends. As always Garland of Bones does not disappoint. Tinkie and her husband are treating their friends, including Sarah Booth and Coleman, to Christmas in Columbus, MS. When a death and accidents occur, Sarah Booth and Tinkie are hired to solve the mystery. There are twists and turns around every corner. I found this book to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you love mysteries with a little bit of everything, I strongly recommend this book/series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What a great book. I really enjoyed hanging with the good folks from Zinnia. They would be an awesome group to go on a fun vacation. They met some very interesting people in Columbus and of course they just made their stay more exiting. If Tinkie gets tired of being a PI, she could always be a vacation planner. Who wouldn’t love Jitty? She is a hoot! Have fun hanging with the guys with their mysterious missions and the girls while they do what they do best. I can’t wait to hang with them again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

Being a private eye Sarah Booth's life is frequently filled with adventure but this week is going to be different. Sarah Booth and a group of friends take a holiday trip to enjoy all things Christmas and also on the agenda is some quality one-on-one time with her boyfriend Coleman. However, a rash of dirty tricks has Clarissa, a woman of questionable character, hiring Sarah Booth and her partner Tinkie to find out who is behind the pranks before someone gets killed.

This series is always entertaining with southern flair and a diverse cast of characters. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines
Publisher: St. Martin's Press & Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Release Date: October 13, 2020

A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines is book 22 in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series. Prior to reading this book, I had not read anything by the author before and did not know what to expect.

While this is part of a long series, it does function as a standalone novel fairly well. There was not a lot of background or character introduction so it felt like I walked into the middle of something and it took a little while to catch up.

Overall, this was a cute mystery with good suspense. I haven't decided if I will go back and read the previous books, as I was drawn to this book for the Christmas theme.

I'm so grateful to Carolyn Haines, St. Martin's Press & Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

An unusual mystery. Is there a stalker or just coincided? Will there be a murdsr? Was there already a murdsr? While on vacation the group end up working a case-- but is there a case of just a rich, selfish woman taking the heat off herself?
It's a hummdinger.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. A Garland of Bones is a good entry in this series. While it can be enjoyed without having read the previous books, I personally was glad to be familiar with the characters and their background. However, the author does her best not to include spoilers in the book for newcomers to the series, which is highly appreciated. It was fun to have the story take place during the Holidays, and in a different city. The mystery is interesting, I wanted to find out what was going on between all these despicable characters from Columbus. Quite frankly, I felt liked the whole lot of them could have been killed, with all the cheating and their nasty behavior. Fortunately, the author brought balance to that ugliness with the main characters having good values and morality. A Garland of Bones is a perfect choice, whether you are a reader of the series or just looking for a good Christmas-themed mystery.

This is my first book my Carolyn Haines. A huge thanks to St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me an early digital copy of this fun holiday read. I truly enjoy Christmas books ,and I was thrilled to dig in to get the holidays going early. Since I have never read this author before I didn't realize this was book #22 ,and I was not familiar with the characters. Normally I would say you could read this as a stand alone, but in this particular series I felt something was missing. Almost like I should know the characters and background ,but it did not hurt the story in any way. Because it didn't explain the relationships of the characters, I sometimes just questioned why these characters worked together and who was who.
The premise of a road trip is always a good idea .Christmas vacation is the inspiration for this road tri[p. Sarah Booth and Tinkie were the main leading ladies of this group of detectives along with their friends and Chief Coleman Peters. A series of weird events instigates an investigation that leads to a sad family story that encompasses everyone in this little town. It wasn't too hard to figure out the who, but the why was elusive until the end. Told in a light hearted fashion and no gore, it was an enjoyable read despite not really knowing these people from previous stories .
I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a well written holiday tale with a little mischief to brighten the holidays.

Christmas is just around the corner and Sarah Booth Delaney is looking forward to pulling out the family decorations and decking the halls. Well, not so fast - her friend Tinkie has made plans for her friends to have a Christmas road trip to Columbus, MS and a stay at a. nice B&B. Shopping, good food and fun with friends, that's the plan. Things don't go as planned, however upon their arrival. Accidents start happening and soon enough the Delaney Detective Agency has a case. Sarah Booth should have listened to Jitty and stayed home.
There aren't many series I say really should be read in order but this is one of them. Sarah Booth Delaney and Jitty have an interesting relationship. Add to that the rest of the friends - Tinkie, CeCe, Coleman, Jaytee, Oscar, Harold and Millie - and it takes awhile to get to know all of the connections between them. That's one of the reasons I enjoy this series so much. It's like catching up with friends. The mystery is always engaging and leaves me a happy reader.
My thanks to the publisher, Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Spunky southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney tackles a string of strange accidents while celebrating the holiday season in Carolyn Haines's cozy A Garland of Bones. This series never gets old and this author has a remarkable ability of keeping these characters fresh and interesting. If I had any criticism of this book it would be the plot made me think of the book just before this one. But it was fun and entertaining nonetheless and I am looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

It's Christmas and Sarah Booth is off on a trip with her friends. They are going to Columbus, MS to stay in a B&B and participate in a series of Christmas activities. Columbus seems very much like her own hometown with it's gossip and cliques. However, someone seems to have a grudge against this particular group with little accidents adding up to big mischief. An electrocution, some cement being dumped in a car, a fall down the stairs... as things escalate, it seems obvious that someone is going to die if the perpetrator is not stopped.
Sarah Booth is not impressed by this group. It is filled with people only concerned with their own pleasures and images. But one of them offers the Delaney Investigators a big check if they can figure out what is going on.
This story was a little confusing with betrayals on betrayals and there were a few things that were repeated a little too many times but this was overall a fun story that I think regular Sarah Booth Delaney readers will enjoy.

Three stars
This book came out today
Follows The Devil's Bones
ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is part of a series, but it reads well as a stand alone. I enjoy Coleman and Sarah, but I don't really like Jitty. She just seems to be a pain in the tushy. For me, it had a nice surprise ending! Cute cozy mystery 3 stars

Ebook/Mystery: This is book 22 in the series. I liked this book more than the previous book. In this one, Sara Booth, Tinkie, Cece, and their partners go to Columbus, MS for some pre-Christmas shopping and celebrating. After some shenanigans by local townsfolk and an attempted murder, Sarah Booth & Tinkie are hired to see who is behind the high-jinks.
I liked that the author is taking her time with Tinkie's pregnancy (2020 is a bad year to have a baby). All the books I've read in this series pretty much revolve around holidays, and let's face it, we're all ready for New Year's Day 2021.
I like that the characters were the "daddy's girls" of another town. I liked that Harold, who was a jerk in the first couple of books, is growing up. I love that Cece is fully accepted.
There were some flaws in logic in Sarah Booth's thinking, but I let them go. Even though I felt they should have interviewed a gym teacher to see which students were good at archery in high school. Just sayin.
In full disclosure, I got this book from NetGalley in lieu of an honest review and I follow Carolyn Haines on Facebook.

The Sarah Booth Delaney series has been around for a long time (this is book 22), but I'd never picked one up before. A Garland of Bones wasn't bad, but I felt that it ran a bit long. I figured out the culprit mid-way through and was frustrated that Sarah Booth and Tinkie were taking so long to figure things out (of course, Tinkie is pregnant and Sarah Booth's in love, so perhaps I can cut them a little slack). In general, I liked the characters and the writing, so I'll try again from the beginning of the series.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines was the first book of hers that I read, thank you Netgalley. Sarah Booth Delaney is getting ready for Christmas. A haint named Jitty is living in her house. Sarah and her friends rent a limo to go to the city and go Christmas shopping. They run the Delaney Detective Agency. Then a man has an accident while the group is eating dinner. They are asked to find out what is going on. After several adventures to try to find more information, they have even more questions. A woman goes missing from a boating accident, what is going on? Will they solve the mysteries before Christmas? What an enjoyable read, I will have to read more of her stories.