Haines is a great storyteller! I have been enjoying her Bones books for a while now. They are funny and make for great summertime reading. I finished this one up at the beach over the weekend and am looking forward to more! I laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions when I read this series.
Highly recommended!

When a cozy runs for over twenty books, traditionally, one of two things happens: either it runs out of steam until the characters simply rehash the same plots over and over, or the author starts taking chances. In the best way possible, Bones of Holly, number twenty-five in the Sarah Booth Delaney series, falls into the latter category. Author Carolyn Haines hasn't just kept her carefully crafted world thriving—she's written a good mystery in the process.

Here, sleuth Sarah Booth is back on the case with her friend Tinkie. While the two are supposed to spend the Christmas season in Bay St. Louis judging a tree decorating competition, the two other judges, a dueling pair of writers, won't stop bickering with each other. When one of the authors, Sandra, disappears, all attention turns to her rival, Janet. Enter Sarah Booth and Tinkie, whose attempts to locate their co-judge quickly uncovers a bizarre plot involving bouts of plagiarism, a host of secrets, and Al Capone.

Bones of Holly exemplifies the quirky cozy. These characters are larger than life, starting with Sarah Booth, who's built with a lot of sass but plenty of heart, and extending to a patchwork group of suspects, friends, and Mississippi denizens. Haines's stories, primarily because of her rich characters, exude a heightened Southern charm, and this one is no different. All the standard pieces from previous books are here, and they're stronger than ever.

The mystery itself is more playful than a traditional cozy. There's no murder catalyst, though Haines manages to keep the stakes high by exploring some surprises between the two battling writers. To cap it off, Jitty, the ghost of an enslaved woman who's been looking after Delaney women since antebellum, keeps popping up with cryptic warnings and Hollywood-style costume changes. These bits of veiled information are a great way to add tension, but the continued enslavement of a woman create uncomfortable questions of their own. Haines attempts to maneuver around this by crafting a late scene where Sarah Booth suddenly showcases an overwhelming love for Jitty, but this relationship remains complicated at best.

Still, it's hard not to understand why this series made it to twenty-five books. It's a good story.

Love these cozy mystery novels in the series. The author has provided a unique premise and continues to produce wonderful works. I highly recommend this to all those that love a great cozy mystery.

A wonderful read. This put me in the Christmas spirit. I love the characters and how well formed they are. The two antagonists were amusing and I loved reading the tension between them. I was completely invested in the mystery and could not guess it and it was solved on the page. I loved this book. I eagerly await the next in the series!

Sarah and the gang are going to bay saint Louis for their Christmas holiday trip. Twinkie and Sarah are excited to be judging a Christmas tree contest. When the festivities kick off Sandra who is an author and her assistant go missing and of course the Delaney detective agency cannot turn this case down. The excitement and the suspense had me bouncing in my chair until I found out how it's going to end. It's a wonderfully clean and entertaining book.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie, with baby Maylin, are judges for the Christmas tree contest in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, this year. The contestants are extremely creative so they’re glad there are two more judges, Sandra and Janet, both writers and former friends. Now they’re either frenemies or enemies depending on the day. They’re not shy about causing screaming fights in public and accusing each other of plagiarism. While the topics may be the same, the genre is not, so why get to the hair pulling stage over it? One writes fiction and the other non-fiction. Still, after each public display of temper, sales for both authors go through the roof.

Sandra is hosting a gala complete with a book signing to launch her latest bestseller. During the party she and her assistant disappear. Is it another stunt to boost sales or has something happened? Either way, how did they get out of the house, and where did they go?

As the police circle closer to Janet as cause for the disappearance, she begs Sarah Booth and Tinkie to find the truth although she’s not very helpful in that regard. To make matters worse, now Sarah Booth and Tinkie have to judge all the holiday tree entrants on their own. As circumstances worsen, they call in recruits in the form of Millie and CeCe from back home. Before you know it, the gang’s all here and the hunt is on. What could go wrong? Well, Jitty, Sarah Booth’s own personal ‘hant’ (ghost) keeps popping up with her ever cryptic and unexplained messages from beyond.

This is book twenty-five in the series. Look for number twenty-six, Tell Tale Bones, available for pre-order now, shipping in May, 2023. It’ll be a good time!

This was a great Holiday book and I loved riding along on Sarah Booth and Twinkie’s investigation.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

One of my favorite sleuths and Christmas made the perfect holiday read. I enjoyed the book so much and I always love Jitty and her flare for dramatics. My only complaint was I didn’t want the book to end I highly recommend this book

This is the twenty fifth book in the series but the first I have read. Regardless, I found it easy to keep up with the story. Overall it is a sweet cozy mystery perfect for the holiday season.

Bones Of Holly by Carolyn Haines

Sarah Beth and Twinkie, along with baby Marlin, are in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
for Christmas this year, as judges for the annual library tree decorating contest.

I love Carolyn Haines’ books, including this one. The author makes you laugh, even as you are chasing criminals. Many of the characters are criminals. Liked reading about the Al Capone. Era. I recommend this book.

Thanks for the opportunity to read for my honest review. I enjoyed the setting of this book and the cozy mystery vibes. It was such a fun holiday read since I’m a seasonal reader. As in, I won’t read a summer vibes book in the winter. The characters were fun and it was easy to get attached. Recommend!

I really enjoyed this book, I think it’s the best one in the series so far. The Mississippi Delta setting was beautifully described, and I loved learning about Capone and all the liquor running that went on. Definitely atmospheric! I also liked the Christmas decorations and events, I could almost see it in my mind’s eye.
The mystery was well written and the conclusion was kind of a surprise. I loved it! 5 stars.

I loved this book! I haven’t found a book I didn’t like by this author. Love her cozy mysteries. Always looking for her new ones! I would definitely recommend this book!

Bones of Holly is the 25th Sarah Booth Delaney cozy mystery by Carolyn Haines. Released 11th Oct 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. 

This is a very long-running cozy series with well established characters and fun convoluted mysteries which are enjoyable and full of light humor. There's a strong paranormal element (the main character is sort of haunted by her great-great grandmother's nanny, a black woman named Jitty who has *Opinions* and lots of cryptic advice). MC Sarah Booth Delaney is also a PI and this installment sees her drawn into a mystery around a disappearance, feuding local authors, and all set in a local holiday destination where she and her BFF Tinkie are guest judges at a Christmas tree decorating competition.

It's a very light cozy and readers should be prepared to bring a prodigious suspension of disbelief to the read. Although the mystery is self contained in this volume, the characters have developed over a very long time and if read as a standalone, expect some spoilers for earlier books in the series. With 25 (!!!) books extant at this point, it would be a great choice for a very long binge read. Readers who are already fans of Donna Andrews, Jenn McKinlay, and Ellery Adams will likely already have the series on their radar, but if not, it's a fun one.

Four stars. Cozy mystery comfort food.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was a fun cozy mystery for the holidays. I enjoyed Haines writing and plot. The characters were cute and the suspects were well written.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I have read a few books from this series and I have enjoyed it a lot. I really like the characters and it has a very ghostly witchy kind of vibe. I love the cover. I really love the main character.

Bones of Holly is 25th in Carolyn Haines' popular cozy mystery series starring Southerner Sarah Booth Delaney. Center stage with her is her BFF and PI partner Tinkie.

This time they head to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where Tinkie and Sarah Booth are to judge the library's annual tree decorating contest.

As well as the library Christmas trees, this episode centers on Al Capone's rum-running in the 1920s and the mansion he built in Bay St. Louis.

As always our PI due solve the mystery and celebrate the holiday in style.

Ebook/Mystery:. This is book 25 in the Sarah Booth Delaney mysteries. This one is more of a light hearted story as the person is missing.
It's ironic that I just finished a book about two authors who grew up together with one famous and the other super-famous.
This book has two competing authors where the reader has to figure out if what they're saying is the truth or well thought our fiction to get back at the other. Of course, Sarah Booth is caught in the middle. Sarah Booth never ages, but either do Tinkie, Coleman, or Oscar. (I still picture Oscar as middle aged to old). All the crew is there minus the unleashed pets. I do wish Sarah Booth would go back to her roots in the first books as a funny trouble maker, who ransomed a dog to pay her taxes. She's really settled down.
This book was fun to read in time for Christmas. As a disclaimer, I did get this book from Netgalley in lieu of an honest review.

Carolyn Haines involves the reader in another Sarah Booth Delaney mystery in Bones of Holly. Sara Booth and Tinkey are engaged as judges in a Christmas tree decorating contest. The other judges Sandra O'Day and Janet Malone are champion Mississippi authors and rivals. Sandra vanishes after a dustup with Janet and Janet asks Sarah and Tinkie to find her. There are rumors of Al Capone's treasure and threats to the safety of Sandra and the man who vanished with her. Read on and solve the puzzle.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Sarah Booth and Tinkie and their respective men and new born Maylin are planning to enjoy some pre-Christmas fun while Sarah Booth judges a Christmas tree competition with two famous local authors. These two would make Bette Davis and Joan Crawford blush with their public displays of antagonism. While they both are highly successful in different forms of literature, they are famous for their cat fights, one of which Sarah and Tinkie witness first hand.

To launch the tree competition, Sandra is holding a party in her mansion once owned by Al Capone and his movie star mistress. She and her assistant vanish. Right at the party. And of course, her nemesis, Janet, is the first suspect. Janet hires the two PIs to find the missing duo, becoming increasingly frantic as time passes and no clues emerge as to their whereabouts. There is reason to question why such a sworn enemy would care enough but as the story evolves the reason becomes clear. There are plenty of red herrings to make the reader and the PI traverse off into another direction but often the first hunch turns out to be the right one.

Entertaining and fun, I always enjoy Sarah Booth and her friends. Each time one can almost smell the Delta and become immersed in the story. If you are looking for a holiday read, this might be just your ticket. Five purrs and two paws up.