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The name Sarah Booth Delaney refers to a series of books written by Carolyn Haines. It is also the name of the primary protagonist in the series. Haines, who was born in 1953, is a journalist like her parents.
Order of Sarah Booth Delaney Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Them Bones | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Buried Bones | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Splintered Bones | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Crossed Bones | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Hallowed Bones | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Bones To Pick | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Ham Bones | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Wishbones | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Greedy Bones | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Bone Appétit | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Bones of a Feather | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Bonefire of the Vanities | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Smarty Bones | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Shorty Bones (Short Story) | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Booty Bones | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Bones on the Bayou (Short Story) | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | Bone to Be Wild | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Jingle Bones (Short Story) | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Guru Bones (Short Story) | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Rock-a-Bye Bones | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Sticks and Bones | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | Bones and Arrows | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | A Gift of Bones | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | Charmed Bones | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | Clacking Bones (Short Story) | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | Game of Bones | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 27 | Enchanted Bones (Short Story) | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 28 | The Devil's Bones | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 29 | A Garland of Bones | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 30 | Independent Bones | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 31 | Lady of Bones | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
| 32 | Bones of Holly | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
| 33 | Tell-Tale Bones | 2023 | Description / Buy |
However, she took after her grandmother who was a great storyteller. Haines has written books under the names of Lizzie Hart and Carolyn Burnes. However, it is her work as Carolyn Haines that has attracted true acclaim.
While the Hart and Burnes books allow her to play with romance and comedy, it is only under her real name that Haines writes mystery. And she has succeeded greatly as a result.
The Sarah Booth Delaney Books are about a southern belle called Sarah Delaney Booth. She is over the age of thirty and still unmarried. Even worse, she has no job. She’s always thinking about leaving her home of Zinnia, Louisiana intent on using her acting talents. However, she has as little luck in acting as she does with men.
The fact that she keeps finding herself in situations where she must use her investigative skills to help friends that have been wronged only makes it that much harder for Sarah to focus on her work. But she does her best, using her charm to adapt to any situation and make friends in unique places.
With a bossy antebellum ghost providing all the distractions she needs, Sarah isn’t quite like any other detective. Carolyn Haines delivered her first novel in this mystery series in 1999.
Them Bones introduced Sarah Booth, a flat broke unwed lady over thirty who is determined to not lose the family plantation. She is also being haunted by the ghost a great grandmother’s nanny. Before long, she is forced to put her sleuthing skills to the test when a murder causes a stir.
Sarah Booth Delaney Awards
Carolyn Haines hasn’t won any notable awards specifically for writing the Sarah Booth mystery books. However, the books have been recognized for their quality, receiving a number of accolades in the process.
This includes receiving the title of Best Amateur Sleuth. One of the books in the series, Hallowed Bones, also had the privilege of being named one of the Five Best Mysteries in 2004. This was by Library Journal.
Best Sarah Booth Delaney Books
Carolyn Haines has achieved more success from her Sarah Booth mysteries than from any romance or comedy novels she ever wrote, with some of the best books in the mystery series including the following:
Splintered Bones: Sarah Booth isn’t without her problems. Besides being jobless and unwed in her thirties, Sarah must also deal with a great grandmother’s nanny’s ghost that is determined to marry her off to an appropriate suitor.
However, her own problems take a back seat when Eulalee McBride confesses to killing her husband. McBride turns to Sarah for help, asking her to prove that her husband deserved everything he got.
When Sarah looks into the situation, she finds that there are more than enough suspects running around Zinnia in Mississippi.
This book has a lot going for it. It has some humor. The characters are amusing and the mystery is quite decent. There are almost no cozy mysteries on the market today that are this quirky, unique and entertaining.
Hallowed Bones: Thirty-something Sarah Booth Delaney loves her thriving detective agency, and not even the outrageous ghost haunting her can keep Sarah from basking in the good times.
Sarah takes on the case of Doreen Mallory, a mother accused of giving her baby sleeping pills. Sarah is uncertain about Doreen’s guilt and begins to look into the men surrounding her, men that have so much to lose if Doreen revealed what she knew.
Sarah’s own personal life is in turmoil as she struggled to choose between an old flame and a married sheriff.
The case in this book is tricky. There is a lot of emotionally draining drama in the book as a whole. Luckily, Carolyn Haines makes great fun of all the madness and mayhem.
Other Book Series you May Like
The “Meg Langlow” series is written by Donna Andrews. Set in Yorktown in Virginia, the award-winning books follow a successful decorative blacksmith that also boasts amazing detective skills.
“Bibliophile Mysteries” written by Kate Carlisle, the follows Brooklyn Wainwright, a Bookbinder in San Francisco who takes time in between restoring books to help murder victims find the justice they so deserve.
What Is The Next Book in The Sarah Booth Delaney Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Sarah Booth Delaney Series. The newest book is Tell-Tale Bones and was released on May, 16th 2023.