The Devil’s Bones

Haines’s lively 21st mystery featuring PI Sarah Booth Delaney (after 2019’s Game of Bones) takes Sarah Booth on an Easter trip to Lucedale, Miss., with her friends Tinkie Richmond and Cece Dee Falcon. While visiting a miniature Holy Land created by theologian Daniel Reynolds, they discover the body of unscrupulous lawyer Perry Slay, who had no shortage of enemies. As Slay was poisoned, the local sheriff views Erik Ward, a pharmacist with knowledge of poisons who was suing Slay for swindling his ill father, as the chief suspect. Erik hires Sarah Booth and Tinkie to prove his innocence. The women uncover further grudges against Slay—and against Reynolds for causing environmental problems with his Holy Land attraction, and against Erik for his secret success as a competitive ballroom dancer. When other corpses crop up, including that of Erik’s former dance partner, and Erik repeatedly disappears, the exasperated investigators can’t help wondering whether Erik is guilty. Loyalties among friends and families provide much of the story’s charm. Cozy fans will have fun. Agent: Marian Young, Young Agency. (July)