Sarah Booth Delaney Dives into Movie Set Disappearances in New Cozy Mystery Novel

by Donna Huber

Delaney Detective Agency gets a taste of the spotlight when they are called to a case on a movie set in Greenville, MS, right on the Mississippi River. Marlon Brandon, heir to a wealthy and influential political family, has brought a film crew to town to film a drama about the 1927 flood that submerged a great deal of Greenville. Marlon wants the world to know the story of the flood―and the heroic role the Brandon ancestors played in rescuing dozens of local residents from drowning.

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May 2024; Minotaur Books; 978-1250885944
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); cozy mystery

Lights, Camera, Bones by Carolyn Haines is the 27th book in the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. I have by no means read all the books in this series. Actually, this is the third book that I've read. When I read my first book in the series Rock-a-bye Bones (book 16) I wasn't sure if I would try anymore in the series. It was good, but I already have several cozy mystery series that I love. I reviewed Tell-Tale Bones (book 26), and though it was a little too much Southern fiction, I thought it was a great cozy mystery. Which brings me to my thoughts on book 27.

This book does not take place in their hometown of Zinnia in Sunflower County (I don't know if this is a real place in Mississippi, but I love the names!). Instead, it's in nearby Greenville, where a movie is being shot about the town's flood in the 1920s. There actually was a flood in 1927 in Greenville, Mississippi. 

The series is growing on me with each book I read. While I'm not to the point of wanting to go back to the beginning of the series, but if I get offered to review the Christmas book coming out in October - I'll read it.

The characters are great. I'm having some trouble picturing Sarah Booth in my head. That might be because there isn't a lot of description - it was probably covered more in the earlier books in the series. Other than that, I didn't struggle with being a relative newbie to the series.

The mystery is pretty good. Sarah Booth and her partner Tinkie don't have a lot of clues to go on to find the two missing movie men. So the reader can't really piece together the mystery either and just has to wait for the story to unfold.

There is a bit of a subplot (which does tie into the main plot) about a shark in the Mississippi River. You know I love all things science-related, so I liked that I got to learn about a shark in freshwater.

The Southern fiction elements weren't as present in this novel as the previous two I read. Or maybe I'm getting used to it more. But if you are a fan of Southern fiction and want a fun cozy mystery to read, then this is definitely the book for you.

Buy Lights, Camera, Bones at Amazon

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