Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines

Item: Ode to the Bones
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted May 25, 2026 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Paranormal, Review, Series / 1 Comment

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Ode to the Bones

by Carolyn Haines

Series: Sarah Booth Delaney #30
Series Rating:

Published by Minotaur Books on May 26, 2026
Setting: Mississippi
Genres: Private Investigator Paranormal Southern Holiday Mystery
Pages: 320
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle
Source: the Publisher
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Sticks and Bones, Charmed Bones, Clacking Bones, A Gift of Bones , Game of Bones, The Devil's Bones, Enchanted Bones, A Garland of Bones, Independent Bones, Lady of Bones, Bones of Holly, Tell-Tale Bones, Lights, Camera, Bones, Blue Christmas Bones, Doggone Bones

Private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney returns to her Mississippi Delta roots, hoping that long drives through cotton fields and the companionship of her dogs will ease her restless spirit. Instead, she’s confronted by a ghostly vision of a woman in white on the Tallahatchie Bridge, who disappears before Sarah Booth can investigate further.

When the local bank president hires her to find a missing farmer, Danny Anderson, Sarah Booth is forced to shift her focus back to the land of the—hopefully—still living. Danny is about to lose his family’s generational farm to foreclosure and is rumored to be entangled in a secret affair with a preacher’s wife. As Sarah Booth and her feisty partner Tinkie dig deeper, they uncover a web of gossip, ghost sightings, and a shadowy land buyer snapping up vulnerable farms.

With the help of her resident ghost-turned-spiritual-guide, Jitty, and her own unrelenting instincts, Sarah Booth must unravel the mystery of Danny’s disappearance, confront a town full of half-truths, and decipher the cryptic clues left behind—including those wrapped in lyrics and riverwater. But someone is watching her every move, and if she isn’t careful, she may be the next body swept away by the Tallahatchie’s current.

Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines is melancholy and brings Sarah Booth close to her breaking point.

Will Sarah Booth and Tinkie find Danny before it is too late?

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are hired to find a missing local farmer. This one is a bit different because Oscar is the one hiring the detective agency. It seems that the man’s family farm is going to be foreclosed by Oscar’s bank, and he feels responsible for the man’s absence. There are so many rumors around this young man and his choices in life.

We have a lot of folklore in this installment. And we have some new people in the area, along with the return of some bad pennies. Sarah Booth starts out as her normal self; however, by the end, she has figured some things out and isn’t acting like herself.

I love that the whole gang is here for this one, including CeCe, Millie, Harold, and Oscar. Even our favorite little terror, Roscoe, makes an appearance.

Five Stars

My rating for Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines is five stars. I absolutely love this series. The next installment is the finale. I know now that I am going to miss Sunflower County and the Mississippi Delta stories. I do highly recommend this book and series. If you haven’t started it yet, Zinnia is a wonderful place; you won’t want to miss it.

Jitty’s Visits

Sarah Booth’s haunt is showing old folk singers from the 1960s and 1970s. They have a recurring theme of heartbreak, but is that the real message?

Other Books in the Series

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines.

Until the next time,

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About Carolyn Haines

Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over 70 books. She was the recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Distinguished Writing and the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence, as well as the “Best Amateur Sleuth” award by Romantic Times. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Alabama on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of.

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