‘Bone Appetit’ a Southern mystery

Wispy Spanish moss in the trees, bayous full of creatures from the dark, and lonely ghosts still wandering around old plantations, cemeteries and battlefields — just a few intriguing images from the South that inspire Southern writers to craft lively stories that reflect the flavor and mystery of the region.

And no one does a Southern mystery quite like author Carolyn Haines.

Her “Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries” are widely anticipated by her fans, and with her latest novel, “Bone Appetit,” Haines celebrates the 10th installment in this delightful series.

In this story, Sarah Booth and her business partner and best friend, Tinkie Richmond, are taking a little break from the private investigating business after a particularly disastrous case gone wrong. Indulging in a weeklong retreat at a nearby Viking gourmet cooking school, the gals find themselves surrounded by beauty pageant contestants vying for the title of Miss Viking — and the competition is about to turn deadly.

When contestants start turning up dead, one of the prime suspects, fellow contestant Hedy Lamarr Blackledge, hires Sarah and Tinkie to help clear her name and find out who is really killing the beauty queens.

Mix in a little voodoo, old grudges, backstage mommas and a child custody issue, and you’ve got the makings for a roller coaster ride of a story. And no Sarah Booth Delaney tale would be complete without the frequent appearances and advice from Sarah’s ghost, Jitty, the lovable, wise-cracking “haint” who keeps Sarah on her toes and out of trouble — well, most of the time.

Writing in a manner reminiscent of Southern mystery author Anne George, Haines carries on the tradition of strong Southern women solving crimes and looking good doing it with this brilliant series. (It’s no wonder she was recently honored with the prestigious Harper Lee Award. It is well-deserved.)

Haines takes her readers deep into the heart of the Mississippi Delta, and with her descriptions of the folks who live and love it there, you can almost feel the heat sizzling and smell the verdant green of the cotton fields that surround the old plantations.

While “Bone Appetit” is the 10th book in this series, Haines includes enough back story that first-time readers can easily catch up with the lives of the characters and their adventures. These books will make you want to grab a glass of cold peach ice tea and sit on the porch and visit a while with the folks from Dahlia House.