Beautifully Written

It is such a pleasure to read well written words that flow on the page.
The characters, location and story are extraordinarily entertaining.
Well done, Ms. Haines. Well done.
( )

Sounded good but just fizzled out. ( )

Sarah Booth has a big problem. If she doesn’t get a lot of money really soon she is going to lose her family home. Her parents are deceased, and she has no one to call on for help. Well, actually, there is someone who gives her a lot of advice: a ghost who was the nanny to a long dead relative. Some of the advice is good, but some is likely to get Sarah Booth in trouble. A series of misadventures leads Sarah Booth into committing a crime, then being instrumental in solving that crime, to becoming an unofficial P. I., to almost getting killed in the process. Whew! Whenever Sarah Booth is around, you can be sure you will be highly entertained! The writing has a delightful southern flavor, as do the characters. This first book in the series will undoubtedly leave you wanting more. ( )

Sarah Booth Delany has returned to her home in Zinnia, Mississippi. After a failed career in New York, she returns to her ancestral home, Dahlia House, over thirty, unemployed and unwed. Also living at Dahlia House is Jitty, a her great-great-grandmother's nanny - and a ghost who is now haunting Sarah Booth.

Yet Sarah Booth is a 'Daddy's Girl', whose only job is to marry well and enjoy the privileges that come with it. But she is not like the others of her ilk, she is unconventional and not interested in marrying the first man who asks her that is rich. She returns home to Zinnia Mississippi, still unwed and now unemployed, and about to lose her ancestral home, Dahlia House. Desperate for money, she listens to Jitty, who convinces her that the quickest way to get it is to kidnap Chablis, her best friend Tinkie's dog, and then ransom him back. So she sends Tinkie a ransom note for $5000 and Tinkie, frantic, wants Sarah Booth to deliver the money and retrieve her dog. Having done this, Tinkie declares that Sarah Booth is now a PI, and hires her to find out why an ex-boyfriend, Hamilton Garrett V, has recently returned home.

What this does is unleash an entire series of events regarding a 20-year-old murder case that leads to questions nobody wants asked and threats on Sarah Booth's life. But she presses on, because by now she is immersed in the case and has some questions of her own. It doesn't help that she's attracted to the murder victim's son, who has been living abroad since the murder, and has now returned home and wants nothing more than for her to drop the whole thing.

You see, years ago, Hamilton was exiled to Europe when first his father, then his mother were killed. There are other reasons he was sent to Europe, and after setting sight on Hamilton, and immediately being drawn to him, she ultimately decides that the deep mystery surrounding his family and the reason he was sent to Europe are something she must find out. She first convinces herself it is for her friend Tinkie, but soon realizes she is doing it for herself.

While she is investigating Hamilton, she also begins investigating the two murders (under the guise of writing a fictional book), since she believes that Tinkie deserves to know the truth about the situation. Sarah Booth begins discovering secrets, and soon finds out what everyone really wants her to do is just leave it all alone and forget the past - which she is not about to do.

This book moved along at a great pace, Sarah Booth is headstrong, her conversations with Jitty are interesting, to say the least, and the descriptions of the area where she lives are colorful. Ms. Haines has a terrific way with words, and draws you deep into the delta of the story, wanting to know more.

What I really found the most interesting were the women. The way the women interacted with each other was extremely telling in how the Daddy's Girls were different, and of a different class. Sarah Booth was somewhere in the middle, now disdained by the true Daddy's Girls, but still one of them, and as such, those that weren't kept her at arm's length.

This book was delightful, the mystery well done, the characters described wonderfully. I found it all intriguing enough to want to pick up the next one immediately. I highly recommend this and can't wait to read the next in the series. ( )

LOVE this series, and will find the rest and read them, too! ( )