Bones of a Feather

April 11, 2011
At the start of Haines's entertaining 11th Sarah Booth Delaney mystery (after 2010's Bone Appetit), Sarah and her detecting partner, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, agree to help sisters Monica and Eleanor Levert of Natchez, Miss., obtain the insurance payoff for their purloined $4 million heirloom necklace. Having sworn off dangerous cases, both investigators figure proving a high stakes but simple theft should be a breeze. Alas, the evil deeds of no-good ancestor Barthelme Levert hang over Briarcliff, the family estate overlooking the Mississippi, which is haunted by a phantom horse and rider that even the longtime gardener can't seem to get a good look at. Meanwhile, the Leverts' cousin and supposed sole heir, Millicent Gentry, schemes to gain the Levert fortune, even as a drop-dead gorgeous newcomer purports to be Monica's abandoned-at-birth son. In the end, Sarah and Tinkie must strive to thwart a plan of brilliantly diabolical proportions.