CHARMED BONES

The arrival of a trio of Wiccan sisters creates chaos in a Mississippi town and brings plenty of business to a female-fronted detective agency.

Sarah Booth Delaney’s work for the Delaney Detective Agency isn’t much in demand in Sunflower County. Maybe that’s because everyone feels that they know each other too well for anyone to be keeping secrets. Or maybe it’s the great work local lawman Coleman Peters does keeping folks in line, though Sarah Booth may be a little biased in judging how safe her boyfriend makes the town. Either way, Sarah Booth (Sticks and Bones, 2017, etc.) is more than happy to look for Bob and Kitten Fontana’s son when he runs off after spray-painting the side of Musgrove Manor. Artist and owner Trevor Musgrove couldn’t care less about the mess, but new residents Faith, Hope, and Charity Harrington know the vandalism is aimed at their Wiccan heritage. Kitten insists the sisters are bringing trouble on themselves by opening the Harrington School of Nature and Wiccan Studies and even hires Sarah Booth to dig up dirt on them. Sarah Booth isn’t opposed to Wicca per se, but when the sisters start to encourage her friend and colleague Tinkie Richmond’s dreams of parenthood, Sarah Booth’s less sure of them and her own instincts. Tinkie’s been through the wringer about wanting a child, and Sarah Booth feels she must stop the sisters before they break Tinkie’s heart. Before Sarah Booth can dig too deep, a dead body raises the stakes in the investigation, and Sarah Booth, Tinkie, and resident ghost Jitty all play roles in the developing “plots within plots within plots.”

Confusing multiple plots and double agents make this latest installment a little hard to follow, but Haines comes through in showcasing her heroine’s romance and friendship where it really matters.