Bless their little hearts.
Sweetie saved me from responding. She went to Scott and licked his hand. She remembered him. Even Pluto checked him out and gave him a pass. Chablis slept on. Her reunion with Sweetie and Pluto had exhausted her.
Scott made a stiff Jack on the rocks for each of us. “To good times in Sunflower County.”
We clinked glasses, and I drank. The burn went all the way to my toes.
“Now let’s show these New Orleanians how to party.” He offered his arm.
Together, we left the hotel room and arrived at the ball. My friends crowded close, and Scott left us to set up for his performance.
I looked at Cece, Harold, Millie, Tinkie, Doc, Madame Tomeeka, and Oscar. My friends clustered around me, protective and loving. My heart was broken, but I wasn’t going to die. That much was clear. I would survive, as Jitty had pointed out. And maybe, sometime in the future, I would love again.
ALSO BY CAROLYN HAINES
SARAH BOOTH DELANEY MYSTERIES
Smarty Bones
Bonefire of the Vanities
Bones of a Feather
Bone Appétit
Greedy Bones
Wishbones
Ham Bones
Bones to Pick
Hallowed Bones
Crossed Bones
Splintered Bones
Buried Bones
Them Bones
NOVELS
Revenant
Fever Moon
Penumbra
Judas Burning
Touched
Summer of the Redeemers
Summer of Fear
NONFICTION
My Mother’s Witness: The Peggy Morgan Story
AS R. B. CHESTERTON
The Darkling
The Seeker
About the Author
CAROLYN HAINES is the author of the Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries. She is the recipient of both the Harper Lee Distinguished Writing Award and the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Semmes, Alabama, on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BOOTY BONES. Copyright © 2014 by Carolyn Haines. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Hiro Kimura
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Haines, Carolyn.
Booty bones: a Sarah Booth Delaney mystery / Carolyn Haines.—First edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-250-04613-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-4629-6 (e-book)
1. Delaney, Sarah Booth (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women private investigators—Mississippi—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 4. Mississippi—Fiction. 5. Mystery fiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A329B68 2014
813'.54—dc23
2014008158
e-ISBN 9781466846296
First Edition: May 2014
Booty Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Page 30
