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Crossed Bones
Carolyn Haines Book Review

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Plot Summary of Crossed Bones
"

Delacorte, April 2003, 3.95, 395 pp.
ISBN 0385336594

The Mississippi Delta and her home Dahlia House are in Sara Booth's Delaney's blood. She will do almost anything in her power to keep them both, even work as a private detective. Almost anything excludes marrying a man from her social set and letting him take care of her even though Jitty, the ghost of her great great great grandmother nanny, wants the last Delaney married.

Sarah Booth is enjoying the land, her house and her dog when she is dragged into the homicide investigation of the famous blues musician, Ivory Keys. His wife Ida Mae Keys wants Sarah Booth to prove that while blues singer Scott Hampton didn't kill his friend and employer Ivory. The two men met in prison and shared a vision that music could be the bridge between the races. Circumstantial evidence points to Scott as the perpetrator and if Sarah Booth doesn't find the real perpetrator soon, the town of Zinnia will erupt into violence.

CROSSED BONES is a well-written colorful mystery that gives the reader some terrific insight into the workings of a small southern town. The heroine is strong, independent and straightforward, and not your typical southern belle; while her partner is all those things and lends a sense of comic relief to the plot when it begins to boil. Sarah Booth is attracted to the bad boy musician but not enough to give him her heart while the man she really wants reconciles with his wife. Readers will empathize and sympathize with the heroine, hoping she will get the perpetrator and collect her fee.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Crossed Bones
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Murder of certain profession? - musicians
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator - hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Deep South

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Crossed Bones
Murder on Rye by Shirley A. Prather
A Killing Night by Jonathan King
And Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Wayne D. Dundee
The Poisoned Rose by D. Daniel Judson
Buried Stuff by Sharon Fiffer


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