Summer Reads - Them Bones

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Them Bones by Carolyn Haines

Am I the last person in the world to find out there's more than one mystery genre? I knew about true-crime and thrillers and horror, but I didn't realize there was a genre for the kinds I like to read! You know, the ones where the sleuth owns a bakery or she's a librarian and she just so happens to be dating a detective or a policeman and of course she lives in a quaint town and she loves to make soap or knit in her free time. Ummm maybe it's just me, but I love love love these types of mysteries! And they're called cozies, apparently. So when I discovered that this genre existed (and there are entire websites dedicated to cozy mysteries) I about peed my pants. And then I added a TON of books to my to-read shelf! 

This was the first of my foray (officially, at least) into cozy territory. 

From Amazon...

Meet Sarah Booth Delaney...an unconventional Southern belle whose knack for uncovering the truth is about to make her the hottest detective in Zinnia, Mississippi...if it doesn't make her the deadest.
No self-respecting lady would allow herself to end up in Sarah Booth's situation. Unwed, unemployed, and over thirty, she's flat broke and about to lose the family plantation. Not to mention being haunted by the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, who never misses an opportunity to remind her of her sorry state--or to suggest a plan of action, like ransoming her friend's prize pooch to raise some cash.
But soon Sarah Booth's walk on the criminal side leads her deeper into unladylike territory, and she's hired to solve a murder. Did gorgeous, landed Hamilton Garrett V really kill his mother twenty years ago? And if so, what is Sarah Booth doing falling for this possible murderer? When she asks one too many questions and a new corpse turns up, she is suddenly a suspect herself...and Sarah Booth finds that digging up the bones of the past could leave her rolling over in her grave.

I'll be honest. I liked this book, but it didn't knock my socks off or anything. This is the first book of the Sarah Booth Delaney series, so maybe that was part of the slowness? There's a lot of character development to be done for a multi-part series!

Also, the whole ghost thing? Maybe I just don't understand it, but I had a hard time suspending disbelief when it came to Jitty. Once an author has gained my trust, they can do all kinds of crazy things and I'll most likely stay with them through the end of the book - like introducing a ghost. The thing is, they need to gain my trust first. That being said, she was a funny (and quirky) character, and she helped Sarah Booth out quite a bit when it came to her amateur sleuthing.

I'm not sure if I'll continue reading the next books in the series. Has anyone else read this or the others? (Buried Bones, Splintered Bones, etc)


Next up:
Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West (my final book for June's challenge!)
Columbine by Dave Cullen

Today:
I'll be lacing up my sneakers for the first time since last Monday. Yikes. Has it really been that long? My 5k is in nine days y'all. NINE. I think I'm pretty much recovered from my cold of doom though, and  my foot isn't broken - just a bone bruise! We'll see what happens. Fingers crossed!