Sarah Boothe and Tinkie feel they deserve a vacation. However when a young filmmaker/actor disappears, they are hired to find him. With no real clues and plenty of lies, this may be their most difficult case yet.

Much to my surprise, I have somehow managed to miss this long running series of 27 books until now. As such, I can confidently vouch that it works well as a standalone. Although I'm sure coming into the series this late means I've missed lots of character nuances and relationships, they were easily sorted out and made sense. Set in Greenville, MS, it has a distinctly Southern tone at times, including many of the names.

You're going to like Sarah Booth Delaney and the easy relationship she has with investigative partner Tinkle Bellcase Richmond. Sarah calls Tinkle the brains of the outfit, especially when it comes to sorting out financial info, though that doesn't stop her from being able to pick a lock in under three minutes or navigate some less than stellar back roads at speed. Not exactly skills many society types have. Add in Sarah's super scent dog and a rather ninja cat, not to forget Poe, the raven, and it's an interesting mix and I haven't even mentioned her mutual trust with romantic partner, Coleman, or the great relationship she seems to have with the local police. My verdict on Jitty, who seems to be a ghost, is still out as, unless I totally missed it, her presence wasn't explained nor her affinity for adopting different guises, not all of them human. Yep, I really need to sort out the "who, what, why" of Jitty.

As for the mystery, it centers around the disappearance of two members of the film crew that go missing, one of them the writer, producer, and star. Jules, the gaffer, mysteriously goes missing first. Then, gulp, a severed foot is discovered in the river. Oh, did I forget to mention a shark is involved? A pregnant bull shark nicknamed Betty, at that. That whole scenario is a big part of the action, so I'll simply leave it at that. The disappearance of Marlon, the force behind the film, however, leads us to several other angles of the plot. Again, don't want to give away too much, but ol' money and the power that goes with it, murky family histories, and issues of racism all play a role. Whoever has control of a family history has the power to mold it, let's just say. As the plot progresses, we learn bits of history, bad and good, how one's relationship with family impacts one's current life, and quite a bit about sharks. I mean, who knew sharks might be an issue in the Mississippi River?

Bottom line, Carolyn Haines does an excellent job of melding together a quirky but likable cast of characters and portraying them as multi-dimensional people we might know. I liked Sarah and Tinkle a great deal and found Tinkle's Southern charm and backbone (and love for her daughter) made for a good partnership. Sarah does seem to have a knack of being around when bullets fly but, hey, she doesn't back down, either. Let's just say, she wasn't fond of almost meeting Betty the shark too up-close-and-personal, though. Can't say that I blame her. Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress - #Minotaur for introducing me to this fun series, slow as I was to jump aboard. I'll be catching up on it while eagerly awaiting the next adventure. Nice nod to Miranda James, too. Grin.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the ARC of this book. all opinions are my own.
Due to the current SMP boycott, I will not post my thoughts on this story until the concerns are addressed. At that time, I will be happy to post my full review.

It’s always a good day when Sarah Delaney Booth shows up in your inbox!
I think maybe because my Momma lives in the area this is set in.
This is the 27th installment and it is just as funny, and cozy as the first one.


Greenville, Mississippi is getting a lot of new people in the form of a movie crew! Supposedly about the 1927 flood that left a town underwater, a lot of people dead, and some very unscrupulous behavior!


Marlon Brandon is the grandson and heir to the Brandon family fortune and he is in charge of the movie, as well as acting in it. But from the start there are a lot of people who don’t want this story told. And his own grandfather seems to be on the fence about it.


When one of the cast ends up dead in the river, they also find a shark swimming around in there. And when Marlon goes missing as well, Sarah and Tink are going to go all in to find him. Unfortunately, this could get them in a lot of trouble and could get them dead!


Always a pleasure to hang out with Sarah and her ghost friend.


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur May 21, 2024

Kindle Copy for Review from Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Sarah and the gang of the Delaney Detective Agency is called in on a movie set. They will have to investigate more than a dead foot found on the set. The past will come back to life as they will survive why the film crew is really there to film.

Sarah will once again be the star in this continuing cozy series.