Jingle Bones (A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery) by Carolyn Haines

Author:Carolyn Haines [Haines, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250089069
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2015-10-13T05:00:00+00:00

Read on for an excerpt from the next book featuring Sarah Booth Delaney

Available in hardcover from Minotaur Books in May 2016

Follow the latest news from Carolyn Haines at

www.carolynhaines.com

Copyright © 2016 by Carolyn Haines

Chapter One

Thanksgiving is no time to leave a desperate woman alone in a haunted house with a knife and a giant squash. Pumpkin spatter covers every horizontal and vertical surface in the spacious kitchen. I heft the five-inch blade and advance on the nine-pound vegetable that defies me. I intend to magically turn the gourd into homemade pumpkin pie but, so far, things are not working out the way I envisioned.

“I’m a lot better with jack-o’-lanterns than pies,” I say to my red tick hound, Sweetie Pie Delaney, who wisely sleeps under the kitchen table, an area still free of pumpkin guts. She lifts her bloodshot eyes to send a sympathetic stare, and then dozes off. She knows that if I make a mess of the pies, she’ll have a treat. Sweetie is not a finicky hound, but it happens that pumpkin pie is one of her favorites. She doesn’t care if it’s tumbled out of a bowl or baked into a flakey homemade crust.

A shutter bangs against the side of the house, reminding me to call a repairman to make a few necessary improvements before Old Man Winter comes to Zinnia, Mississippi, for an extended visit. Outside Dahlia House, my family plantation in the heart of Sunflower County, the wind is sweeping across the barren cotton fields. The harvest is in, and winter is coming. But in the warm, cinnamon-smelling kitchen I am looking forward to a festive Thanksgiving dinner with my best friends in the world. I am playing host—a new role for me.

I turn to the recipe and study it harder. Always the overachiever, I have two large pumpkins. Part of one is baking in the oven, but I have another big one on my cutting board. I have been assured by Millie Roberts, owner of Zinnia’s most popular café, that pumpkin puree from scratch is far superior to canned. I’m beginning to have second thoughts. What sounded so easy coming from Millie’s mouth has turned into an orange orgy in my kitchen.

Putting the knife down, I decide on a break. Cinnamon-and-maple flavored coffee in hand, I step out onto the front porch. Sweetie and my black cat, Pluto, are at my side. White wicker rockers offer comfortable seats, but I settle on the steps. Here I can look straight down the driveway. The sycamore trees that line the shell drive are leafless. The white skinlike bark, peeling in places, always makes me sad. November, like the gloaming, can be a melancholy time. Endings. I’m not good with endings.

Soon, though, the barren fields that stretch to the horizon will sprout new growth. Spring will return. Another cycle. This year, I have determined to make the holidays joyful and festive.

I’ve invited all of my Zinnia friends to have Thanksgiving dinner at Dahlia House. Normally I enjoy the holidays at Tinkie’s or Harold’s—the two designated party givers in the Delta.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.