Another enjoyable case begins for keen private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney. Her neighbour Tilly Lawson keeps a young dog, Jezebel, in her fenced backyard in Zinnia, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Someone cuts the lock to steal her dog. Thus begins DOGGONE BONES which tracks stolen canines to the nearby and much shadier town of Nixville.

Rather than a murder mystery, this book concentrates on missing or stolen dogs and some of the evils that might befall them. Cupcake is another dog to vanish, with a fence panel smashed. While I have to reassure you that the harms are mostly suggested rather than seen, the frantic pet lovers keep saying that their pet might be running loose  roads, even if it hasn’t been consigned to some horrible place. Thus, if you are highly nervous about the potential for hurt creatures, this may not be the book for you. The author Carolyn Haines is clearly raising awareness of not just theft, but how people should respond to have a chance of finding the dog.

An online pet detective agency is one avenue to approach while making posters to adorn poles is another. Sarah, Tilly and their friend Tinkie also phone all the vet practices, the police, including Sarah’s gentleman friend, Sheriff Coleman Peters, and pet shops. One lady offers a reward online, though this isn’t recommended in case it gives some people ideas. Sweetie Pie and Chablis, which belong to Sarah, are next to be targeted by the presumed gang of thieves. The Delaney Detective Agency has never worked so many cases at once.

A wide variety of suspects include a police chief in Nixville who doesn’t even like dogs, the mayor of that town, a senior lady’s sulking grandson who resents her pet, and a female villain called Gertrude who appears to have been holding a grudge against Sarah. There is also one of the few prosperous folks, a newly monied wrestler who trains others for fees and is just possibly involved in illegal dogfighting. With loose dogs, chases, dead ends, stolen cars and many drives between Nixville and Zinnia, I don’t mind telling you I got quite lost at times and could not remember whose dog was which or where it had been found. I expect the adventure would reward re-reading, but if you have read all the preceding 28 books, you may be up to date. Like earlier instalments, we meet the ghost Jitty, who is no more helpful than ever.

DOGGONE BONES is a busy instalment in a series heading for thirty books, mostly set in the warm and friendly Mississippi Delta.