Carolyn Haines

Carolyn Haines (sometimes credited as R.B. Chesterton, Caroline Burnes, and Lizzie Hart) (born May 12, 1953 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is a prolific mystery author and former journalist specializing in mysteries set in the Mississippi Delta.

Biography

Haines is the daughter of Roy and Hilda Haines, both journalists. Haines grew up in Lucedale, Mississippi, and graduated from high school there in 1971. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1974 and a master's degree in creative writing from the University of South Alabama in 1985. For over ten years she was a reporter and journalist for newspapers such as the George County Times, the Mobile Press-Register, The Mississippi Press, The Huntsville Times, and the Hattiesburg American.

Her current mysteries are the Sarah Booth Delaney Mississippi Delta series, set in the fictional town of Zinnia. The humorous series has won numerous accolades, including Best Amateur Sleuth. “Hallowed Bones,” the fifth in the series, was named in the top five mysteries of 2004 by Library Journal.

Haines also writes darker crime novels and general fiction. “Penumbra” was named one of the top five mysteries of 2006 by Library Journal. She has written under the pseudonyms Caroline Burnes in romantic mysteries, and Lizzie Hart in humor.

She teaches the graduate and undergraduate fiction writing classes at the University of South Alabama, where she is an assistant professor and Fiction Coordinator.

Awards & praise

• 2010 Harper Lee Award winner for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year
• Received Alabama State Council on the Arts literary fellowship for her writing
• 2009 Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence

Bibliography

As herself

The Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries

1. Them Bones. Bantam. 1999. ISBN 9780553581713. 
2. Buried Bones. Bantam. 2000. ISBN 9780553581720. 
3. Splintered Bones. Dell. 2003. ISBN 9780440237211. 
4. Crossed Bones. Dell. 2004. ISBN 9780440240938. 
5. Hallowed Bones. Dell. 2005. ISBN 9780440241317. 
6. Bones to Pick. Kensington. 2006. ISBN 9780758210913. 
7. Ham Bones. Kensington. 2007. ISBN 9780758210920. 
8. Wishbones. Minotaur Books. 2008. ISBN 9780312377083. 
9. Greedy Bones. Minotaur Books. 2009. ISBN 9780312377106. 
10. Bone Appetit. Minotaur Books. 2010. ISBN 9780312594640. 
11. Bones of a Feather. Minotaur Books. 2011. ISBN 9780312595029. 
12. Bonefire of the Vanities. Minotaur Books. 2012. ISBN 9780312641870. 
13. Smarty Bones. Minotaur Books. 2013. ISBN 9780312641887. 
14. Booty Bones. Minotaur Books. 2014. ISBN 9781250046130. 
15. Bone to Be Wild. Minotaur Books. 2015. ISBN 9781250046147. 
16. Rock-a-Bye Bones. Minotaur Books. 206. ISBN 9781250085160. 

Non-series

1. Deception (2012)
2. Skin Dancer (2011)
3. Fever Moon (2007)
4. Revenant (2007)
5. Penumbra (2006)
6. Summer of the Redeemers (2005)
7. Judas Burning (2005)
8. Touched (2004)
9. My Mother's Witness: The Peggy Morgan Story (2003)

Short stories

"The Christmas Ornament" in Haunted Holidays: Three Short Tales of Horror (2014)

"Bones on the Bayou" (2014)

"Shorty Bones" (2014)

"The Sugar Cure" in Delta Blues (2010)

"Ode to the Fruitcake" in Christmas Memories from Mississippi (2010)

"The Cypress Dream" in Florida Heat Wave (2010)

"Neighborhood Watch" in Damn Near Dead II (2010)

"The Wish" in Many Bloody Returns (2009)

"Carolyn Haines" in Growing Up in Mississippi (2008)

As editor

1. Delta Blues (2010)

As R.B. Chesterton

1. The Darkling. Pegasus. 2013. ISBN 9781605984582. 
2. The Seeker. Pegasus. 2014. ISBN 9781605985008. 

"The Hanged Man: A Short Story" (2014)

External links

• Official website