I have read this series out of order. I usually get copies from my library so it depends on what’s available.
Sarah is a very strong character. She makes a good role model. I enjoy her friendship with Tinkie, who is ready to have her baby. This mystery is set around Women’s Rights. It opens with Dr Diakos giving a speech about domestic violence. When a known abuser is found murdered, things get complicated. The complications grow as the body count of abusers grows. Even with the heavy subject, which caused multiple starts for me, I enjoyed the mystery. Dr Diakos strongly suggests women defend theirselves against abusers. Ghostly Jitty takes on women from the old west and their struggle for women’s rights. I love Jitty. Part of the reason I love her is she educates in a fun way. I love history so I tend to get excited over her.
I went through long time violence so the opening was a bit difficult for me. One of the things I dislike about domestic violence is the question of why the spouse stayed. It comes up all the time. There are many reasons why. It is a complicated relationship to be in and can be deadly to get out of. Leaving was dangerous for me so I have personal feelings when I hear or read that question. It brings up things that happened to my children and me when I attempted to file for divorce. Consequently I had a few false starts with this one. That is a personal hang up on me. I share it so others can be aware they may need to start, stop and start again. No shame in that. Do try to give the book a proper chance though. I think, like me, you will end up really liking it. We may have a long road yet to go, but, as women, we have come a long way. The author did a wonderful job bringing that to attention. I really enjoy books that also educate.
As I stated I am reading this out of order. It can be done. I wish, though, that I read it in book order. I think you will enjoy it better if you do. Either way, read this book. I think you will find a lot to think about in it.
*I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. A review, while appreciated, is voluntary. All thoughts and opinions on this book are based upon my feelings while reading the book. ( )

Whew – I had concerns after the last book, Garland of Bones, was such a poor entry to what is normally a reliable series.

This one starts right off with a bang – a rather graphic display of domestic violence at the grand opening of Zinnia’s new public park, during a speech by a professor passionate about women’s rights. The next day, the abuser is found dead, and the police find two other murders with the exact same MO in two other cities, and the professor is a suspect in all of them.

The fight-the-patriarchy rhetoric was strong, and at times, way too thickly laid on. Given Sarah Booth and Tinkie’s apathy for their client, the professor, I think it was done on purpose with the idea of illustrating that too much of anything – good or bad – can have disastrous consequences. This made the rhetoric, which was mostly in the first half of the book, at least useful to the plot. It still detracted from my enjoyment overall though.

What I did appreciate an awful lot, along with the faster pace and the lighter tone, was that the author also took the time to point out that the characters series readers know and love already have quietly, and in their own unique way, ‘fought the patriarchy’ and carved out their own independence and power. Balance.

Sarah’s resident haint, Jitty, also played a far less annoying part that usual; Sarah Booth has finally, after 22 books, stopped being taken in like an idiot, by her frequent appearances as historical figures. This time around, the figures she appears as are all powerful women throughout American history, who fought the constraints of their times to achieve agency over their own lives. And all of them outlaws. One of the messages being, that before our current generations, the only way women had their own agency was to be outlaws, in one way or another. These interludes were interesting and I found myself far less impatient with them than I’ve been in the past. They felt less silly and more relevant.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that for the last few years the writing has been on the wall for American women, as the feeble, power-hungry men we helped elect have been systematically making noise about taking away a woman’s agency, but the timing of this plot feels especially prescient, as the publication of this book came almost at the exact same time as events in Texas unfolded. Because behind the scenes of this story is a new, secret, well-funded, political movement unfolding across the US, with the goal of unwinding the rights of women back to pre 1900’s, where women couldn’t work any meaningful jobs, or have control of their finances, never mind their bodies, and their husbands were legally free to ‘correct’ their behaviour as they saw fit. That bit of the story doesn’t end with a tied-up bow and a justice-wins-the-day at the end, which is fitting. The pendulum of humanity swings wide, but slow. ( )