Carolyn Haines (born May 12, 1953 in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

), who uses the pseudonyms R.B. Chesterton, Caroline Burnes, and Lizzie Hart, is a prolific

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and former

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

specializing in mysteries set in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

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 A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in journalism from the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

in 1974 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

from the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

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

Awards & praise

*2010

Harper Lee Award The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year is an annual award recognizing a writer who was born in Alabama or has spent their formative years there. It is named after Harper Lee, whose ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' has sold ove ...

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

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #''Sticks and Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2017. . #''Charmed Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2018. . #''A Gift of Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2018. . #''Game of Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2019. . #''The Devil's Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2020. . #''A Garland of Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2020. . #''Independent Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2021. . #''Lady of Bones''. Minotaur Books. 2022. . #''Bones of Holly''. Minotaur Books. 2022. ISBN 9781250833754.

Sarah Booth Delaney Short Stories

* "Bones on the Bayou" (2014) * "Shorty Bones" (2014) * "Guru Bones" (2015) * "Jingle Bones" (2015) * "Bones and Arrows" (2016) * "Clacking Bones" (2018 - novella) * "Enchanted Bones" (2020)

The Jexville Chronicles

# ''Summer of the Redeemers'' (1994) # ''Touched'' (1996) # ''Judas Burning'' (2005)

Non-series

#''Deception'' (2012) #''Skin Dancer'' (2011) #''Fever Moon'' (2007) #''Revenant'' (2007) #''Penumbra'' (2006) #''My Mother's Witness: The Peggy Morgan Story'' (2003)

Short stories

:* "The Christmas Ornament" in ''Haunted Holidays: Three Short Tales of Horror'' (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

#''Delta Blues'' (2010)

As R.B. Chesterton

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

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haines, Carolyn 1953 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers American romantic fiction writers American women novelists People from Lucedale, Mississippi Writers from Mississippi Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers People from Hattiesburg, Mississippi University of South Alabama faculty University of Southern Mississippi alumni University of South Alabama alumni American women journalists Women mystery writers Journalists from Alabama Journalists from Mississippi Novelists from Mississippi Novelists from Alabama 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Writers from Mobile, Alabama American women academics