Exploring Books

Forever Young

By Mary Ann DeSantis | Photography courtesy of Carolyn Haines and St. Martin’s Press

‘Independent Bones,’ the 23rd book in the popular Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series, tackles some serious subjects but still includes the zany adventures of the Delta’s favorite PI.

Private Investigator Sarah Booth Delaney of fictional Zinnia, Miss., has had quite a successful run solving crimes as the heroine in a series of cozy mysteries that began in 1999. Her escapades with a cadre of crime-solving pals continue in “Independent Bones,” book number 23 in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series by Lucedale, Miss., native Carolyn Haines. The new book is scheduled for release on May 18. Haines, a USA Today bestselling author and prolific writer, describes Sarah Booth Delaney and her friends as family. “For the past 25 years, I’ve spent a lot of time with those characters,” says Haines. “They do what they do and I just follow along and write about it.” And what a ride it has been as Sarah and her friends — as well as the resident ghost in the historic Delaney home — follow clues that usually have something to do with bodies and bones.

While most of the previous books in the Sarah Booth Delaney series have been lighthearted crime-solving adventures, “Independent Bones” tackles the serious subjects of domestic abuse and women’s equality. It opens with a visiting Ole Miss professor, Alala Diakos, about to give a fervent feminist speech in a Zinnia park and Sarah Booth finding a hidden sniper rifle and scope nearby. When a notorious abuser is later murdered, suspicion centers on Alala who hires Sara Booth to find the real killer. The private investigator embarks on a case that stretches across the Delta. “Like everyone else I’m influenced by the news. It doesn’t go into my brain and come out a straight line, though,” says Haines. “It was all in my subconscious and came out [in the book].” Haines often talks about her own vivid imagination and how that’s helped her create characters for her books. Before she wrote “Them Bones,” the first SBD mystery, Haines says she heard Sarah Booth and her ghost character Jitty having an argument. “Jitty was giving Sarah Booth the dickens,” Haines says with a laugh. “It was only after I started writing down what they were saying that I realized Jitty was a ghost. She provides some humor, but she also functions as Sarah Booth’s subconscious.” The heroine is someone that Haines says she’d like to be. “All of the characters have little bits of me in them but Sarah Booth most of all,” the author says. “She’s a lot braver than I am, and she isn’t so conflicted or hampered by things. And she is far more limber than I am now.” Haines calls it “literary magic” that her characters haven’t aged much since the series began 22 years ago. They still find themselves in quirky situations that involve shady business dealings, decades-old crimes, a little romance, and modernday corruption. The madcap adventures of Sarah Booth and her friends keep readers wanting more, and luckily for them Haines already has a contract from St. Martin’s Publishing for two more books. Fans of the Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries are often surprised to learn that Haines lives near Mobile, Ala., because the series is convincingly set in the Mississippi Delta. She captures the flavor and vibes of the Delta as if she’s lived there all her life, but it was a trip to the Delta as a young journalist that made a lasting impression on Haines. “The Delta to me had such a powerful allure,” Haines says. “Growing up in Lucedale (in south Mississippi), everything was familiar. There wasn’t that distinction and contrast between having money and not having it.” She also says the location of the series gives her more

freedom as a writer. “When you know a place so well, you are kind of bound by that. Setting it in the Delta, I wasn’t held in check.” Although she’s lived in south Alabama for nearly four decades, Haines still loves and speaks fondly of her home state of Mississippi. “I try to present it in a positive light,” she adds. Haines, who received the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of 2010 and was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame in 2000, has more than 80 titles to her credit. In addition to the Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries, she is the author of the Pluto’s Snitch historical mystery series and creator and contributing author to Trouble, the black cat detective mystery series. She has also written books in other genres under the pen names of Carolyn Burnes and Lizzie Hart. Her horror books — which she calls her dark side — were written as R.B. Chesterton. She is gradually moving all her books to her legal name Carolyn Haines. When she’s not writing, Haines runs the nonprofit Good Fortune Farm Refuge for “animals that no one wants.” She is as passionate about animals and ending animal cruelty as she is about writing.

“Responsible pet owners know that spaying and neutering is the only way to end the cruel cycle of tens of thousands of dogs and cats being euthanized every month in shelters across the nation,” she stresses. “Be the solution, not the problem. Donate a neuter to someone you love.”

carolynhaines.com facebook.com/ GoodFortuneFarmRefuge

DeSoto Magazine co-editor Mary Ann DeSantis was privileged to know Carolyn Haines at the University of Southern Mississippi, where they both studied journalism, and as young reporters at the Hattiesburg American. She never dreamed they’d both still be writing all these years later.

No matter how you spell it, people in the South love their crape/crepe myrtles. But what is the correct spelling? To put the matter to rest, DeSoto Magazine turned to the definitive horticultural source, The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia, which spells it C-R-A-P-E. However, because the flowers look like delicate pieces of colorful crepe paper, the spelling C-R-E-P-E has become the most widely used in the South. In Europe and Australia and other countries they use the scientific name, Lagerstroemia Crape Myrtle.

Crape Myrtles:

A Misunderstood Southern Standard

By Pamela A. Keene | Photography by Gary Bachman, Shaun Broderick and Pamela A. Keene

Less pruning and smart garden placement are all crape myrtles need to produce gorgeous spring and summer color.

Crape myrtles seem to survive no matter how they’re treated. The graceful shrubs and trees, known for their lush summer blossoms in colors ranging from pure white to deep burgundy, delicate pink to grape purple, provide several months of color across the South. However, these durable plants often suffer a condition called “crape murder” in early spring. “People somehow have the idea that you have to heavily prune back crape myrtles — like it’s a requirement, but that’s simply not the case,” says Shaun Broderick, assistant research and Extension professor at Mississippi State University. “Typically, pruning is done to remove unhealthy growth, to modify the size of a plant, or to stimulate its growth. But in the case of crapes, it’s better to pick a crape myrtle that will grow the right size and plant it in the right place, rather than butchering up a beautiful tree that was planted in the wrong spot to begin with. Consumers should be able to find an appropriate crape for their available space without needing to prune them back.” Crape murder takes place when people severely prune back their crapes — usually by 40 percent or more. Often the tree’s trunks are cut off just a few feet from the ground, resulting in the mutilation of their beautiful branch architecture and the formation of ugly knuckle-like growth. “The trees usually survive, so perhaps ‘murder’ is

too strong of a word to use,” Broderick says. “My colleague Gary Bachman prefers the phrase ‘myrtilation’ to describe the effects of over-pruning. The new growth is much weaker, overcrowded, and more prone to damage and breaking during the strong summer storms that form in the Gulf Coast.” Proper pruning occurs in late winter or early spring and should be done to remove dead or crossing branches back to the trunk and remove suckers that form at the base. You can remove the seed heads too, but this is not necessary. “If you must prune a crape myrtle, avoid cutting off anything wider than your finger,” he says. “When you cut larger limbs or the trunk, you’re unnecessarily stressing the plant and are more likely to promote fast, weak growth.” Hybridization over the past 20-to-30 years has resulted in various height crape myrtles that reach a variety of sizes at maturity, from dwarfs that grow 2-to-3 feet tall to trees that can tower up to 25 feet. “Before you decide to include crape myrtles in your landscape, determine where you are going to plant them,” he says. “The larger varieties can be used as landscape anchors on the corners of your home but be mindful of how close to the house you plant them. Give them plenty of room to mature.” Use a grouping of the taller tree forms as a focal point in a flower garden or plant several dwarf crape shrubs that will remain small and mounded to accent space near a sitting area or patio. “One of the most impressive uses I’ve seen is lining a driveway with tall, graceful crapes that are all the same cultivar,” Broderick says. Certain varieties offer three-season interest: summer blooms, foliage that turns red or scarlet in the fall, and exfoliating bark that stands out in the winter. Others are known for their stunning colors, graceful weeping branches or distinct upright growth. Some of the more popular cultivars include the stately, white-flowering Natchez; Muskogee with its light lavender flowers and long bloom season; the semi-dwarf Tonto with deep-red blossoms; and Sioux, named a Mississippi Medallion plant in 1999 with vivid pink flowers. Broderick suggests that people purchase their crape myrtles in person if possible, rather than online. “Examine the plant to make sure it’s healthy and pest-free. Ask the grower to confirm the mature size,” he says. “That way, you’ll be more knowledgeable about choosing the right location. The size printed on the tag may not always be accurate and may underestimate its mature size.” Crape myrtles require full sun to flourish, and they need to be planted in well-drained soil. Once planted, they should be watered deeply about once a week until they are established. When the weather is dry, you may need to supply them with some supplemental water during the hot summer months. They’re adaptable to a wide range of soils and need little more than a light application of slow-release fertilizer or compost in the spring. “Crapes may be prone to putting out suckers from the base of the plant, which can make it look messy,” he says. “These should be cut back to the ground regularly. They detract from the attractive bark and can also divert energy from the main plant; so, if you want better blooms, keep them trimmed. Young crapes usually sucker more than established ones. Take the opportunity while they are young to select three-to-five main stems that will serve as the main trunks. Remove the rest by cutting them off at the ground.” Crape myrtles originated in China but they have become a staple in Southern landscapes. To maintain these beautiful plants, give thought to their care. “Think before you prune a crape myrtle,” Broderick says. “We would never do this to other multi-trunked trees like a river birch, eastern redbud, dogwood, or Japanese magnolia, so why is it done regularly to crape myrtles? It’s a strange horticultural ritual that’s truly unnecessary.”

Atlanta-based journalist Pamela A. Keene, a master gardener, has included several varieties of tree-form crape myrtles in her landscape.