Rating: 4.5⭐️
Bones and Cactus Blooms , the second book in The Haunted Ranch Mysteries by Sara Bourgeois, is exactly what I hoped for in the series. It’s the potential I saw in the first book fulfilled and more.
The author has a fantastic mystery and story here. Shes developing Claire , the ranch which is now a thriving animal sanctuary and those who are a part of it, as the mystical heart of Perdita Springs. Or maybe the land upon which all of it stands.
The beleaguered citizens of the town, under siege by developers and the bank, have our sympathy and emotional connection. Each one feels believable and raw. And Claire, as she continues to make her way into this town and its pain, is an interesting empathic woman who wants to make things happen. In their lives and her’s.
So of course, there’s a murder.
It’s a complex story with lots of interesting elements around the person who is killed.
And the side stories, especially the one about Claire and Sam Redhorse, the vet, is very well written . Slow developing with stumbling blocks that, again, are ones that any person can easily understand and relate to.
It is wrapped up emotionally with layers that are so powerful. Sad but necessary. And the author adds an extra twist that shows another layer of the story and series going forward.
Fantastic work and highly recommended.
I’m onto the next.
Cover by Book Covers by Melody
The Haunted Ranch Mysteries (8 book series)
Death Rides The Desert #1
Bones and Cactus Blooms #2
Spirits of the Saguaro #3
Tombstones with a View #4
Body Beneath the Wither #5
Death Waits at Dead Rock #6
Skulls and Sunlit Secrets #7
The Bone Charm #8
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Bones and Cactus Blooms (The Haunted Ranch Mysteries Book 2)
Blurb
Claire Caldwell has finally found her footing. Six months after solving her first murder, she’s turned Whispering Saguaro Ranch into a thriving animal sanctuary and embraced her ability to see the dead.
But the desert has more secrets to reveal.
When volunteers preparing for the Cactus Bloom Festival unearth human bones that have been hidden for thirty-five years, the whole town starts whispering about old scandals and vanished souls. Then one of the most powerful man in Perdido Springs turns up dead in his office, and everyone Claire knows had a reason to want him gone. The man who foreclosed on half the town… dead. The festival meant to save local businesses… in chaos. The ghosts in Claire’s kitchen… warning her that death isn’t finished yet.
As Claire digs into both the old bones and the fresh corpse, she discovers the two deaths are connected by threads of family, loss, and long-buried grievances that someone would kill to keep hidden. With her fox, Rusty, bringing ominous warnings, the ghost of a long-dead librarian helping her research, and her relationship with Sam strained by family obligations, Claire must navigate a town full of desperate people harboring deadly secrets.
In Perdido Springs, old wounds never heal… and some debts can only be paid in blood.
Welcome back to the desert, where the past never stays buried.
November 10, 2025
Language
English
Print length
282 pages
Book 2 of 8
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 