China Bayles mysteries

When ex-lawyer and herb-shop proprietor China Bayles's friend Jo dies of an apparent suicide, China looks behind the quaint façade of her new home of Pecan Springs, Texas, and takes a suspicious look at everyone. And though she finds lots of friendly faces, China is sure that one of them hides the heart of a killer. Nominated for both an Agatha and an Anthony Award, Susan Wittig Albert's novels featuring China Bayles have won acclaim for their rich...

When a prominent animal researcher is found hanged in the midst of angry protests against his experiments, suspicion falls on biology professor Dottie Riddle. Known as the Cat Lady of Pecan Springs, Dottie's sympathy for strays-and the victim's distaste for them-gives the police reason to think she may be capable of murder. But China Bayles doesn't think so. She hires a lawyer for Dottie and starts looking around for clues. But she soon discovers...

In search of respite, China takes off to St. Theresa's Monastery with her friend Maggie, a former nun. The goal is a brief, tranquil retreat-but there's a conflict at the convent. The Mother Superior has recently died, and a battle over the future of St. Theresa's suggests that her sudden demise might not have been accidental. Now, China's quest for a replenished spirit takes second place to a more earthbound pursuit: catching a killer.

The annual chili cook-off sounds like a nice respite from the stress, so China Bayles gladly accoumpanies her wheelchair-bound sweetheart to the event. But tragedy strikes when cook-off judge Jerry Jeff Cody dies of a severe allergic reactionto a peanut. Everyone knows that peanuts don't belong in a bowl of Texas chili...and China knows something suspicious is afoot. China Bayles (Rueful Death, LJ 10/1/96) contends with the paralysis of her new husband,...

Best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert sets this cozy mystery in the small West Texas town of Pecan Springs. As the Christmas decorating season approaches, Thyme & Seasons proprietor China Bayles feels overwhelmed. While she tries to balance her new roles of wife and step-mom with the demands of her thriving herbal shop, her business partner-and best friend-Ruby mysteriously disappears. Soon China's cantankerous mistletoe supplier Carl turns up dead....

National best-selling author and resident of Texas, Susan Wittig Albert pens a quirky, but chilling mystery. When Casey Ford threatens to sell his property to a strip mining company, the townsfolk fear that Indigo will be lost forever. Protecting the town is important-so important that someone is willing to kill Casey to keep their home from being ruined. Now, in addition to running the town's cultural crusade, China Bayles must find Casey's murderer....

Deep in Texas hill country, ex-lawyer China thinks life is hectic enough already, and then her teenaged son unearths human remains while digging in a nearby cave. The bones indicate foul play--and are much too recent to be an archeological find. Despite the unexpected turn of events, China keeps her cool and attends the opening of the new community theater. But the party abruptly ends when the elderly Jane Obermann shoots a local handyman in the name...

In this 15th entry in the best-selling China Bayles series, our teashop owning heroine discovers a dead body while gathering herbs by the railroad tracks. On top of that, her brother unearths new evidence suggesting their father's death was no accident, and China is soon dragged into both mysteries.

A Kentucky Shaker village seems just the place for China to get some much-needed rest and relaxation. And getting a chance to assist with a local herbal workshop is exactly the kind of thing China relishes. Meeting with the kindly villagers, China might rightly suspect that her peaceful surroundings would be the last place on Earth to happen upon violence. But when a death occurs, China's only chance to solve the crime may lie in the history of the...

This 19th mystery in the China Bales series is a cozy herbal treat from national best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert. While Pecan Springs bustles back to life in the warmth of spring, one woman's life is tragically brought to an end. Assigned to cover the story, an intern from the local paper gets too deeply involved. When she disappears, China is determined to find her-before the young journalist becomes headlines herself.

Best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert is especially beloved for creating herbalist and ex-lawyer China Bayles. In Widow's Tears, China has urgent business to discuss with Ruby, a friend gifted with extrasensory perception. Meeting Ruby at a supposedly haunted house, China soon uncovers a mystery that may be linked to a deadly robbery that very night.

"This Thanksgiving, be grateful for China Bayles who teams up with an old friend to solve a complex case of theft and murder in a South Texas ranching community. It's Thanksgiving in Pecan Springs, and China is planning to visit her mother, Leatha, and her mother's husband, Sam, who are enthusiastically embarking on a new enterprise turning their former game ranch into a vacation retreat for birders. She's also looking forward to catching up with...

"In this exciting new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert, China Bayles fears for her husband's life as an escaped convict targets him... Max Mantel, the killer McQuaid put away years ago, has busted out of Huntsville Prison and appears to be headed for Pecan Springs. McQuaid knows there's only one way to stop the vengeful convict--set a trap with himself as bait. China wants to stay by her husband's side and keep him...

"China and Ruby Wilcox are presenting their annual ''Not Just Plain Vanilla Workshop,'' always a huge hit with customers at Thyme & Seasons Herb Shop. But someone involved with the workshop is driven by a deadly motive, and China soon finds herself teaming up with the very pregnant Pecan Springs police chief Sheila Dawson to solve a vanilla-flavored murder. Sheila, happy to get out from behind the chief's desk, is investigating the death of a botany...