China Bayles mysteries

High-powered Houston attorney China Bayles has forsaken big bucks in the big city to become a good ol' gal in tiny Pecan Springs, Texas. She's opened an herb store and now dabbles in New Age arts and crafts, hangs out with the local "single and loving it" ladies, and solves crimes in her spare time. And it's a good thing she does--Pecan Springs is in the throes of a witch hunt. First it was the appearance of sacrificial artifacts. Then it was a Wiccan...

In Pecan Springs, Texas, China Bayles, former lawyer and now owner of a herb store, discovers the body of a woman who is her double. It could be a crime of passion--the lady was going to divorce her husband--or, worse, someone is after China.

Expecting a surprise in the from of a marriage proposal on Valentine's Day, China Bayles gets a shock instead when her lover, Mike McQuaid, is shot.

In Bloodroot, best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert transports listeners to a haunted house oozing with family secrets. When a man dies soon after Tullie bashes his head with her cane, China's estranged mother frantically calls for her daughter's help. Rushing to her family's Mississippi plantation, China must determine if her Great Aunt Tullie is guilty of homicide. She must also face the possibility of developing the same terrifying disease that...

Popular author Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles Herbal Mysteries have been hailed for their intelligent plots and quirky characters. China is a member of the Pecan Springs, Texas Picklefest planning committee. When the Pickle Queen disappears just days before the festival, China and her husband P.I. Mike McQuaid relish searching for the clues in this dilly of a case. This exciting whodunit is packed with plenty of pickle jokes, folklore, and...

National best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert's poetic beauty and West Texas flavor permeate her China Bayles mysteries. The high school principal asks China to secretly investigate the popular football coach who led the Panthers to six state championships. Soon after China confirms the coach's predilection for teenage girls, one of his victims turns up dead and suspicion falls upon the lecherous coach.

China's herb shop and catering business may be thriving, but she's still reeling from her father's death, and not even remotely interested in her half-brother Miles's investigation into that event. China's husband, on the other hand, has no such qualms. And when fate forces her to get involved as well, China realizes it's time to bring the past to light-or else it will haunt her the rest of her life. But China and McQuaid discover that Miles may have...

Author Susan Wittig Albert turns up the suspense in her China Bayles mystery series. Just as the holiday season begins, so does the drama, when her husband's ex-wife Sally appears begging for help and a place to stay. 'Tis the season of giving, so China opens her home to Sally. But when troubling phone calls start, China knows she'll need to dig up the truth before Christmas turns deadly.

"Sheila Dawson has made history as the first female police chief in Pecan Springs, Texas. She's also cracked many a mystery in collaboration with local sleuth China Bayles--that's why everyone thinks she's such a smart cookie. Now, Sheila puts those smarts to work, sifting through secrets to find a killer on the prowl... Larry Kirk, Pecan Springs' computer guru, has been shot dead in his kitchen. At first Police Chief Sheila Dawson believes it to...

With the help of a lawyer friend in Texas, China Bayles investigates a cold case involving a valuable piece of Mexican art after suspecting that it may be connected to the death of another friend. "When China's and Ruby's friend Karen Prior is mugged in a mall parking lot and dies a few days later, China begins to suspect that her friend's death was not a random assault. Karen was a filmmaker supervising a student documentary about the fifteen-year-old...

"... China comes to the aid of a nurse who ends up in the hospital ... It's mid-April in Pecan Springs, and China is renting her guest cottage to Kelly Kaufman, who needs a temporary place to live as she contends with a very acrimonious divorce from her husband, Rich. One nasty point of dispute is her part ownership of the Comanche Creek Brewing Company, which she is refusing to sell. At the same time, as a nurse employed by a local hospice, Kelly...

While helping Ruby Wilcox clean up the loft above their shops, China comes upon a box of antique handcrafted lace and old photographs. Following the discovery, she hears a woman humming an old Scottish ballad and smells the delicate scent of lavender... Soon, strange happenings start to occur in Thyme and Seasons: misplaced items, a ringing bell, and the appearance of lavender sprigs in odd places. When a customer sees a mysterious woman picking flowers...

"From Susan Wittig Albert, the New York Times bestselling author of A Plain Vanilla Murder, comes a tightly crafted novel that juxtaposes the disappearance of a rare, remarkably illustrated 18th-century herbal with the true and all-too-human story of its gifted creator, Elizabeth Blackwell. Herbalist China Bayles' latest adventure takes her to the mountains of North Carolina, where her friend Dorothea Harper serves as the director and curator of the...