China Bayles mysteries

In her most challenging case yet, lawyer-turned-herbalist China Bayles has to prove the innocence of her friend Dottie, an animal rights activist charged with the murder of a prominent animal researcher. As China sorts through the dead man's past, she learns that Dottie isn't the one who may have wanted him dead.

Herbalist and sleuth China Bayles, on retreat at a Texas convent, investigates the mysterious death of the mother superior.

China Bayles had finally agreed to marry Mike McQuaid - and then he'd been paralyzed in the line of duty. Fully committed, she knows she'll tough it out, no matter how long his recovery might take. The annual chili cook-off sounds like a nice respite from the stress, so China gladly accompanies her wheelchair-bound sweetheart to the event. But tragedy strikes when cook-off judge Jerry Jeff Cody dies of a severe allergic reaction - to a peanut. Everyone...

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.

China Bayles isn't anxious to leave her herb shop in the Texas Hill Country for two whole weeks. But her friends and family are urging her to get some rest, and a historic Shaker village in Kentucky seems the ideal place for it. At Mount Zion, China can assist her friend Martha with some herbal workshops while learning about the Shakers, famous for their peaceful ways. As it turns out, the modern version of the village is plagued by misfortune - and...

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.

While her friend Ruby - who has the gift of extrasensory perception - investigates a supposedly haunted bed and breakfast, China Bayles walks into a storm of trouble in nearby Pecan Springs. Thirty minutes before she is to make her nightly deposit, the bank is robbed and a teller is killed. And before she can discover the identity of the killer, China is drawn into the mystery of the haunted house - and some real danger.

"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...