Mistletoe Man (A China Bayles Mystery) - Hardcover

Albert, Susan Wittig

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0425176738 ISBN 13: 9780425176733

Publisher: Berkley Hardcover, 2000

Synopsis

Herbalist and amateur sleuth China Bayles is up to her ears in trouble as she tires to support a disturbed friend and reconcile the demands of a new business with affairs of the heart, all the while tracking a killer in small-town Texas.

About this title

About the Author

Susan Wittig Albert grew up on a farm in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. A former professor of English and a university administrator and vice president, she is the author of the China Bayles Mysteries, the Darling Dahlias Mysteries, and the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Some of her recent titles include Widow’s Tears, Cat’s Claw, The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose, and The Tale of Castle Cottage. She and her husband, Bill, coauthor a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries under the name Robin Paige, which includes such titles as Death at Glamis Castle and Death at Whitechapel.

Reviews

"I'll be home for Christmas," croons the old, sweet song. Fans of Albert's herbalist-attorney-sleuth, China Bayles, who have been lauding her spicy mysteries since Thyme of Death nine books ago, will feel they've come home (to delightful Pecan Springs, Tex.) with this ebullient yarn set during the Christmas season. The pace is peppy as a Texas two-step, Albert's dialogue and characterizations put her in a class with lady sleuths V.I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum and her writing sparkles like Rudolph's nose. China has left the chaos of a Houston law firm to buy a century-old stone mansion, which now houses a tearoom (Thyme for Tea), an herb shop (Thyme and Seasons) and a New Age "Cave" run by her best friend, Ruby Wilcox. Business is booming, an inspired new chef has appeared and China's personal life is nearing perfection. But suddenly, Ruby suffers a personal disaster and disappears, while China's mistletoe supplier, cantankerous Carl Swenson, dies in a hit and run. Since the suspects in Carl's death are her flower growers - and friends - she puts on her 10-gallon detective's hat and begins to track the killer. Throughout this intricately plotted and deliciously descriptive tale, China proves herself intelligent, independent, persistent and compassionate. In the tradition begun with Thyme of Death, Albert shows great empathy for the ill - and little patience for layabouts and lawbreakers. This is a funny, human story that will give Albert's admirers a ringing jingle bell romp. 10-city author tour.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Pecan Springs, in the Texas hill country, China Bayles' herb shop, Thyme and Seasons, has been expanded to include Thyme for Tea, run by China and her closest friend, Ruby, who also manages the New Age shop next door. Just as life seems truly settled for China--the businesses are doing well, and she is ecstatic with her new husband and stepson--Ruby begins acting strangely. Then the crotchety Swenson, who harvests mistletoe for China, is found dead, victim of a hit and run. All kinds of smoothed-over surfaces begin to show deep kinks, from the Fletcher sisters' old aunt, who sees Klingons behind every bush, to the gossip in the diner where Lucy, whom Swenson had been courting, chafes under the firm thumbs of her mother and grandmother. Fascinating bits of herbal lore about mistletoe grace each chapter head, and the local Texas color again proves charming. The mystery is taut and well plotted, the characters vivid and genuine. When Ruby's secret is revealed, readers will be reaching for a second and third hanky. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0425176738
• ISBN 13: 9780425176733
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304