Widow's Tears - (China Bayles Mystery) by Susan Wittig Albert (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Herbalist and ex-lawyer China Bayles is "in a class with lady sleuths V. I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum" (Publishers Weekly). In Widow's Tears, a haunted house may hold the key to solving the murder of one of China's friends...

After losing her family and home in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Rachel Blackwood rebuilt her house a hundred miles inland and later died there, still wrapped in her grief.

In present-day Texas, Claire, the grandniece of Rachel's caretaker, has inherited the house and wants to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. But she is concerned that it's haunted, so she calls in her friend Ruby--who has the gift of extrasensory perception--to check it out.

While Ruby is ghost hunting, China Bayles walks into a storm of trouble in nearby Pecan Springs. A half hour before she is to make her nightly deposit, the Pecan Springs bank is robbed and a teller is shot and killed.

Before she can discover the identity of the killers, China follows Ruby to the Blackwood house to discuss urgent business. As she is drawn into the mystery of the haunted house, China opens the door on some very real danger...

Review Quotes

Praise for Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles Series:

"Albert's dialogue and characterizations put her in a class with lady sleuths V.I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum."--Publishers Weekly

"Display[s] a deep sense of the Texas hill country and [makes] good use of the strong, likable cast. Details of herbs and herbal remedies continue to flavor the always intriguing plots."--Booklist

"Engrossing."--Times-Picayune

"One of the best-written and well-plotted mysteries I've read in a long time."--Los Angeles Times

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.