Julia Gibson

"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 has discovered instances of suspicious practices. Even more disturbing,...

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 things start occuring. Could the building be haunted?

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...

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.

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...

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....

New York Times best-selling author of A Dilly of a Death, Susan Wittig Albert adds Dead Man's Bones to her widely acclaimed China Bayles mystery series. Publishers Weekly says China is "in a class with lady sleuths V. I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum." Deep in Texas hill country, ex-lawyer China thinks life is hectic enough already, and then her teenage son unearths human remains while digging in a nearby cave.

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...

Susan Wittig Albert has won critical acclaim and a devoted following for her China Bayles mysteries featuring beloved herb shop and tearoom owner China. In Wormwood, the death of a woman in a pool-where a Shaker woman drowned in 1912-sets the stage for a perplexing whodunit.

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...