Susan Wittig Albert

Herbalist ex-lawyer China Bayles investigates the murder of a teller at the Pecan Springs bank and follows the clues to a haunted bed and breakfast.

The ladies of the Darling Dahlias garden club investigate a suspicious car wreck, the news of an escaped convict from the prison farm, and a ghost digging around the cucumber tree.

Between the herb shop, the catering business, and a weekend paper-making class, China Bayles has her work cut out for her. And now China's half-brother is opening up old wounds, trying to investigate their father's supposedly accidental death, and her husband is taking on the case-meaning she's just bound to get involved.

Sleuth and herbalist China Bayles of Pecan Springs, Texas, joins Mike McQuaid, the town's police chief to investigate the murder of a land developer. They have to hurry if they don't want the case to clash with their honeymoon. They are getting married.

China Bayles tries to set aside her suspicions over Sally's motives when she shows up at China's herb shop over the Christmas season and claims she has nowhere to go, but when she begins to receive menacing phone calls at the shop and on her unlisted home line, China is curious about a possible connection between one of Sally's ex-boyfriends and her parents' murder ten years before.

"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...

"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'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...

China confronts her most intriguing case yet when she finds Rosemary Robbins, a woman with an unsettling resemblance to her, murdered in a pick-up truck. The local police discover that Rosemary's fiance is on the lam in Mexico City and focus on him as the main suspect. Meanwhile, China takes the advice of a psychic and finds the killer close to home.

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?