Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing Small Town Mystery
Review: "Indigo Dying" is a fun read and delightful mystery. One can't help but enjoy the wry humor of the heroine China, and the odd assortment of characters in her novel. I am always happy to find a heroine who is of a certain age, but who is still smart, sassy, and sexy. Sometimes Albert goes into a little too much detail for my taste, but this does not really detract from the general enjoyment. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a brisk, humorous mystery novel.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Small Town Mystery
Review: "Indigo Dying" is a fun read and delightful mystery. One can't help but enjoy the wry humor of the heroine China, and the odd assortment of characters in her novel. I am always happy to find a heroine who is of a certain age, but who is still smart, sassy, and sexy. Sometimes Albert goes into a little too much detail for my taste, but this does not really detract from the general enjoyment. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a brisk, humorous mystery novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of the series
Review: Another winner. I love this series and look forward to more China Bayles books!
Rating:
Summary: Small town, murder and mayhem
Review: China Bayles and her partner Ruby are off to Indigo, TX, to have a booth at the Indigo Spring Arts & Crafts Festival. While there, China and friend Allison Selby will be doing a natural dye workshop called Colors to Dye for at Indigo Valley Farm, where Allison lives. China is the proprietor of Thyme and Seasons Herbs in Pecan Springs. She used to be a Houston criminal attorney. She is married to Mike McQuaid, former Houston dectective. He now teaches classes at CTSU. His thirteen year old son Brian lives with them and China thinks of him as her son. Ruby Wilcox is her best friend and business partner. Ruby owns the Crystal Cave, the only New Age shop in Pecan Springs. Together they own Thyme for Tea, a tearoom in the same building as Thyme and Seasons and Crystal Cave. While in Indigo, China and Allie attend the Historical Indigo Restoration Committee (HIRC) meeting. Casey Ford, Allie's uncle, comes to the meeting and announces that he will be selling off the mining rights to all the land he owns (most of the town) and everyone must vacate by the end of the year. Everyone protests, but he explains that there was a clause on each of their leases that gives him the right to evict if the structure's scheduled to be demolished. When the strip mine comes in, that's exactly what will happen. The next night after the play Indigo's Blues written by Derek Cooper, Allie's boyfriend, everyone hears a gunshot. When they get out to the street, they find Casey Ford dead. Everyone believes he walked into his own booby-trap at the former Bluebonnet Coffee Shop. Not too long ago Casey had closed down, boarded up and booby-trapped the coffee shop. McQuaid assists Sheriff Charlie McFarland with the investigation. There are many problems with the investigation. The biggest being that the crime scene is burned to the ground early the next morning. Plus, almost everyone in town had a reason for wanting Casey dead. And they seem to be covering for each other. They might even be setting someone up to take the fall. China and Ruby assist in the investigation but not officially. Ruby follows her intuition which often gets them into trouble. The characters in this book are very well written. You can feel the frustration and pain of the small town folks in Indigo. They've been working so hard to revitalize this town and now Casey plans to take that all away. There are quite a few side stories involved as well. It has a well-crafted plot with plenty of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Small town, murder and mayhem
Review: China Bayles and her partner Ruby are off to Indigo, TX, to have a booth at the Indigo Spring Arts & Crafts Festival. While there, China and friend Allison Selby will be doing a natural dye workshop called Colors to Dye for at Indigo Valley Farm, where Allison lives. China is the proprietor of Thyme and Seasons Herbs in Pecan Springs. She used to be a Houston criminal attorney. She is married to Mike McQuaid, former Houston dectective. He now teaches classes at CTSU. His thirteen year old son Brian lives with them and China thinks of him as her son. Ruby Wilcox is her best friend and business partner. Ruby owns the Crystal Cave, the only New Age shop in Pecan Springs. Together they own Thyme for Tea, a tearoom in the same building as Thyme and Seasons and Crystal Cave. While in Indigo, China and Allie attend the Historical Indigo Restoration Committee (HIRC) meeting. Casey Ford, Allie's uncle, comes to the meeting and announces that he will be selling off the mining rights to all the land he owns (most of the town) and everyone must vacate by the end of the year. Everyone protests, but he explains that there was a clause on each of their leases that gives him the right to evict if the structure's scheduled to be demolished. When the strip mine comes in, that's exactly what will happen. The next night after the play Indigo's Blues written by Derek Cooper, Allie's boyfriend, everyone hears a gunshot. When they get out to the street, they find Casey Ford dead. Everyone believes he walked into his own booby-trap at the former Bluebonnet Coffee Shop. Not too long ago Casey had closed down, boarded up and booby-trapped the coffee shop. McQuaid assists Sheriff Charlie McFarland with the investigation. There are many problems with the investigation. The biggest being that the crime scene is burned to the ground early the next morning. Plus, almost everyone in town had a reason for wanting Casey dead. And they seem to be covering for each other. They might even be setting someone up to take the fall. China and Ruby assist in the investigation but not officially. Ruby follows her intuition which often gets them into trouble. The characters in this book are very well written. You can feel the frustration and pain of the small town folks in Indigo. They've been working so hard to revitalize this town and now Casey plans to take that all away. There are quite a few side stories involved as well. It has a well-crafted plot with plenty of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Small town, murder and mayhem
Review: China Bayles and her partner Ruby are off to Indigo, TX, to have a booth at the Indigo Spring Arts & Crafts Festival. While there, China and friend Allison Selby will be doing a natural dye workshop called Colors to Dye for at Indigo Valley Farm, where Allison lives. China is the proprietor of Thyme and Seasons Herbs in Pecan Springs. She used to be a Houston criminal attorney. She is married to Mike McQuaid, former Houston dectective. He now teaches classes at CTSU. His thirteen year old son Brian lives with them and China thinks of him as her son. Ruby Wilcox is her best friend and business partner. Ruby owns the Crystal Cave, the only New Age shop in Pecan Springs. Together they own Thyme for Tea, a tearoom in the same building as Thyme and Seasons and Crystal Cave. While in Indigo, China and Allie attend the Historical Indigo Restoration Committee (HIRC) meeting. Casey Ford, Allie's uncle, comes to the meeting and announces that he will be selling off the mining rights to all the land he owns (most of the town) and everyone must vacate by the end of the year. Everyone protests, but he explains that there was a clause on each of their leases that gives him the right to evict if the structure's scheduled to be demolished. When the strip mine comes in, that's exactly what will happen. The next night after the play Indigo's Blues written by Derek Cooper, Allie's boyfriend, everyone hears a gunshot. When they get out to the street, they find Casey Ford dead. Everyone believes he walked into his own booby-trap at the former Bluebonnet Coffee Shop. Not too long ago Casey had closed down, boarded up and booby-trapped the coffee shop. McQuaid assists Sheriff Charlie McFarland with the investigation. There are many problems with the investigation. The biggest being that the crime scene is burned to the ground early the next morning. Plus, almost everyone in town had a reason for wanting Casey dead. And they seem to be covering for each other. They might even be setting someone up to take the fall. China and Ruby assist in the investigation but not officially. Ruby follows her intuition which often gets them into trouble. The characters in this book are very well written. You can feel the frustration and pain of the small town folks in Indigo. They've been working so hard to revitalize this town and now Casey plans to take that all away. There are quite a few side stories involved as well. It has a well-crafted plot with plenty of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: China saves a town
Review: China is off a for a quiet weekend in Indigo, Texas to an arts festival but trouble brews in the air. Allie is classmate from college is having family problems. It seems her Uncle is selling his mining rights and Indigo will soon be no more. He drops his bombshell at the local town meeting and the next night he is dead. Everyone is a suspect as they all want to save their town. Many believe a booby trap set in his own abandoned building was the cause of the accident. China's Husband McQaid arrives for a camping trip and soon joins forces with local enforcement to interview the town and find the killer. In the back of China's
mind something is nagging at her but she can't point her finger at it. When she finally remembers what she forgot the whole mystery surrounding this town becomes clear. Albert has wrote another story that gives us folklore, a lesson in indigo dying and a look at smalltown life. On the otherhand she introduces a story that could have been admitted from the story because she only gives it a fleck of attention before moving on to
the meat of the story. Since I love this series and feel like I am getting together with close friends to get an
update on their lives I found it to be a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Another Good One!
Review: I enjoy reading Ms. Albert's fast-paced, well-written mysteries because I always learn something new and fascinating about herbs. In this China Bayles story we learn history and a bit of folklore on the art of fabric dying using natural plants and herbs. The plot was tight and kept me guessing up to the last chapter. If you love herbs and mysteries, then this is the series for you!
Rating:
Summary: Another Good One!
Review: I enjoy reading Ms. Albert's fast-paced, well-written mysteries because I always learn something new and fascinating about herbs. In this China Bayles story we learn history and a bit of folklore on the art of fabric dying using natural plants and herbs. The plot was tight and kept me guessing up to the last chapter. If you love herbs and mysteries, then this is the series for you!
Rating:
Summary: delightful China Bayles mystery
Review: Pecan Springs is the home of China Bayles, proprietor of the Thyme and Seasons Herb Shop and the co-owner of Thyme For Tea. She also rents out the small cabin behind her store to Ellen Holt, a beautiful reporter from Ohio doing a story on small town Texas. China and her best friend Ruby travel to nearby Indigo for the weekend to give a workshop and participate in the art and crafts festival. They will be staying at the cabin of China's college friend Allison Selby, who along with the other thirty-six residents of Indigo are trying to revitalize the town. Allison's Uncle Casey Ford owns most of Indigo and intends to sell the mineral rights to Alcoa, who want to strip mine a seam that goes through the town's center. When Casey is murdered it is presumed that one of the townsfolk did it to preserve the town but Ruby and China, acting on a hunch, decide to investigate. Their search leads them right back to Pecan Springs and China's Midwest tenant. In the latest China Bayles mystery, the author, for the most part, has taken her heroine out of her adopted hometown and placed her in various localities as a way of keeping the character fresh and the story line original. It works. Readers will find INDIGO DYING a very complex yet satisfying novel with a support cast second to none. Readers will enjoy observing China happy in her professional and personal lives and will eagerly await her next misadventure. Harriet Klausner
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