Love Lies Bleeding: A China Bayles Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Texas Ranger gone bad
Review: China Bayles is back from a retreat at a monastery and is debating with herself about the future of her herb shop. Should she give it up and move on to something else? Should she add a tearoom and hire someone to run it? One thing that becomes clear to her is her devotion to her live-in lover Mike McQuaid, and China is considering making their relationship a permanent one. In the middle of these personal questions, she begins an investigation into the death of former Texas Ranger, Roy Adcock. His death appears to be a suicide, but China thinks it may be murder instead. During the course of her investigation, she begins to have doubts about her relationship with McQuaid, as well as her investigative skills. Adcock's death becomes complicated when it appears that he had a connection with a notorious drug lord, and China goes up a lot of blind alleys before she finally discovers who is guilty in this case. Her private life also ends on an uncertain note and the future of her relationship with McQuaid is up in the air. It appears that readers need to read the next book, to find out how it turns out!

Rating:
Summary: I disagree with the readers who are unhappy with the book..
Review: Finally! A softer side of China Bayles! Kudos to Susan Wittig Albert for showing us how we all change when confronted with a life-shattering crisis. Too often, the hero/heroine in books of this genre remains static. But here, the author has allowed her character to grow and respond to a crisis in her life. It is easy for me to understand how China could befriend Margaret, McQuaid's girlfriend. In many cases, when the man in your life turns to another woman, you obsess about her: what is she like? what does he see in her? etc. Sometimes we can't help but respect the enemy; Sometimes we even grow to like.love the enemy. Thank you, Ms. Wittig Albert for reminding us that life is not black and white, but many, many shades of gray and that the heart is complex...

Rating:
Summary: What A Disappointment
Review: I can only say that I loved allthe previous China Bayles books. Now I have no desire to continue the saga. This is not the same heroine I started reading about.I'm afraid the Author has made her into a woman I don't care for. I had a very hard time finishing the book because of her whimpy personal life attitude.I can't tell you how many times I put the book down because I was totally disgusted with China. The general mystery was good but my appeal for China is gone! I don't even want to know what happens in the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the others
Review: I love the China Bayles series, and I usually love China. She's smart, savy and quick-witted. Her quirky friends are half the fun too. This one just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The actual mystery was pretty good. There were a lot of plot twists and underlying issues like all her previous stories, but I had this one figured out by the end. I won't give anything away, but there's something rotten in the Ranger emporium. What I really didn't like, and what seemed unbelievable due to China's previous shows of independence was the fact that she blamed herself for her lover's infidelity! What's going on with That? I certainly hope that Ms. Albert redeems her heroine in the next outing.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the others
Review: I love the China Bayles series, and I usually love China. She's smart, savy and quick-witted. Her quirky friends are half the fun too. This one just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The actual mystery was pretty good. There were a lot of plot twists and underlying issues like all her previous stories, but I had this one figured out by the end. I won't give anything away, but there's something rotten in the Ranger emporium. What I really didn't like, and what seemed unbelievable due to China's previous shows of independence was the fact that she blamed herself for her lover's infidelity! What's going on with That? I certainly hope that Ms. Albert redeems her heroine in the next outing.

Rating:
Summary: Very good, but......
Review: I think an 8 for the actual book, but a 4 for some of the things that happened in the book. I think this book was better than her last one, but how could she do what she did!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good reading-but disappointing
Review: I to feel disappointed in the ending, but I'm sure (I hope) the next book will give us a happier conclusion to the end of this book. I how ever am not giving up on Ms. Albert, just because I didn't care for the ending of this book. I have become a great fan & have turned many of my fellow readers on to her. Let's just hope we can find what we are all looking for in her next one, of which I am anxiously waiting for.

Rating:
Summary: Can't wait 'til the next one!
Review: I'm really looking forward to the next China Bayles mystery! I want to find out what happens to China's lovelife - I know from experience that it can be easy to forgive someone who has strayed. The author has created a plot line that will keep readers coming back for more!

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery, but I'm ticked off at the hero
Review: I've been a fan of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles seriessince the first book, "Thyme of Death." Over the course ofthe past five books, China, her significant other Mike McQuaid and all of her friends in Pecan Springs have become my friends. Her latest entry, "Love Lies Bleeding," is another page-turning mystery. Who set who up? Who murdered the ex-Texas Ranger? (This guy was no Walker, let me tell you!) There's no shortage of suspects, and I leapt from one to the other and back throughout the book. When all was revealed, everything fit together nicely, and I didn't feel Albert had cheated me in any way. I just couldn't put the clues together in the right order. What did disappoint me was the somewhat downbeat ending. Without giving too much away, the future of China's relationship with McQuaid is certainly up in the air -- and now I have to wait for the next book to find out how this one actually ends. Ugh! And an even bigger "Ugh" goes to McQuaid himself. I had thought more of him -- like many series characters, McQuaid has become quite "real" -- and I feel like he's almost cheated on me! He certainly let me down!

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery, but I'm ticked off at the hero
Review: I've been a fan of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles seriessince the first book, "Thyme of Death." Over the course ofthe past five books, China, her significant other Mike McQuaid and all of her friends in Pecan Springs have become my friends. Her latest entry, "Love Lies Bleeding," is another page-turning mystery. Who set who up? Who murdered the ex-Texas Ranger? (This guy was no Walker, let me tell you!) There's no shortage of suspects, and I leapt from one to the other and back throughout the book. When all was revealed, everything fit together nicely, and I didn't feel Albert had cheated me in any way. I just couldn't put the clues together in the right order. What did disappoint me was the somewhat downbeat ending. Without giving too much away, the future of China's relationship with McQuaid is certainly up in the air -- and now I have to wait for the next book to find out how this one actually ends. Ugh! And an even bigger "Ugh" goes to McQuaid himself. I had thought more of him -- like many series characters, McQuaid has become quite "real" -- and I feel like he's almost cheated on me! He certainly let me down!