Lavender Lies: A China Bayles Mystery

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Summary: China deals with murder and marriage
Review: China Bayles and her fiance Mike McQuaid have finally set the date for their wedding. McQuaid becomes embroiled in a murder case and China decides that she'd better help him solve it if he is to be at the wedding on time. The victim is Edgar Coleman, a local real estate developer who will stoop to any means to complete a deal. He needed approval from the city council for a new real estate deal to go through, so he methodically gathered incriminating information on each council member and threatened to reveal their secrets if they didn't give him a favorable vote. His other character flaw was a penchant for chasing women other than his wife. These two factors provide a slew of suspects for the murder. Author Albert skillfully weaves a lot of red herrings into the book, along with the frantic preparations for a wedding which is threatened by all sorts of catastrophes. Only China could go through a 2-week pre-wedding period such as the one in this book. This is Albert at her best!

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Summary: Abridged Audio Annoying
Review: I'm a fan of China Bayles, but wouldn't be if my first exposure had been this abridged audio (Reader's Disgust version). Read by the author, who has entirely the wrong accent - more midwestern or simply generic, it starts out okay, but then becomes hurried, flat and deadpan. The story itself suffers mightly from the abridgement. A cozy needs the subplots and red herrings, but they were so numerous in this abridgement that it quickly became confusiong and rather non-sensical. I missed the little bits of herbal trivia I've come to expect, the richness of the characters was lacking, and generally I would have to say this audio is a mistake. Take a pass, and read the book.

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Summary: China's back -- in more ways than one!
Review: LAVENDER LIES is about the eighth China Bayles novel. Albert is SUCH a good writer, her books are a true pleasure to read -- and hard to put down. This one may be the most fun so far, as the wacky women work together to solve the multi-layered mystery while China and McQuaid prepare for their possibly doomed wedding. I look forward to my visits to Pecan Springs, Texas. And I appreciate her little herb-related quotes, myths, and recipes. I've never actually made anything from a recipe in these books, but I must say Ruby's Lemonade with Lavender and Rosemary sounds like heaven on earth. And what my objection was in the last book was that McQuaid did all the work and called all the shots -- this time the very competent ladies -- with China back in charge -- do it all. And it's a lot of fun.

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Summary: getting predictable
Review: Susan Wittig Albert's mystery novels are still enjoyable, but I'm beginning to figure out the "pattern" behind them. At the risk of committing a **SPOILER**, it seems that there is always one character who doesn't seem to have any reason to be in the book, just sort of shoehorned in, and that person always turns out to have done it. I hope the next few novels contain more twists.

Rating:
Summary: getting predictable
Review: Susan Wittig Albert's mystery novels are still enjoyable, but I'm beginning to figure out the "pattern" behind them. At the risk of committing a **SPOILER**, it seems that there is always one character who doesn't seem to have any reason to be in the book, just sort of shoehorned in, and that person always turns out to have done it. I hope the next few novels contain more twists.

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Summary: The Best For Awhile!!
Review: This is a good China Bayles mystery. I was a little disillusioned after the previous two in the series, but this is a great one. I really enjoyed the story, and the wedding sideline was a great one. China is her usual rushed self in this story, and she's trying hard to concentrate only on her upcoming nuptials, but gets involved in spite of herself with another murder. This murder is of a citizen of Pecan Springs, who no one will really miss that much (except his wife). He's a sharpy, and he gets cut on his own misdeeds. The story moves along swiftly, and we see China trying to get wedding plans in amongst murders, hurricanes and faled wedding cakes. It's great. Read this for a whomping good ride.

Rating:
Summary: The Best For Awhile!!
Review: This is a good China Bayles mystery. I was a little disillusioned after the previous two in the series, but this is a great one. I really enjoyed the story, and the wedding sideline was a great one. China is her usual rushed self in this story, and she's trying hard to concentrate only on her upcoming nuptials, but gets involved in spite of herself with another murder. This murder is of a citizen of Pecan Springs, who no one will really miss that much (except his wife). He's a sharpy, and he gets cut on his own misdeeds. The story moves along swiftly, and we see China trying to get wedding plans in amongst murders, hurricanes and faled wedding cakes. It's great. Read this for a whomping good ride.

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Summary: I want to be China Bayles!!!
Review: This is my first China Bayles mystery and I'm hopelessly hooked! China has my dream life: the herb shop, Thyme and Season; the tea room, Thyme for Tea; the sideline job of writing a gardening column for the local newspaper; not to mention the young hunk, Mike McQuaid!!! I think I better go back to the beginning, though, and work my way through the entire series. I love the herbal lore and recipes that begin each chapter as I have my own herb gardens. I didn't think China and McQuaid would EVER make it to the alter, but thankfully, they did in spite of murder, mayhem and a hurricane! Ms. Albert is a primo mystery writer and kept me guessing right up to the end. China's friends, Ruby, Smart Cookie, The Whiz, et al are icing on the cake of the plot, especially Ruby with her new age shop and flamboyant outfits. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're into herbs and love a good, fast-paced, well-written mystery!