Holly Blues (China Bayles Series #18)

by Susan Wittig Albert

Overview

China Bayles isn't happy when a Texas wind blows her husband's ex-wife, and the mother of China's stepson, into her herb shop. Sally is known to have a split personality and fall into constant trouble with the law, but she claims she has nowhere else to turn. Now its up to China to weed out whatever it is Sally's running from before the truth catches up to them all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425240618
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/05/2011
Series:	China Bayles Series , #18
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	291,036
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susan Wittig Albert grew up on a farm in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. A former professor of English and a university administrator and vice president, she is the author of the China Bayles Mysteries, the Darling Dahlias Mysteries, and the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Some of her recent titles include Widow’s Tears, Cat’s Claw, The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose, and The Tale of Castle Cottage. She and her husband, Bill, coauthor a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries under the name Robin Paige, which includes such titles as Death at Glamis Castle and Death at Whitechapel.

Date of Birth:

1940

Place of Birth:

Danville, Illinois

Education:

Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley

Editorial Reviews

The arrival in Pecan Springs, Tex., of Sally Strahorn, the insecure ex-wife of China Bayles's husband, PI Mike McQuaid, leads to trouble in Albert's sprightly 18th China Bayles mystery (after 2009's Wormwood). Against her better judgment, herbalist and tea-shop owner China takes pity on Sally, who's just lost her home and suffers from split personality disorder, and offers her a place to stay. Soon enough, a stalker targeting Sally makes threatening calls to China, and the police suspect Sally of involvement in a murder. With Mike away on business, China again turns sleuth to determine what connection the stalker might have to the deaths of Sally's parents almost 10 years earlier—and to prevent any harm to herself or her children. More than once China and her best friend, Ruby, dress up as Sesame Street characters to disarm suspicion. Series fans will enjoy catching up with old friends, though newcomers are likely to find the soap-operish family relationships of less interest. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Christmas with herbalist China Bayles and a visitor who spells trouble. Although traffic has been slow at her shops, China and her family-her husband Mike McQuaid, private eye and part-time college professor, his son Brian, and China's niece Caitlin-are making do. When Mike's former wife, Brian's mom Sally Strahorn, turns up begging for a place to stay, China, a tough former trial lawyer, feels sorry for Sally, who has multiple-personality disorder and claims to be broke. Things change when China starts getting phone calls from a polite but somehow menacing stranger who wants to see Sally and claims to have the car Sally says was repossessed. Though a case takes Mike to Omaha and leaves China on her own, she can always count on her business partner Ruby and her friends, who include the chief of police and the county sheriff. Sally vanishes just before the police chief comes looking for her as a person of interest in her sister's murder. She pops up just long enough to phone China and beg her to get Mike to go to her hometown in Kansas, where the librarian claims to know who murdered Sally's parents and perhaps lit the fuse to all her current problems. For the sake of Brian, China and Mike struggle to find the truth. Albert's Texas Hill Country mysteries (Wormwood, 2009, etc.) are always a good value for both the mystery and the horticultural insights.

Kirkus Reviews

In the eighteenth China Bayles mystery, the story centers on her husband’s ex-wife, who arrives in Pecan Springs with no money or job but plenty of trouble, including a stalker and a police investigation. Albert’s direct style, appealing directly to the listener, is well suited to audio. Julia Gibson delivers a light Southern accent that keeps the story firmly rooted in the small Texas town that China and her circle of family and friends inhabit. Gibson and Tom Stechschulte read alternating chapters, from the viewpoint of China or her husband, respectively. The majority of the narration falls to Gibson, whose smooth, inviting speech contrasts sharply with the deep, gruff voice of Stechschulte. Gibson adds a touch of humor and lightheartedness to China’s dialogue, which complements the dramatic passages. E.N. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile