Spanish Dagger (China Bayles Series #15)

by Susan Wittig Albert

Overview

While harvesting yucca plants to make paper, China Bayles finds a body-cause of death: unknown. It seems that the simple lives of many residents of Pecan Springs hide complex and dangerous pasts. And now, while also unraveling secrets that hit close to home, China must set the record straight- and find a killer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101207130
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/03/2007
Series:	China Bayles Series , #15
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	193,947
File size:	759 KB
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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A leader among female sleuths." -- Publishers Weekly "Combines a fast-moving plot with the botanical lore and recipes that her readers have come to expect. Solid entertainment." -BOOKLIST

Editorial Reviews

Violent crime and long-buried intrigue disrupt the peace of Pecan Springs, Tex., home of herb shop owner China Bayles, in the piquant 16th entry in Albert's southwestern cozy series (after 2006's Bleeding Hearts). China's pleasant routines are first disrupted by the travails of her business partner, Ruby, who's apparently been stood up by her unreliable boyfriend, an ex-narc. Then China's recently discovered half brother, Miles Danforth, an attorney, insists on reopening the ice-cold case of their father's death in a car accident 16 years earlier. Miles has uncovered correspondence that their father feared for his life before he died, and recruits the help of China's husband, Mike McQuaid, a former Houston homicide detective turned PI. But China faces a much warmer corpse when she and her friend Carole discover a bloody body by the railroad tracks where they go to gather yucca. Albert's fans will savor recipes such as Texas tarragon vinegar and lemon-mint tea concentrate, plus botanical trivia. (Apr.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

While in search of yucca leaves, herbalist China Bayles unearths a body and personal secrets in her 15th outing. Albert lives in Texas. Author tour. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

An herbalist and a Rottweiler solve a series of crimes. While picking yucca leaves for a papermaking workshop, China Bayles, herbalist, businesswoman and lawyer, discovers the body of Colin Fowler, local business owner, possible undercover cop and former love of China's best friend, Ruby Wilcox. Ruby, who's off in Fredericksburg moving her demented mother to assisted living, begs China to look into the death and take care of Colin's Rottweiler. Everywhere China goes, she crosses the path of a big blond guy whose looks mark him as a cop. Her pal, the police chief, warns China off, but all the clues seem to come her way. With her ex-cop p.i. husband out of town working on a cold case for her half-brother, involving the death of her father, China feels free to take chances with the blond guy, who may be a member of a regional Drug Task Force, a group with a bad reputation when it comes to corruption. He's hunting for drugs, and he claims Colin was dealing. Colin had recently received calls from Lucita, bookkeeper at nearby Sonoma Nursery, presumably about some potted plants in Colin's yard. But when Lucita is the next victim and Rambo the Rottweiler sniffs out cocaine in the pots, China realizes she may be in big trouble. Albert's 16th (after Bleeding Hearts, 2006, etc.) complements the obligatory herbal lore and recipes with one of her best mysteries to date.

Kirkus Reviews

"A leader among female sleuths." — Publishers Weekly "Combines a fast-moving plot with the botanical lore and recipes that her readers have come to expect. Solid entertainment." -BOOKLIST

From the Publisher