Mystery China

It is Sunday afternoon, and Theodosia and Drayton are catering a formal tea at a hot-air-balloon rally. But as the sky turns gray and the clouds start to boil up, a strange object zooms out of nowhere. It is a drone, and it appears to be buzzing around the balloons, checking them out. As Theodosia and Drayton watch, the drone, hovering like some angry, mechanized insect, deliberately crashes into the balloon next to them. An enormous, fiery explosion erupts, and everyone watches in horror as the balloon plummets to the earth, killing all three of its passengers.

When ex-lawyer and herb-shop proprietor China Bayles’s friend Jo dies of an apparent suicide, China looks behind the quaint façade of her new home of Pecan Springs, Texas, and takes a suspicious look at everyone. And though she finds lots of friendly faces, China is sure that one of them hides the heart of a killer.

Herbalist China Bayles' latest adventure takes her to the mountains of North Carolina, where her friend Dorothea Harper serves as the director and curator of the Hemlock House Library, a priceless collection of rare gardening books housed in a haunted mountainside mansion that once belonged to Sunny Carswell, a reclusive heiress. But the most valuable book - A Curious Herbal, created by Elizabeth Blackwell in the 1730s - is missing, and Dorothea is under suspicion.

China Bayles's herb shop in Pecan Springs wasn't a big business, but it kept her busy. So she brought her taxes to Rosemary Robbins, an accountant who reminded China a bit of her former self—preoccupied, distracted, maybe a bit overstressed. Still, Rosemary always seemed pleasant, and China wished she could get to know her better. Now, though, the chance is gone.

In a small Texas town, what starts as a little festive Halloween fun ends in a brutal murder. And lawyer-turned-herbalist China Bayles is even more shocked when her friend Ruby, a New Age expert in tarot and astrology, becomes the prime suspect after a minister accuses her of witchcraft. Now it’s up to China to unmask the real killer.

New York Times best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert is widely acclaimed for her cozy China Bayles mystery series. In Cat’s Claw, China’s friend Police Chief Sheila Dawson takes center stage. When local computer guru Larry Kirk is found dead, many are convinced it was suicide over his recent divorce. But Sheila has a hunch there’s more to this case than meets the eye - especially when evidence surfaces that Larry was being stalked.

Susan Wittig Albert has won critical acclaim anda devoted following for her China Bayles mysteries featuring beloved herb shop and tearoom owner China. In Wormwood, the death of a woman in a pool - where a Shaker woman drowned in 1912 - sets the stage for a perplexing whodunit.

In this 16th entry in the best-selling China Bayles series, our teashop owning heroine discovers a dead body while gathering herbs by the railroad tracks. On top of that, her brother unearths new evidence suggesting their father's death was no accident, and China is soon dragged into both mysteries.

In this 16th entry in Susan Wittig Albert’s long-running mystery series, China is finally on the verge of finding out the truth about her father’s death. But her reservations about letting her half-brother Miles hire her husband prove all too accurate when she discovers Miles has a hidden agenda.

The high-school principal asks China to secretly investigate the popular football coach who led the Panthers to six state championships. Soon after China confirms the coach's predilection for teenage girls, one of his victims turns up dead and suspicion falls upon the lecherous coach.

Author Susan Wittig Albert turns up the suspense in her 18th China Bayles mystery. Just as the holiday season begins, so does the drama, when China's husband’s ex-wife, Sally, appears, begging for help and a place to stay. ’Tis the season of giving, so China opens her home to Sally. But when troubling phone calls start, China knows she’ll need to dig up the truth before Christmas turns deadly.

Rejoin Ray Pacheco and Tyee Chino in their latest adventure unraveling a maze of misdeeds involving wealth, power, political corruption, and Navajo warriors. Farmington, New Mexico, located in the Four Corners area where four states meet, is about to experience a level of crime and mayhem never seen before. The local sheriff has abandoned his post and taken old military equipment, including a tank, off to Colorado to prepare for the beginning of the end. Left behind is the body of his wife, who was having an affair with the richest man in town.

Ray Pacheco has retired from being the sheriff of Dona Ana County, New Mexico. His new job is fishing. But, not for long. First a stray show dog raises questions concerning the whereabouts of its owner. Then a body was found close to Ray's rural cabin. Maybe once a cop always a cop - Ray joins forces with two unusual partners; an Apache fishing guide, Tyee Chino, prone to drunkenness and a bait shop owner, Big Jack, prone to laziness - to unravel the mysteries.

Murder and greed visit the high country.... Tired of spending his days fishing, Ray Pacheco takes on his second assignment with his partner Tyee Chino when the state Attorney General asks them to find out just what the hell is going on in Ruidoso, New Mexico. With the town's sheriff in the hospital with a mysterious illness, acting sheriff Martin Marino is running rough-shod over everyone around him.

When a prominent animal researcher is found hanged in the midst of angry protests against his experiments, suspicion falls on biology professor Dottie Riddle. Known as the Cat Lady of Pecan Springs, Dottie's sympathy for strays—and the victim's distaste for them—gives the police reason to think she may be capable of murder. But China Bayles doesn't think so. She hires a lawyer for Dottie and starts looking around for clues. But she soon discovers that digging up old evil is a dirty and dangerous business...

Ex-lawyer and herb-shop proprietor China Bayles is investigating the mystery of a retired Texas Ranger shot dead with his wife’s gun...while also trying to sort out some mysteries about her own relationship after she overhears a suspicious phone conversation.

In search of respite, China takes off to St. Theresa's Monastery with her friend Maggie, a former nun. The goal is a brief, tranquil retreat—but there's a conflict at the convent. The Mother Superior has recently died, and a battle over the future of St. Theresa's suggests that her sudden demise might not have been accidental. Now, China's quest for a replenished spirit takes second place to a more earthbound pursuit: catching a killer.

Freelance journalist Nathan Troy is a global citizen looking for eye-opening news. Living in Beijing, he stumbles upon a ward full of patients afflicted with an unknown, deadly disease. Facing closed doors and open hostility, he won't rest until he exposes the dark conspiracy. But as he digs deeper for answers, mysterious figures try to scare him off the trail with tortuous violence. To his horror, it looks as though there's no stopping a shadowy cabal of mad scientists from wielding an epidemic designed for ethnic cleansing.

Much of the material in this book comes from The Bamboo Annals, The Records of the Grand Historian, and later historians who studied those sacred texts. The bamboo annals were discovered in AD 281, inside the tomb of King Xian. The Records of the Grand Historian were reportedly written by Sima Tian and continued by his son, Sima Qian. Only fragments remain today, but the original may have been written just prior to 86 BC.

"Tales and Trails: Unraveling Asia's Urban Myths" is a delightful voyage through Asia's strangeness. This excellent book explores China, Korea, and Japan's cultures. It vibrantly blends folklore, history, and the human spirit. See the terrifying Gumiho, brave Chollima, mysterious Jade Rabbit, and Forbidden City whispers. Climb Kuchisake-Onna's terrifying peak in the dark Aokigahara Forest. From Beijing's hectic streets to China's calm farms, Japan's intriguing forests to Korea's wild beaches, these stories take listeners to many places.