Enjoyable as most of the China Bayles mysteries are, but I don't much care for Wittig's new habit of moving to other points of view to tell the story. Seems disruptive and a little like maybe she's gone as far as she can with China and is wanting to move on to a new character. Mostly in this book...
We aren't mourning anything or anyone, really. We're talking about plants. Once in awhile we refer to the mystery of how and why the woman who was screaming in the trailer while it burned to the ground with her inside it was killed, but the murder is peripheral. The subject should scream with urg...
I would call this book a "cozy" in all ways. It is not as readable as the " China Bales Series" by the same author. What you might like about it, if you are from the South, or like stories about the south, is- - it is a very southern style read. The garden club ladies get involved with a crook,...
This is the 5th book in the Cottage Tales series. This one occurs after Beatrix and the town are cut off from the world due to a snowstorm. There is a death, which appears to be accidental and the burning of a hay barn. There are mysterious markings on a tree nearby. The animals and Beatrix ...
Some really nice characters flanked by some rather mediocre storytelling... the moments with Beatrix and her thoughts are lovely, but the narrator is constantly stepping out of the story to say things like, "I know we view things differently in the 21st century but this is how the Victorians felt...
I wanted to like this one, but I just can't get past my absolute and complete exasperation for the romanticizing of the Confederacy. Can we just not anymore? The only character in the book I wasn't totally embarrassed by by the end was Charlie Dickens whose inner monologue at least recognized th...
I love the characters; the cozy based-on-a-true-story mysteries are generally interesting; the parallel human/animal/Beatrix Potter material has so much potential. Yet so much of each book is spent repeating the back story for it all (telling rather than showing) in a narrator's voice that is mor...
I really enjoy the China Bayles mystery series set in the Texas Hill Country. I always recommend that you read them in sequence so the you understand the characters so much better. They've become friends that I am interested in and enjoy hearing more about. This particular book is an exception to...
AUTHOR: ALBERT, Susan WittigTITLE : The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star Date Read: 03/30/14RATING: 4.5/B+GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: Mystery/2013/Berkley/284 pgs SERIES/STAND ALONE: #4 in Darling DahliasTIME/PLACE: 1930's AlabamaCHARACTERS: Lizzy/Garden c...
I have been a big fan of Susan Wittig Albert's writing for a long time, beginning with her China Bayles/herbal mysteries. But, in my personal opinion, I think her 1930s-themed "Darling Dahlias" is Albert at her absolute best! Set in Alabama, this series captures the essence of the Depression-era...
Three stars for the mystery, only one for China herself. She is undoubtedly one of the most selfish and mean-spirited women I have come across. Selfish because she's only considering her own needs in the book, not those of other people, and mean-spirited because she is just plain MEAN to her mo...
Having survived a whirlwind holiday season, China Bayles finds herself growing more unhappy with her life as a shop owner and with her personal relationship with her significant other, McQuaid. Desperate for a period of rest and peace that will give her time to answer the difficult questions abo...
How do you solve the murder of a woman who kept so much to herself that all you have to rely on are the skewed memories of the people who knew her? People, of course, who had every motive to kill her and every opportunity...people whose memories are shaded by the pain her actions, intentionally ...
University politics is a fierce competition, too often riddled with animosity and infighting as those involved plot against each other to gain greater status and tenure. Sometimes, as China Bayles discovers in her latest mystery, it can even be deadly. China's friend Dottie, a cat-loving profes...
Marital bliss is only a few short days away for China Bayles and Mike McQuaid, who have finally agreed to tie the knot after months of rehabilitation following Mike's gunshot wound and China's near-death experience. The garden is ready, the guests have been invited and China's new tea-room is in ...
This is the most exciting, magical story by Susan Wittig Albert! Even though she colours in every resident, we stay with characters we like: Beatrix, Will Heelis, Caroline, Dimity Woodcock, and introduce Irish schoolmate Deidre Malone. Deidre is housed by the veterinarian family, for being the...
An interesting collection of short mysteries, with a lot of glimpses into the lives of the secondary characters and townspeople not usually given as much attention in the series. I am not really into the herbalist scene and I have two black thumbs, so the side bar stuff was not really for me. S...
The book starts with a gathering of the Texas Star Quilting Club, some old ladies of Pecan Springs, who are experts at gossiping and watching their neighbours. And lately, they have had their eyes on Larry Kirk. He is going through a divorce, as he is a work-a-holic, and his wife has found a new ...