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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Something different but very good in this mystery series, October 9, 2001
China Bayles is a self made independent woman who turned her back on her mother's Mississippi family because she refused to conform to the old South's vision of how a woman should behave. She lives in Pecan Springs, Texas with her husband and stepson. She proudly owns the Thyme and Sears herb shop and is co-owner of Thyme for Tea teashop. She has no plans to return to the family plantation of Jordan's Crossing until her mother calls her because she needs her help. When China arrives at the old homestead, she learns that her great-aunt Tullie, a victim of Huntington's Disease, has struck down the plantation manager in a pique of anger. China's mother argues with her daughter that the irate manager walked out of the house enraged, but he has since disappeared. The police want to question Tullie about the spat. As China struggles to balance family loyalty with her legal responsibilities, she unearths secrets that should stay buried in the land that created them.
This is a different China Bayles unlike the one readers have come to know and love. The audience sees her as a true daughter of the south, fully cognizant of the rules, expectations and ties that bind her to a place she no longer can call home but has a hold on her loyalties. There are mysteries aplenty in BLOODROOT, some of them of the otherworldly kind. The author allows us to see, through the fist person narrative, how a Southern woman copes with her environment. This is a wonderful reading experience. Harriet Klausner
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This may be the best of the series yet., March 24, 2003
Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series has had its high points, as well as low points where several books in a row seemed to have the same plot, and where the murderer always seemed to be that one character who didn't have any real reason to be in the book *unless* s/he was the culprit. With _Bloodroot_, Albert rises above a few blah-ish books midseries, and proves she is a unique talent in the mystery field. China is summoned by her mother to the family's old plantation, where her ailing Aunt Tullie is in trouble. See, Aunt Tullie was the last to see an old childhood playmate of China's, who claimed to have a deed to the plantation and now is missing. She had motive, means, and opportunity. And unless China can figure out what's going on, her ailing aunt may go to jail. Haunted by a recurring dream from her childhood, and assisted by the ghost of a suicidal ancestress, China uncovers dark secrets in her family's past, from slavery and ill-treatment of Native Americans to hereditary diseases, illegitimate pregnancies, and murder. Albert paints an enthralling picture of her setting, showing both its beauty and its decadence. And I love these touches of "magical realism" she uses from time to time. As an added bonus, I had no clue whodunit until very close to the end!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The same China Bayles, but deeper, November 2, 2001
China Bayles has an ambivalent relationship with her mother Leatha. Leatha spent most of China's childhood and adulthood in an alcoholic fog. Leatha is now on the wagon, but with so much baggage the relationship is still difficult. Leatha is staying with her sick Aunt Tullie on the family plantation in Mississippi, and there is something very wrong. The manager, Wylie, has announced to Leatha and Tullie that he has a deed to the land under the plantation's main house, is assaulted by the angry old woman and disappears. Leatha, naturally very worried, begs China to come out and help her solve the problem. Reluctantly, China drives to Mississippi to resolve the problems, but they are deeper and more difficult than she realizes. This is a much more personal mystery for China. In her other stories, she always seems just a little removed from the action. In this one, she is deeply involved with each and every one of the main characters, and related to most of them. Her family has more secrets than she or Leatha ever realized. The ghosts are a nice touch. They add to the atmosphere of the old house. This is a very enjoyable mystery. China Bayles fans will love it and it will appeal to many others who would not otherwise read one of these mysteries.
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