Customer Reviews

Hangman's Root (China Bayles Mystery)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was talking to a friend the other day who's read this series and we both agreed that we'd love to live in Pecan Springs, Texas and be one of China's quirky friends! The true test of a good mystery is that it keeps you guessing right up to the end, and this one more than fills the bill. The characters are as real as they come and some of the most interesting 'people' I know! LOL! Reading a new China Bayles mystery is like arriving at a party and discovering that all your favorite people are there.

In this tale, China is appalled when she hears that her friend, Dottie (The Cat Lady), has been accused of murdering the mean old Professor Harwick (who's been known to threaten her cats) and sets out to find the real killer. Lots of intriguing twists and turns in this interesting, well-crafterd plot. Thanks, Ms. Albert, for creating such an entertaining, likeable character in China Bayles!

I really like this series, and this, the third book in the series is just as good as the others. In this book China takes on a challenging case to try to absolve her friend of a murder that was staged to look like she had done it. China relies on her lawyer friend and her very eccentric friend Ruby to help her friend, the town eccentric called the "cat lady". We also see China take the big step of a committment with her boyfriend. There's enough murder and mayhem as well as gardening information to satisfy anyone who is of that bent.

I have greatly enjoyed the China Bayles series, so I am sorry to say that "Hangman's Root" does not do these books justice. I found the mystery incredibly uninteresting-- it revolved around office politics at a university & animal rights, which seemed interesting at the outset, but the plot just never came together. I think one of the main problems was China's knack for rambling off subject into background information. These asides really slowed down the plot, & I could barely finish the book. If you are a first time reader to this series, don't judge China Bayles by "Hangman's Root."

Susan Wittig Albert's third mystery of the China Bayles series, "Hangman's Root", is a solid mystery, with a surprising killer, and a murder victim with a history of doing horrible, sadistic things to people and animals. China's friend, Dottie Riddle, a biology professor and a "cat lady" is the prime suspect in the murder of the sadistic Dr. Harwick, a colleague. Soon China finds that extortion, embezzlement, and deep hatred figure into this killing. Meanwhile, China and Mike are trying to find a house that they could both move into, with some comic results, and Rudy is trying to deal with a reunion with the daughter she gave up years ago. Not quite as good as "Witches Bane", but the sotry introduces us to some intriguing new characters.

When China's friend Dottie Riddle is accused of murdering her co-worker and neighbor, Miles Hartwick, China is quick to come to Dottie's defense. After all, the "cat lady" did nothing more than provide a home for the homeless cats who found their way to her backyard.

Unfortunately, a series of nasty neighborhood incidents surrounding the stray cats add to the tension, and cause a number of people to believe that Dottie could, indeed, have caused his death.

Along the way, McQuaid and China look for a house, and Ruby becomes better acquainted with her newly found daughter.

Another good whodunit from Susan Wittig Albert with a strong and surprising finish. Few will figure out the real killer and the reason why.

Hangman's Root (China Bayles Mystery)

China Bayles becomes disillusioned with her career as an attorney so she moves to the small town of Pecan Springs in the Texas Hill Country and opens an herb shop. In this third book of the series, China's good friend, Dottie Riddle, a biology professor at the university in Pecan Springs, is being accused of murdering one of the other faculty members, Miles Harwick. Harwick's animal experiments have galvanized opposition from animal rights groups, but Dottie has personal as well as professional problems with Harwick. A piece of physical evidence is all it takes for Dottie to be arrested. As China does some investigating, she discovers that other people have a motive to murder Harwick as well. Just as she thinks that she has the mystery solved, yet another possible suspect appears on the scene. The setting of the Texas Hill Country is a great place for a mystery and the characters surrounding China, especially her boyfriend Mike McQuaid just add to the fun.

This is the third in the CHINA BAYLES series of cozy mysteries.

At one time China Bayles had been on the fast track as a hot shot defense attorney practicing in the big city but a few years earlier she had had enough. China quit her job and settled in the small East Texas town of Pecan Springs and opened up an herb shop. Her new life centered around her business, the friends she had made and recently her romantic relationship with McQuaid, a fellow escapee from the big city rat race who now taught criminal justice at the local college. China was enjoying her quiet life when a friend, a rather eccentric woman who rescued cats, was charged with murdering a neighbor. China soon found herself reluctantly dusting off her law license to help out her friend.

This is a charming series of cozies where of course the true attraction is the personal life of China and her ever expanding circle of friends. The mystery aspect is slight, usually the reader will be a step or so ahead but that does not mean that the journey is not worth taking. The characters are engaging and even if the mystery does not keep the reader turning pages their stories will.

Albert, Susan Wittig
Mystery

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 professor at the local college, enlists China to help her deal with the threats of an associate professor in her department, a man focused on questionable animal research who has riled the local animal rights activists with his latest experiments. When he is found hanging from the ceiling in his office, the police investigation quickly lands on Dottie, whose last encounter with the dead scientist was anything but pretty. Can China help extract her friend from the web of deception and unsavory practices surrounding his death and solve the murder before the killer strikes again? Or will her preoccupation with McQuaid's need for her to finally decide about the future of their relationship and with her best friend Ruby's problems with her newly discovered daughter keep her from saving her friend?

Peopled with realistic characters, this book once again proves Albert's talent as a mystery writer. The plot is well-crafted, drawing out the suspense until the very surprising end. Though it's not quite as entertaining as the previous books in the series, it's worth the read to see the developments occurring between China and McQuaid...I'm looking forward to their future together, though I believe, like China, that sometimes "friendship is easier to live with than romance"!

Great story. Taught me about herbs and Texas, where I have recently come to live. Wanted to read them in sequence. Love the small town characters and customs as I am from a small town. Will read all of the series.

A prominent and greatly disliked professor and animal researcher at the
local university is found hanging from a pipe in his office while a mob of
PETA protestors yell in the student quad below. What appeared to be suicide
at first glance begins to look more and more like murder, and evidence seems
to be pointing at China's eccentric friend, known to most as the Cat Lady, a
biology professor in the same department who has a genuine love and concern
for animals of all kinds and a hobby of rescuing strays. But China knows
Dottie Riddle well enough to know that she could never be capable of murder,
and she enlists the help of her best friend, Ruby Wilcox, and an old
colleague from her days as a high-power defense attorney in Austin, to get
to the bottom of it.

Unlike other books from this series that I've read, herbs take a back seat
in this story, which I found almost odd, considering that's the crux of the
series, I thought. Anyway, the writing was good and the story unfolded
well. I suspected the correct culprit about halfway through the book, long
before China had a clue.