Customer Reviews

Love Lies Bleeding: A China Bayles Mystery

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was my first China Bayles mystery...I enjoyed it, reading about China and the town of Pecan Springs was a hoot. Having gardening plans and ideas strewn throughout the book was fun. Being in the legal field, I can relate to the idea of leaving it all behind and running from the city to a quiet remote little town. But somehow I think the town of Pean Springs has a lot more danger lurking around than one would think. China's friends are quirky and add spice to the background. They mystery itself kept me quessing...I will hunt up the previous China stories as well as the more current ones. Great reading for an rainy afternoon or relaxing on the beach...

Let me start of by saying China has always been one of my favorite characters. And I would love to have her back in the next installment. This China, the simpering idiot who blames herself when her boyfriend betrays her, is not the strong heroine of previous books. Bring back the real China!!

Still another stroll through the herb garden with former lawyer China Bayles and the amazing cast of characters that inhabit the imaginary town of Peacn Springs, Texas. I like the way Ms Albert strews tidbits of herb lore through this series. I recommend this and all the books in the series to anyone who enjoys curling up with a good book, a warm afghan, and a cup of hot tea.

China Bayles is back from a retreat at a monastery and is debating with herself about the future of her herb shop. Should she give it up and move on to something else? Should she add a tearoom and hire someone to run it? One thing that becomes clear to her is her devotion to her live-in lover Mike McQuaid, and China is considering making their relationship a permanent one. In the middle of these personal questions, she begins an investigation into the death of former Texas Ranger, Roy Adcock. His death appears to be a suicide, but China thinks it may be murder instead. During the course of her investigation, she begins to have doubts about her relationship with McQuaid, as well as her investigative skills. Adcock's death becomes complicated when it appears that he had a connection with a notorious drug lord, and China goes up a lot of blind alleys before she finally discovers who is guilty in this case. Her private life also ends on an uncertain note and the future of her relationship with McQuaid is up in the air. It appears that readers need to read the next book, to find out how it turns out!

Not only was the plot rather uninvolving, but our wonderfully independent heroine blames herself for her lover's infidelity! The reconciliation with her rival seems rather forced. Can you imagine a guy holding hands with his woman's younger, studlier paramor and vowing to be friends? Hah! Having said that, I am about to read the next installment, hoping that it will be back to Albert's usual stellar quality.

The author sure thew a twist into this one. Back from her haitus at Saint T's convent, China is trying to get back into the swing on things. However, McQuaid is acting different, and China fears he is having an affair. She overhears a phone conversation between McQuaid and a woman and confronts him about it. McQuaid admits it is true, but that it is over. Also, unbeknownst to China, McQuaid is working undercover with the FBI regarding an issue with Texas Rangers. While China is trying to sort out her feelings, McQuaid is shot while working undercover on his case. We never really get to see how China would have worked things out because once she hears that McQuaid has been shot, everything else is immaterial. Not only does she totally forgive McQuaid for his affair, but she befriends the woman with whom he had the affair (an FBI agent). To top it off, she takes responsibility for the affair by saying that if she had said yes to McQuaid one of the many times he had asked her to marry him, he wouldn't have looked elsewhere. No matter how much she loves McQuaid, I have trouble equating this simpering female with the headstrong,independent China from the previous books.

I've been a fan of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles seriessince the first book, "Thyme of Death." Over the course ofthe past five books, China, her significant other Mike McQuaid and all of her friends in Pecan Springs have become my friends. Her latest entry, "Love Lies Bleeding," is another page-turning mystery. Who set who up? Who murdered the ex-Texas Ranger? (This guy was no Walker, let me tell you!) There's no shortage of suspects, and I leapt from one to the other and back throughout the book. When all was revealed, everything fit together nicely, and I didn't feel Albert had cheated me in any way. I just couldn't put the clues together in the right order. What did disappoint me was the somewhat downbeat ending. Without giving too much away, the future of China's relationship with McQuaid is certainly up in the air -- and now I have to wait for the next book to find out how this one actually ends. Ugh! And an even bigger "Ugh" goes to McQuaid himself. I had thought more of him -- like many series characters, McQuaid has become quite "real" -- and I feel like he's almost cheated on me! He certainly let me down!

I love the China Bayles series, and I usually love China. She's smart, savy and quick-witted. Her quirky friends are half the fun too. This one just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The actual mystery was pretty good. There were a lot of plot twists and underlying issues like all her previous stories, but I had this one figured out by the end. I won't give anything away, but there's something rotten in the Ranger emporium. What I really didn't like, and what seemed unbelievable due to China's previous shows of independence was the fact that she blamed herself for her lover's infidelity! What's going on with That? I certainly hope that Ms. Albert redeems her heroine in the next outing.

I can only say that I loved allthe previous China Bayles books. Now I have no desire to continue the saga. This is not the same heroine I started reading about.I'm afraid the Author has made her into a woman I don't care for. I had a very hard time finishing the book because of her whimpy personal life attitude.I can't tell you how many times I put the book down because I was totally disgusted with China. The general mystery was good but my appeal for China is gone! I don't even want to know what happens in the next book.

This is the 6th book in the China Bayles series. China has just returned from her monastic retreat and is seriously contemplating her relationship with McQuaid and her life with her herb shop. Her world is thrown into turmoil when she overhears a conversation that McQuaid is having with a woman that sounds like an affair. Coupled with McQuaid's mysterious "research" project, China finds her life unraveling. The mystery involves a former Texas Ranger who dies of an apparent suicide. China has many challenges in investigating the case on behalf of his wife. While the situations were certainly dramatic, I agree with the other reviewers that even under the stressful conditions at the end of the book, I find it highly unlikely that China would befriend the "other woman". While the mystery is solved, China and McQuaid's relationship remains up in the air at the conclusion. I look forward to seeing what happens in their relationship in the next book.