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A Plain Vanilla Murder (2019)

by Susan Wittig Albert

Series: China Bayles (27)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
11010249,078 (4.2)2
Fiction. Mystery. HTML:From Susan Wittig Albert, the New York Times best-selling author of Queen Anne's Lace, comes an intriguing new addition to her widely-acclaimed China Bayles Mysteries.
â??China and Ruby Wilcox are presenting their annual "Not Just Plain Vanilla Workshop," always a huge hit with customers at Thyme & Seasons Herb Shop. But someone involved with the workshop is driven by a deadly motive, and China soon finds herself teaming up with the very pregnant Pecan Springs police chief Sheila Dawson to solve a vanilla-flavored murder.
Sheila, happy to get out from behind the chief's desk, is investigating the death of a botany professor, a prominent researcher specializing in vanilla orchids. China is trying to help a longtime friend: the dead professor's ex-wife and a prime suspect in his murder.
However, there's no shortage of other suspects: a betrayed lover, a disgruntled graduate student, jealous colleagues, and a gang of orchid smugglers. But the lethal roots of this mystery reach back into the dark tropical jungles of Mexico, where the vanilla vine was first cultivated. At stake: a lucrative plant patent, an orchid that is extinct in the wild, and the life of an innocent little girl.
A Plain Vanilla Murder is a flavorful blend of mystery and herb lore, present sins and past secrets, and characters who are as real as your next-door neighborsâ??stirred together in an absorbing novel that only Susan Wittig Albert could c
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» See also 2 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)
Another book in the long-running China Bayles mystery series. Cozy mystery featuring China, her family and the people of Pecan Springs. As always, there is interesting herb lore and recipes. ( )
  wildwestcats | Feb 2, 2024 |
Very interesting China Bayles series books. She obviously does her research!!! A real page turner. ( )
  lhaines56 | Aug 7, 2022 |
I love the China Bayles series. I've been reading it since the series began. I always learn lots of wonderful herb lore, wonderful recipes using herbs, and I've really leaned to know China, Ruby and their whole entourage in Pecan Springs Texas. Eery book has a tricky mystery and this one is no different. Ms. Albert has also gone the extra mile with lots of information about the most popular spice in the world - vanilla. China is a former big city defence lawyer who gave up the corporate life and moved to a small Texas hill country town called Pecan Springs. She has always loved plants, so she buys a century old stone building and opens her own herb store called Thyme and Seasons. People are always asking for China's legal help though, and although she has kept her license current, she has not stepped back into a courtroom. In the book one of the professors at the local college is found dead in his greenhouse - an apparent suicide. As her friend Sheila Dawson who is the police chief of Pecan Springs, investigates further it turns out to be a homicide and there appears to be a plethora of possible suspects. China puts on her legal-eagle face and helps the heavily pregnant Sheila solve the case. Thanks Susan for many wonderful years of China Bayles mysteries. I look forward to the next one. ( )
  Romonko | Apr 30, 2020 |
Another entertaining entry in this long running series featuring business owner/herbalist/retired lawyer & general busybody China Bayless. This entry is light on the mystery plot, the author fingers the prime suspect halfway through the book. The informative content (vanilla, herbs, contraband, nonspousal parenting, chickens, etc.) boosts the enjoyment quotient. The rotating cast of secondary characters are always interesting. But the author would have done well to eliminate ninety percent of the comments in the "pregnant woman peeing" category. Unusually tone-deaf to repeatedly make this unnecessary exception. ( )
  MM_Jones | Nov 4, 2019 |
Vanilla is the theme here. A college professor is found dead. After murder is determined, there are plenty of suspects revolving around his importing, sales and propagation of orchids. I didn’t guess the ending, but it’s along the lines of an eye for an eye. ( )
  pennykaplan | Aug 12, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)
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For vanilla lovers everywhere. You have extraordinarily good taste.
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Prologue: The nightmare happens on a bright, warm December midday, in a lush tropical forest.
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Fiction. Mystery. HTML:From Susan Wittig Albert, the New York Times best-selling author of Queen Anne's Lace, comes an intriguing new addition to her widely-acclaimed China Bayles Mysteries.
â??China and Ruby Wilcox are presenting their annual "Not Just Plain Vanilla Workshop," always a huge hit with customers at Thyme & Seasons Herb Shop. But someone involved with the workshop is driven by a deadly motive, and China soon finds herself teaming up with the very pregnant Pecan Springs police chief Sheila Dawson to solve a vanilla-flavored murder.
Sheila, happy to get out from behind the chief's desk, is investigating the death of a botany professor, a prominent researcher specializing in vanilla orchids. China is trying to help a longtime friend: the dead professor's ex-wife and a prime suspect in his murder.
However, there's no shortage of other suspects: a betrayed lover, a disgruntled graduate student, jealous colleagues, and a gang of orchid smugglers. But the lethal roots of this mystery reach back into the dark tropical jungles of Mexico, where the vanilla vine was first cultivated. At stake: a lucrative plant patent, an orchid that is extinct in the wild, and the life of an innocent little girl.
A Plain Vanilla Murder is a flavorful blend of mystery and herb lore, present sins and past secrets, and characters who are as real as your next-door neighborsâ??stirred together in an absorbing novel that only Susan Wittig Albert could c

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