Rueful Death

Synopsis: China is suffering from burn-out. Luckily, her friend and former nun, Maggie has a perfect place for China to unwind: a monastery in the Texas hill country. Unfortunately, things aren't as peaceful as they seem. Someone is starting fires and two nuns have died under questionable circumstances. There is also open warfare between the original nuns in the monastery and those who have been transferred to this site. China must figure out who is committing the crimes to get some peace.
Review: This book leads the reader on a merry chase through several red herrings. The descriptions of the hill country area are intricate to the story rather than simply filler. It's another of those books you can't put down easily.

Another installment in the China Bayles series. In this story, China has
moved in with her boyfriend McQuaid and his son and the daily routine is
getting to her and she's begun to wonder if her life is going in the
direction it should be. So she accepts an invitation from her friend Maggie
(owner of her favorite restaurant near her herb store) to go away to Saint
Theresa'a Monastery for a retreat. St. Theresa's is an idyllic spot with
acres of rich farmland where the nuns grow garlic to sell for income. Upon
their arrival, they learn that the sisters have been plagued in recent weeks
by a series of anonymous accusatory letters and small fires. Mother
Winifred enlists China's help in tracking down the guilty parties. As China show more
investigates, she discovers a deep chasm between two factions of nuns, each
with their own agenda for the future of St. Theresa's, and the plans
couldn't be more different. In the course of her investigation, China
reexamines her own personal life agenda, as well.

I found this episode to be rather depressing for some reason, but it was
well written and the mystery unwound in a logical manner. A little bit of
misdirection early on led me down the wrong path for a while, but eventually
straightened itself out. show less

Afterward, when I thought about what happened at St. Theresa's, I felt embarrassed and a bit rueful. If I'd been a police officer and drawn those wrong conclusions, my sergeant would have bawled me out for my errors in judgment. If I'd been a private investigator, I might have been fired. But I'm neither, thank God. I'm just an ordinary person who was asked to do something a little unusual, and I made a mistake here and there.

Rue is the herb that appears in this 5th China Bayles mystery. China feels the need for some time away, and so goes on a personal retreat to a Texas monastery where the nuns raise a special kind of garlic. The peace and quiet China is seeking is not to be found, as she finds an internal war being waged among the nuns. Another great read in this series

China Bayles, somewhat overwhelmed after the first months living with McQuaid and Brian, looks forward to a relaxing retreat at a Texas convent. But even nuns have suspicious deaths, inttriques and mysteries and China is soon in detective mode solving the puzzle.

My blog post about this book is at this link.