[.ca] Rosemary Remembered (ISBN 042515405X)

Very simplistic mystery...:
Any regular mystery reader can figure this one out before it hardly gets started. Also, I feel the series is going downhill fast, specifically because of China's control freak boyfriend. Lose the man, China!

Quirky, Clever and Offbeat:
So far my favorite China Bayles book, this clever herbal mystery reads beautifully. From a stubborn air conditioner to step-child issues to murder, trekkies and channeling, and a host of wonderfully quirky characters, everything fits together neatly and truly works. The later books have more herbal lore included, which I missed a bit in this one, and Ms. Wittig Albert provided enough clues for the reader to puzzle out the mystery. Nonetheless, it was a delightful and enjoyable read.

More Ruby please:
I figured out who the killer was early on but it didnt spoil the story. I really like China Bayles. She is cool. However if I could talk to Ms Albert I would ask her to please include more of the Ruby character and ease back on the Sheila!! I think Ruby rocks!! But I liked this book and I like this series. The herb info is cool too. I am reading these in order so I have a few more to go. I have enjoyed them all.

Definitely a great read!:
China finds her (and nearly everybody else's) accountant shot in McQuaid's blue truck, which they had borrowed to Rosemary. This happens shortly after a convicted killer, who McQuaid helped to put behind bars and who threatened to get even, was relased. Rosemary happens to resemble China at first glance and she was driving McQuaid's truck. Who shot Rosemary who was recently divorced from an abusive husband (who happens to manage a gunshop) and was involved with one of the local hotel co-owners? Did anybody really know Rosemary? Did she have a secret agenda? Why has the man she was involved with gone on a fishing trip shortly before Rosemary was killed? The hotel co-owner's brother-in-law (who owns the other half of the hotel) sends McQuaid after him to bring him back, but where did Jeff really go? China, who in the meantime has moved in with McQuaid, Brian and all his animals, is not only busy preparing a conventionof herbalists in Pecan Springs but also busy to find out about the motif for Rosemary's murder as well as her killer. Even though Pecan Springs is fictional, everyone who knows the Texas Hill County will immediately feel familiar with places and people. Susan Wittig Albert gets better and better! I think it is a good idea to make references to previous novels, because readers not familiar with them will know what has happened before and can start with any book of this series. Read this book and you will get hooked

An improvement over the first three.:
As with the first three books in this series, I still ask myself how come somebody who owns a store seems to have so much time to run around doing other things. But, getting beyond that, this has definitely been my favorite to date. In this one, after finding the body of Rosemary Robbins (who ran the store a few doors down from China), China seems to feel she owes it to Rosemary to find out who killed her. So once again, instead of letting the police do their job, she throws herself into the thick of things. So, you've got one dead body, one person missing, McQuaid out of the country trying to track down said missing person, an ex-con McQuaid helped put away recently released and threatening to come after McQuaid's son Brian (who has been left in China's care while McQuaid is out of the country), and McQuaid's ex-wife suing for custody of Brian. All in all, a big improvement over her previous books, and a lot of stuff happening. Of course, let's not forget the never-ending tidbits of knowledge regarding various herbs, which I think adds a pleasant side to each of these stories.