I found this fair-condition hardcover for cheap at the Nashua Public Library book sale, and thought it looked interesting. This is one of Albert's "China Bayles" books, centering on Bayles' herb shop in a small Texas town, where unusual crimes seem to crop up whenever the heroine has a few spare minutes {grin}.

While I found the mystery itself a bit low-key here, I enjoyed the settings and supporting characters, not to mention the slew of pickle jokes strewn throughout the story. Each chapter opens with a snippet of lore about herbs or a recipe that is mentioned in the story somewhere. [The recipe for lavender scones looks very nice indeed!] And there's a charming bit of bonding where one character finds that she shares a detailed knowledge of the mating habits of tarantulas with China's step-son - gotta love those shared interests!

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book, bagged against the weather, on a bench on Garden Street, the little walkway-with-wall-art that connects West Pearl to the Elm Street parking-garage area, at about 2:15. Hope the finder enjoys it!