Susan Wittig Albert

When the Texas Star herself--aviatrix Miss Lily Dare, the fastest woman in the world--is threatened and her plane sabotaged, the Darling Dahlias must weed through the rumors to find the truth to take down a saboteur who may be propelled by revenge.

The annual chili cook-off sounds like a nice respite from the stress, so China Bayles gladly accoumpanies her wheelchair-bound sweetheart to the event. But tragedy strikes when cook-off judge Jerry Jeff Cody dies of a severe allergic reactionto a peanut. Everyone knows that peanuts don't belong in a bowl of Texas chili...and China knows something suspicious is afoot. China Bayles (Rueful Death, LJ 10/1/96) contends with the paralysis of her new husband,...

When a prominent animal researcher is found hanged in the midst of angry protests against his experiments, suspicion falls on biology professor Dottie Riddle. Known as the Cat Lady of Pecan Springs, Dottie's sympathy for strays—and the victim's distaste for them—gives the police reason to think she may be capable of murder. But China Bayles doesn't think so. She hires a lawyer for Dottie and starts looking around for clues. But she soon...

Ruby Wilcox is looking forward to an entertaining and profitable weekend as a vendor at the annual Mystic Creek Harvest Festival, held at a Hill Country ranch. Her booth is full of all kinds of magical, mystical wares: crystals and cards, rune stones, pendulums, dream catchers, wind chimes, and wands. The festival—famous for its artists, crafters, and fabulous folk musicians—attracts all sorts of Texans from all across the state. Still,...

It's Halloween, and Ruby is looking forward to a party at China Bayles' house and a busy holiday weekend at her New Age shop, the Crystal Cave. But her holiday plans are interrupted when Jessica Nelson, a crime reporter at the Pecan Springs Enterprise, shows up with a hard-to-believe story about a serial killer who is targeting the terminally ill. Jessica claims that the killer's calling card—a card picturing Azrael, the Angel of Death—comes...

Ruby Wilcox, owner of the Crystal Cave, Pecan Springs' only New Age shop, has always tried to downplay her psychic gift—until she experiences a horrifying nightmare that just won't stop. Again and again, she dreams that a woman is abducted on the hike-and-bike trail and knows that the victim is in deadly danger. Prodded by her friend and partner, China Bayles, Ruby goes to the police—only to find that her dream has already become far too...

China Bayles's demanding schedule is further complicated by her half-brother's and her husband's attempt to solve the mystery of her father's suspicious death, and by her discovery of a murdered body in the tranquil community of Pecan Springs.

Set in the summertime splendor of 1913 England, this seventh tale finds Beatrix eager to marry her fiancé, solicitor William Heelis. But a few obstacles are still blocking the happy couple's path to the altar-like the troubled remodeling of Castle Cottage, Will and Beatrix's future home.

In this “intelligently plotted and deliciously descriptive tale” ( -- until her chief supplier turns up dead…