China Bayles is the

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of a popular and critically acclaimed series written by educator

Susan Wittig Albert Susan Wittig Albert, also known by the pen names Robin Paige and Carolyn Keene, is an American mystery writer from Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. Albert was an academic and the first female vice president of Southwest Texas State Univ ...

. China is a determined woman who quit being a successful, big city lawyer, and decided to settle into a quiet small-town life as an owner of a herbal shop. But, she soon found the quiet life would not come easily for her. Along with her best friend, Ruby Wilcox, owner of a

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

shop next door, China solves murders using deductive reasoning, legal skills, and expertise based on her knowledge of herbs, which always figure in the titles and poisons used. The first book, '' Thyme of Death'', was nominated for both an Agatha and an

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

award, two of the most eminent mystery awards in the industry. The latest books include ''

Dead Man's Bones Dead Man's Bones is a rock duo consisting of actor Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. Their first album, ''Dead Man's Bones'', was released on 6 October 2009 through ANTI- Records. The entire album is a collaboration with the Silverlake Conservator ...

'' and ''Bleeding Hearts''. The books are set in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. They are not considered autobiographical, although China Bayles does have some things in common with her creator. They both live in Texas, are independent career women who chose later in life to go "off the career track" and pursue other options.

Books in the series

# ''Thyme of Death'' (1992) # ''Witches' Bane'' (1993) # ''Hangman's Root'' (1994) # ''Rosemary Remembered'' (1995) # ''Rueful Death'' (1996) # ''Love Lies Bleeding'' (1997) # ''Chile Death'' (1998) # ''Lavender Lies'' (1999) # ''Mistletoe Man'' (2000) # ''Bloodroot'' (2001) # ''Indigo Dying'' (2003) # ''A Dilly of a Death'' (2004) # ''Dead Man's Bones'' (2005) # ''Bleeding Hearts'' (April 2006) # ''Spanish Dagger'' (April 2007) # ''Nightshade'' (2008) # ''Wormwood'' (2009) # ''Holly Blues'' (2010) # ''Mourning Gloria'' (2011) # ''Cat’s Claw'' (2012) # ''Widow's Tears'' (2013) # ''Death Come Quickly'' (2014) # ''Bittersweet'' (2015) # ''Blood Orange'' (2016) # ''The Last Chance Olive Ranch'' (2017) # ''Queen Anne's Lace'' (2018) # ''A Plain Vanilla Murder'' (2019)

Anthologies

* ''An Unthymely Death and Other Garden Mysteries'' (2003) —a collection of short stories, herbal lore, and recipes * ''Murder Most Crafty'' (2005) —anthology of 15 stories from various authors, including the China Bayles short story "The Collage to Kill For"

Non-fictional companion

* ''China Bayles' Book of Days'' (October 2006)—"365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs", will include essays and recipe

External links

''China Bayles Herbal Mysteries''
at author's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayles, China Fictional amateur detectives Novel series by featured character Crime novel series