Set in fictitious Pecan Springs Texas, Thyme of Death concerns formerly high-powered attorney China Bayles, her herb shop … and murder! Her best friend is found dead, the cops think it’s suicide, but everyone else says she would never have committed suicide. Curiously, China herself never expresses a strong opinion despite having been best friends for two years. And then things get more complicated.
The whole plot seemed contrived, particularly getting China involved in solving it and keeping the police out of solving it. The characters are all small town busybodies with little charm, all of them very much right out of small-town character casting. I’ll sorta spoil it right now: that’s how this gets solved. A town of 15,000 worth of closely built houses where everyone knows everyone else. In other words, snooping neighbors. All of them get involved in everyone else’s business all the time. And despite the chief of police being described as smart and competent, he’s just as quick to declare a murder solved and get back to watching his Sunday football game as any caricature ever was.
I suppose I should have guessed this was just a step above cozy
when I realized it was the first in a series about an herb shop owner who solves crimes. My personal feeling is that if you have random people solving crimes, they should have a black van and be four people on the run from the U.S. military.
A couple other blogged reviews:
Title: Thyme of Death
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Series: China Bayles; 1
Imprint / publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 245 p.
Publication date: March 1994
ISBN-10: 0-425-14098-9
Subject: Bayles, China (Fictitious character) — Fiction
Subject: Women detectives — Texas — Fiction
Subject: Herbalists — Fiction
Subject: Texas — Fiction
LC classification: PS3551.L2637 T48 1992
