Love Lies Bleeding: A China Bayles Mystery | Susan Wittig Albert

Love Lies Bleeding: A China Bayles Mystery | Susan Wittig Albert | Texas Ranger gone bad

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Love Lies Bleeding...

	Love Lies Bleeding: A China Bayles Mystery Susan Wittig Albert Berkley, 1998 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The newest in the nationally bestselling series--a "fast-paced and absorbing" tale (Midwest Book Review). Ex-lawyer and herb-shop proprietor China Bayles is investigating the mystery of retired Texas Ranger shot dead with his wife's gun...and at the same time trying to sort out some mysteries about her own relationship after she overhears a suspicious phone conversation...

Texan who dunnit

This was my first China Bayles mystery...I enjoyed it, reading about China and the town of Pecan Springs was a hoot. Having gardening plans and ideas strewn throughout the book was fun. Being in the legal field, I can relate to the idea of leaving it all behind and running from the city to a quiet remote little town. But somehow I think the town of Pean Springs has a lot more danger lurking around than one would think. China's friends are quirky and add spice to the background. They mystery itself kept me quessing...I will hunt up the previous China stories as well as the more current ones. Great reading for an rainy afternoon or relaxing on the beach...

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Texas Ranger gone bad

China Bayles is back from a retreat at a monastery and is debating with herself about the future of her herb shop. Should she give it up and move on to something else? Should she add a tearoom and hire someone to run it? One thing that becomes clear to her is her devotion to her live-in lover Mike McQuaid, and China is considering making their relationship a permanent one. In the middle of these personal questions, she begins an investigation into the death of former Texas Ranger, Roy Adcock. His death appears to be a suicide, but China thinks it may be murder instead. During the course of her investigation, she begins to have doubts about her relationship with McQuaid, as well as her investigative skills. Adcock's death becomes complicated when it appears that he had a connection with a notorious drug lord, and China goes up a lot of blind alleys before she finally discovers who is guilty in this case. Her private life also ends on an uncertain note and the future of her relationship with McQuaid is up in the air. It appears that readers need to read the next book, to find out how it turns out!

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Not as good as the others

I love the China Bayles series, and I usually love China. She's smart, savy and quick-witted. Her quirky friends are half the fun too. This one just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The actual mystery was pretty good. There were a lot of plot twists and underlying issues like all her previous stories, but I had this one figured out by the end. I won't give anything away, but there's something rotten in the Ranger emporium. What I really didn't like, and what seemed unbelievable due to China's previous shows of independence was the fact that she blamed herself for her lover's infidelity! What's going on with That? I certainly hope that Ms. Albert redeems her heroine in the next outing.

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An unexpected twist!

The author sure thew a twist into this one. Back from her haitus at Saint T's convent, China is trying to get back into the swing on things. However, McQuaid is acting different, and China fears he is having an affair. She overhears a phone conversation between McQuaid and a woman and confronts him about it. McQuaid admits it is true, but that it is over. Also, unbeknownst to China, McQuaid is working undercover with the FBI regarding an issue with Texas Rangers. While China is trying to sort out her feelings, McQuaid is shot while working undercover on his case. We never really get to see how China would have worked things out because once she hears that McQuaid has been shot, everything else is immaterial. Not only does she totally forgive McQuaid for his affair, but she befriends the woman with whom he had the affair (an FBI agent). To top it off, she takes responsibility for the affair by saying that if she had said yes to McQuaid one of the many times he had asked her to marry him, he wouldn't have looked elsewhere. No matter how much she loves McQuaid, I have trouble equating this simpering female with the headstrong,independent China from the previous books.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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