CHILE DEATH by Susan Wittig Albert October 2, 2006

This is the seventh book in the China Bayles mystery series. I have read most of the others & enjoyed them. China was a high-powered defense attorney in Austin or Houston or Dallas??? who got tired of the rat-race and cashed in her pension and bought a herb store, Thymes and Seasons, in the small town of Pecan Springs, Texas. These books are filled with characters brimming over with Texas idiosyncracies. "Chile Death" tells about a man who dies of analyphylactic shock while judging a chili contest. He is deathly allergic to nuts and someone has snuck a few in his sample. In fact, his last words are, "Aw, nuts." Isn't that hilarious? So China solves the murder along with her friend and business associate, the very eccentric but beautiful Ruby, and China's boyfriend, McQuaid, who is recovering from a gunshot wound. The book has lots of facts about chiles (the plant) and a recipe for chili (the food). By the way, "Texans never make chili with beans unless they're looking for a fight." As the above murder illustrates, peanuts are out also. But you will be disgusted by what some Texans do put in their Texas red. (Do I sound Texan enough?) Albert writes with great humor and fun characters. This book was an easy, light-hearted read. It reminds me why I love to read mysteries.
Rating: 4.25

4 Comments:
SuziQoregon said...
Oh this sounds like a fun series. I hadn't heard of these before, but might have to check into them.. . . and The List grows . . .
booklogged said...
I didn't realize you were going to do an A author and then an A title. That's a fun way to do it. Still don't know if I can be that organized or disciplined. I agree with you - I love mysteries, too. I'm enjoying a Susanan Appleton right now.
Framed said...
Suzie, I decided adding to the list is part of the fun. More books to dream about. Book, I'm not sure why I'm going this way but so far, it is working. It's hard but I'm not letting myself get distracted by all those great books everyone else is reading. I think I like to read something different than everyone else is at the time. I'm afraid my opion will be colored by the reviews I read. But then, I'll always be months behind too.
SuziQoregon said...
I just had to stop in and tell you that I started Thyme of Death last night. I'm only about 30 pages into it so far, but I'm liking it a lot. Thanks for telling me about this series!