Hemlock

China Bayles Mysteries

By: Susan Wittig Albert

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Herbalist China Bayles' latest adventure takes her to the mountains of North Carolina, where her friend Dorothea Harper serves as the director and curator of the Hemlock House Library, a priceless collection of rare gardening books housed in a haunted mountainside mansion that once belonged to Sunny Carswell, a reclusive heiress. But the most valuable book - A Curious Herbal, created by Elizabeth Blackwell in the 1730s - is missing, and Dorothea is under suspicion.

China's search for the thief takes on a new urgency when she discovers Miss Carswell's bookseller, the victim of an attempted murder. Is his shooting connected with the theft? And there are other urgent questions: What is the Hemlock Guild? Who owns Socrates.com? Did Sunny Carswell really kill herself, or does her ghost have a different story to tell? And what is the real truth behind the many tantalizing mysteries of A Curious Herbal? A compelling mix of mystery and herb lore, past secrets and present sins, and characters who are as real as your friends and neighbors, Hemlock is an absorbing novel that only Susan Wittig Albert could create.

©2021 Susan Wittig Albert (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Another good story with herbal Information too.

I like the trip to another state again and learning more about the area and local trees and plants. China’s though process in searching for answers about the issue at hand is always easy to follow and entertaining.

Best China Bayles Mystery Yet!

I love it when the sheriff says, "Oh, yeah"? I googled the library mentioned in the book and was really amazed by what I saw. my sister doesn't enjoy audio books so I bought this title in paperback as one of her Christmas presents. I really enjoyed this story.

Hemlock

This story was well written and a joy to listen to. I could not wait to get back to it. Very light and entertaining.

Boring

I usually like China Bales novels but found this one tedious, boring and a bit silly.

Not up to her usual standards

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the China Bayles series, and have relished each in the series. So I was extremely excited to read this latest in the series that we've been awaiting for so long. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the author's usual high standards. The plot was mediocre, the characterization much more shallow, the mystery a big yawn and very predictable. I have also enjoyed the dual time storyline in past novels, such as Queen Anne's Lace, Widow's Tears, and Wormwood. This novel, however, even the historical storyline, seemed more stilted and less compelling. The unraveling of the mystery was slow going and almost tedious. In this title, China leaves Pecan Springs to go to North Carolina to solve a mystery, so she doesn't have her usual cast of characters (McQuaid, Ruby, Sheila, etc) to add interest, and the secondary characters in this novel are very bland, in compasion. So, relucantly, I have decided that I will return to re-reading the series from the beginning in hope that the author either puts more zing into the next book, or puts this series to rest, much as I'd miss it. Better to go out with a bang than a whimper.

Disappointed by Hemlock

I love the China Bayles books but this one was like it was phoned in. All the things about the relationship of the people—-Ruby, McQuade, etc. we’re just not there. This read like a history narration by people I didn’t care anything about. I saved this book to read on vacation so I could savor it & reread it but I found myself turning it on & letting it run just to get it over with! I’m sorry Ms. Albert but you are better than this.