by Susan Wittig Albert
Berkley Prime Crime, October 2001
306 pages, $22.95
ISBN 0-425-18190-1
China Bayles series #10
China Bayles, former attorney and current herb shop and tearoom owner in Pecan Springs, Texas, receives a desperate call from her mother, Leatha. Leatha is visiting Aunt Tullie Coldwell, the family matriarch, at the family plantation in Jordan's Crossing, Mississippi. Aunt Tullie is suffering from a debilitating sickness and may end up in jail for some reason that Leatha refuses to specify.
Once at Jordan's Crossing, China notices that the plantation may not have changed but Tullie has changed a great deal. Tullie is thin and emaciated, hobbling around with a cane. She has gotten meaner and physically strikes out in anger. In the past as owner, Tullie had been running the plantation with the help of plantation manager Wiley Beauchamp. The Beauchamps have always managed the plantation for the Coldwells. Wiley has also stirred up Tullie's anger by announcing that he has found an old deed that makes him owner of a portion of the plantation as well as the house itself. Wiley is now missing.
While searching for papers to disprove Wiley's claim, China comes across the diary of Pearl Coldwell, her great-grandmother, written just prior to her death by suicide. The police visit the house to question Tullie and Leatha about Wiley's disappearance. Leatha reveals that Tullie's illness is Huntington's disease, a progressive genetic disease. Under the frightening knowledge that she too may inherit Huntington's, China must search out answers from the past while trying to come to terms with her family in the present and helping out old and new friends find answers to their problems as well.
This story is well written with lovely hints of the supernatural woven throughout the plot. For those who have read the other books in the series, this story will go a long way into explaining China's family background, only hinted at in past books. For those readers who have not read any of the previous books, you can start here without any detrimental consequences. Though the plot and sub-plots are predictable in some respects, there are some nice twists and turns that will keep you eagerly reading. I found it very interesting to watch China in a different location (other than her home turf, Pecan Springs), reacting with characters (other than Ruby and McQuaid), especially watching her blossoming relationship with her mother. The recipes included in this book are Comfort Cookies, Rosemary Biscuits, Tomato Pie, and Cucumber Soup and Easy Herb Bread.
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