Ruby Sisson Library

China Bayles is fit to spit when her husband's troubled ex-wife, Sally, shows up at her herb shop claiming to be broke with nowhere else to turn. China isn't sure if it's the goodness of her heart or the scent of Christmas wreaths, but she invites Sally to stay. Then China starts receiving menacing phone calls from an ex of Sally's, who seems to have a connection to the murder of her parents nearly a decade ago. With her P.I. husband out of town,...

Herbalist China Bayles's 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...

While Pecan Springs bustles back to life in the warmth of spring, one woman's life is tragically brought to an end. China Bayles happens upon a burning house trailer and hears a woman screaming for help. The evidence leaves no doubt that it's arson homicide. Jessica Nelson, an intern-reporter at the local paper, is assigned to cover the story. But she's gotten herself too deeply involved. When Jessica disappears, China is determined to find her, before...

In Texas, a biologist who experimented on animals is found hanged in his office and suspicion focuses on Dottie Riddle, an animal rights activists. At that China Bayles, her friend, a woman who gave up law to run a herb shop, realizes she has to return to her old trade.

Gilly inherits a house from her mother's cousin, Geillis. Along with "the witch's house," she inherits her cousin's reputation as a witch and discovers a "power" in the house.

"China Bayles had finally agreed to marry Mike McQuaid - and then he'd been paralyzed in the line of duty. Fully committed, she knows she'll tough it out, no matter how long his recovery might take."--BOOK JACKET. "The annual chili cook-off sounds like a nice respite from the stress, so China gladly accompanies her wheelchair-bound sweetheart to the event. But tragedy strikes when cook-off judge Jerry Jeff Cody dies of a severe allergic reaction -...

Hamish Macbeth, Scotland's most laconic and low-tech policeman, senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over his Scottish village. Newcomer Catriona Beldame has cast a bewitching spell over the town, causing the local men to visit her cottage at all hours. Before Hamish can prove that she is wicked, she is brutally killed.

When an anonymous source makes shocking allegations of improper behavior on the part of local high school football coach Tim Duffy, China Bayles is called in to conduct a discreet investigation into the charges, but her probe uncovers more than she had ever expected about a case involving betrayal, forbidden desire, and the mystery surrounding a young woman's death.

Five women embark on a harrowing ride in which even the magic of friendship may not be enought to save them.

The second China Bayles mystery. Herb shop owner China is shocked when Halloween hijinks take a gruesome turn in Pecan Springs, ending in a brutal murder. And China is even more shocked when her friend Ruby, a New Age expert in tarot and astrology, becomes the prime suspect after a minister accuses her of witchcraft