Widow's Tears
by Susan Wittig Albert

Herbalist and ex-lawyer China Bayles is “in a class with lady sleuths V. I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum.”* In Widow’s Tears, a haunted house may hold the key to solving the murder of one of China’s friends...

After losing her husband, five children, housekeeper, and beautiful home in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Rachel Blackwood rebuilt her home, and later died there, having been driven mad with grief.

In present-day Texas, Claire, the grand niece of Rachel’s caretaker, has inherited the house and wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast. But she is concerned that it’s haunted, so she calls in her friend Ruby—who has the gift of extrasensory perception—to check it out.

While Ruby is ghost-hunting, China Bayles walks into a storm of trouble in nearby Pecan Springs. A half hour before she is to make her nightly deposit, the Pecan Springs bank is robbed and a teller is shot and killed.

Before she can discover the identity of the killers, China follows Ruby to the Blackwood house to discuss urgent business. As she is drawn into the mystery of the haunted house, China opens the door on some very real danger...

Other Books by Susan Wittig Albert

A Plain Vanilla Murder
China Bayles Mystery Book 27

Bittersweet
A China Bayles Mystery #23

Blood Orange
A China Bayles Mystery #24

The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush
The Darling Dahlias #5

The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady
The Darling Dahlias #6

Bittersweet
A China Bayles Mystery #23

Death Come Quickly
A China Bayles Mystery #22

The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star
The Darling Dahlias #4

The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush
The Darling Dahlias #5

Widow's Tears
A China Bayles Mystery #21

Death Come Quickly
A China Bayles Mystery #22

The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose
The Darling Dahlias #3

The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star
The Darling Dahlias #4

Cat's Claw
A Pecan Springs Mystery #1

Susan Wittig Albert's Bio

As a writer, I work in three genres, mystery, historical fiction, and memoir. My mysteries include the China Bayles Herbal Mysteries and The Darling Dahlias, about a Southern garden club in the 1930s, as well as an eight-book series, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the 12-book series that my husband Bill Albert and I coauthored under the pseudonym of Robin Paige. My historical fiction includes LOVING ELEANOR, about the intimate friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok and A WILDER ROSE, about the mother-daughter team that produced the Little House books. A WILDER ROSE is currently under film option with ThinkFactory Media.

Bill and I live in the Hill Country of Central Texas, where I write, garden, raise chickens, and practice the fiber arts. You can find out more in my two memoirs: TOGETHER, ALONE: A MEMOIR OF MARRIAGE AND PLACE; and AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR OF ORDINARY DAYS.