Widow's Tears (China Bayles Mystery)

This is my favorite China Bayles mystery so far. Susan Wittig Albert is very accomplished at weaving actual historical facts into stories that keep you anxious for the next chapter. Her research is impeccable.

A somewhat different direction for Albert, as she gives Ruby room to explore her gift. I loved it, but missed the usual Pecan Springs cast of characters. Excellent historical research, as always. I'm already waiting for the next book!

I made the the store purchase because I love mysteries and have grown fond of this author's characters. So it was a great disappointment to find it was just a ghost story. The cover blurb talks about China looking for the killer from a bank robbery. That took up about 5 minutes of a 2-hour read. If you like ghost stories, fine. If it's the mystery genre you're after, look elsewhere.

Where's the mystery? Short answer: there is none.

This is a ghost story. Not that I mind ghost stories. Bloodroot is also, and it's one of Susan Albert's best books in this series (do read it if you haven't). Widow's Tears furthermore is a horror story, blending the horror of the 1900 Galveston hurricane into the modern-day haunting of the house of a deceased survivor. An added-on bit of horror comes with the appearance of an unexpected guest during a tropical storm.

Like some other readers, I was upset by this book. The China Bayles series has for the most part been a cozy mystery series. Lately, it has ventured into the horrific, to its detriment. Moreover, I was confused by some details. Rachel's son turned 10 on the day of the hurricane, yet the book says she lived in Galveston only 9 years, since her marriage to Augustus. Ruby's grandmother has appeared in other books, so it was surprising to find she had passed. Also surprising was the assertion that little kids don 't pay attention to family history. On the contrary, I think most kids love hearing stories about parents and grandparents when those grown-ups were little. It's that way in my family and extended family, and seems so among my friends' families. So I was surprised that Ruby did not know her great-grandmother's name, especially in the South (Ruby is from Texas, as is her family), where family history is part of the culture (I'm from Maryland, not quite the South but some of the culture is the same, or was when I was growing up).

The biggest confusing detail was Ruby's reaction to her "gift." She's highly intuitive, borderline psychic but grounded in the real world. If she weren't, Indigo would be a much worse book, and Ruby's character would solve every mystery by thinking on it or something. Ruby can read people's minds? Please. Having to read page after tedious page of Ruby's inner dialogue about her ESP dragged the book, and turning Ruby into a medium really made me want to fling the book somewhere. This will be the first China Bayles book I do not want to re-read ever. I plan to give it away.

One last note on the writing: besides the repetitious discussion of Ruby, and between Ruby and Claire (wouldn't Ruby have known that Claire's mother died, if they were such good friends?), I cannot believe I read a phrase referring to a white-tailed doe and a pair of twins on page 173. Why not a doe and her set of twins, or a doe and her twin fawns, or a doe, her twin fawns at her side? Susan Albert was once a chair of an English Department. She should write better than that.

I devoured this book. China Bayles has always been one of my favorite cozy mystery series. This addition is different from most of the books in this long series. The main character, China, is involved for part of the story. However, her side kick Ruby is one of the main stars this time. I loved learning a bit more about Ruby and her past. I also loved the touches of paranormal activity that the characters encountered. Being from Texas myself, I love recognizing the areas the author is describing. I have family that live in the tiny town of Ledbetter so it was fun seeing a story set near them. Growing up, we knew of the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. I was eager to read the sections about a young mom named Rachel who lost everything on that horrible day. My family and I just went to Galveston last weekend, so it was haunting to read the familiar streets and have a visual of the devastating damage that covered the small island. I then did a bit of online research and saw many photos of the aftermath. Hard to imagine what those poor folks lived through and woke up to the next morning. Never disappointed by this series!

The twenty-first book in the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert is a departure from the norm that readers have come to expect from this series. Widow's Tears takes readers outside the small town of Pecan Springs and focuses on another character other than China as the lead. China's friend Ruby takes center stage, as her paranormal abilities are needed by a friend who thinks she has a haunted house on her hands. China ends up in the middle of a bank robbery and fans are treated to a tale with many layers and complex threads. A great addition to a long lived series!

What I liked:

As usual with any Susan Wittig Albert novel, the research was phenomenal. This author always does her homework and in this addition to the series, she gives readers a lot of historical background on the city of Galveston and the devastating hurricane of 1900. I thought Albert did a fantastic job of weaving in the historical details into the story without letting the history take over the mystery. Albert uses a deft hand and turns out a mystery that will have readers wanting to know more about the hurricane and it's deadly effects on the town while still being glued to every clue that Ruby and China turn up.

I liked the fact that Albert is taking readers out of their comfort zone with this series. I think it is important especially for a long running series like this one, to have some variety and change and Albert seems to sense that as well. Taking the mystery outside of Pecan Springs, gives Widows Tears a fresh and original premise that readers haven't seen for awhile in this series. It also provides a wider range of outcomes because there are only so many places to find dead bodies in a small town.

I also enjoyed learning more about Ruby and her extra sensory abilities. Readers who are familiar with the series, know that Ruby has used her gift to help China out from time to time and now another friend, Claire needs her help in solving her own ghostly issues. I loved learning more about Ruby along the way as well. How she got her abilities, how she felt about them, etc. It was nice to see another character kind of take over the starring role. Don't get me wrong, China is amazing, but this was a nice break from the routine of the series. I thought Albert did a great job of letting Ruby take the lead and using China as the sidekick this time. It really added to the enjoyment of the book seeing her in a different role.

I loved all of the information that Albert gives readers about Florigraphy as well. The language of flowers is both interesting and full of little known facts about herbs and flowers that I find incredibly entertaining. I think readers will enjoy finding out some of the meanings in the back of the book and trying out some of those great recipes as well.

What I didn't like:

I wasn't sure how the story of the bank robbery and murder were going to tie in with the haunted house in the beginning and I was scratching my head a little bit, but I shouldn't have worried, Albert always ties up the loose ends and brings everything together.

Bottom Line:

If you are fan of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series, this one might be a surprise, but in a good way. I liked the change of viewpoint, and setting. I think it added a refreshing originality to this installment of the series and I think it is one of the best so far. You gotta read it!

When picking up a China Bayles mystery by author Susan Witting Albert, I expect murder, mystery, mayhem and of course, herbs.

With WIDOW’S TEARS, Albert combines all my favorite elements with fascinating historical data about the deadly hurricane of 1900 that changed the course of Galveston, Texas. In addition, Albert focuses the story not on her protagonist, China Bayles, but on China’s best friend, Ruby Wilcox. China is still very much a part of the story, but just not as prominent.

Ruby’s childhood friend Claire has inherited the Blackwood House and plans to open a B&B. However, the house appears to be haunted and Claire needs Ruby and her special gift to set things right.

The story gives readers a look at the present, along with the past and how the house came to be with its mysteries and grief.

As always herbs are involved and Albert uses the Victorian ‘language of flowers’ to help tell the story. Readers are also given delicious recipes to accompany the story and where to find additional information on the Galveston hurricane.

Albert’s characters are well-developed and likable. She continues to evolve them with each new installment giving readers a better understanding of them and their interaction with one another. Changing the focus of the story to Ruby gives the characters a broader base to expand on in future adventures.

The story flows at a quick pace holding you attention until the very end. WIDOW’S TEARS is a bit of a change for the China Bayles series, but in a good way that opens new possibilities. Another captivating installment in a riveting series.

FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.

This book was certainly different from the rest of the series. It was focused on the destruction of Galveston in the Great Galveston Hurricane, on September 8, 1900. It tells the story of Rachel Blackwood, and how she sees the storm coming, and how she looses her husband, all her children, her housekeeper and her beloved house. No one believed a Hurricane could be this deadly and reach Galveston, but it sure did. The story is based on eye-witness reports, though Rachel Blackwood is a fictional character created by the author.

Rachel went kind of mad with grief, and had the house her husband designed for Galveston, rebuild in Texas. But she had only her memories to work with, so it sure looked frightening and just wrong with strange angels and corners on the outside. She lived there to a very old age with only a housekeeper to keep her company, and her memories of her children and husband. Even the decorations inside are just as they were back then, in happier times.

The new owner of the house is Claire, a childhood friend of Ruby’s and the one present when Ruby saw her own ghosts, when visiting the house Claire’s grandmother was living in. And now Claire has called for her help, and although Ruby never wants to visit the Blackwood Estate again, she cannot refuse her friend’s desperate plea for help. And so she sets out for a journey to the Blackwood Estate. Perhaps she can use the time away to sort out her own too busy life and make some decisions about what she wants to do. Her sister has offered to buy out her share in the business Ruby has going with China and Cass, and she is very tempted, but she also knows that Ramona and China will never get along.

Having arrived at the estate, Ruby soon gets a taste of the ghost hanging around and making itself known. But how she can help her friend, Ruby has no idea just yet.

Meanwhile, in Pecan Springs China has problems of herself, when Ramona seeks her out. Ramona presents her offer to Ruby as a done deal, acting like she and China are the best of friends and working together already, with of course Ramona calling the shots. But China was not a lawyer for nothing, Ruby cannot sell her share to Ramona without offering it to China first, and she will never ever let that happen. She will buy the business herself, no matter how or where she will get the money for it. But working for Ramona, who is so very pushy and convinced of being right all the time, no way. But China also cannot just wait until Ruby gets back to get the real story out of her. And as there is not cellphone reception where Ruby is, China will just drive over and ask her herself.

But another nasty storm is brewing, and soon China finds herself stranded with Ruby and Claire, finding out that ghosts are real, no matter who unable she is to believe in them. The connection between the ghost Rachel, Claire and Ruby is grieve. Claire lost her husband, and Ruby her boyfriend, and she is still grieving over Colin.

There is a subplot about a couple of bankrobbers, which I guessed from the start, although the ending is not a very good one for them, and kind of horrifying. The story of the ghost and what happened in Galveston back then, is the main story in this book, with Ruby and China more as witnesses after the fact. It absolutely kept me reading, I wanted more and I just had to find out what would go wrong next. Of course the present day storm added to the atmosphere a lot.

To read what has happened is frightening, and portrayed very realistically. I am again very glad we have none of these kind of lethal storms here in Holland, that our weather is much more moderate. Sure we have very nasty storms, like in 1953, but we certainly hope we are prepared now against water that high and strong. Most of Holland is below sealevel (luckily not my city though!).

There is only a mention of the usual cast of characters in this book, China’s husband and their children, and Ruby’s extended family.

I did like this story a lot, but I do hope to get back to modern day mysteries and murder for China to solve, in the next books. And as usual, there is a description of a herb in the start of each chapter, and there are some recipes in the back as well, from food served in their tearoom.

8 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian </p>

I love China Bayles and her friends, and especially her best friend Ruby Wilcox. This book is about Ruby and that makes it special. Kinky, psychic, red-haired Ruby is a real treasure, and has always been my favourite character in this series. Reading a book about her and her amazing personality was a delight. That's the thing with this series. The characters are wonderful-strong and realistic. China and her amazing practicality, Ruby and her wonderful quirkiness, Sheila Dawson and her no nonsense attitude-I love them all. And the plots and mysteries are always first rate. Thank you Ms Albert for the gift of this wonderful series. I also love all the herb and plant lore that I learn in all the books. This book has ghosts, tremendous atmosphere, terrible storms, death and great sorrow, and of course Ruby. What's not to love about the book? Ruby is asked to help an old friend deal with what appears to be an apparation of a woman that keeps appearing in a house that she inherited. Ruby feels a strange pull coming from this house and the story that it is trying to get out, so she agrees even though she doesn't like to use her gift of psychic powers very much because they frighten her. Ms. Albert has set a great place for a ghost story - a creepy old Victorian house that looks a bit crooked on its foundation. The story keeps referring back to September 1900 when a tremendous hurricane completey devastated the city of Galveston. Apparently this storm is still the one with the biggest loss of life (approximately 8,000 souls) to ever hit the United States. It was interesting to get some background on this devastating storm and the death and destruction that it caused. This old story was mixed in with the new one that Ruby and her friend Claire are experiencing in the creepy old house.

Susan Wittig Albert's characters and storytelling are second to none. In Widow's Tears, she uses a technique similar to the one she used in her previous book, Cat's Claw, in which some chapters are told in first person, especially events that unfolded around China Bayles, the ex-lawyer who owns an herbal shop in Pecan Springs, Texas. Other chapters use narration and dialogue for the portion of the story that deals with China's friend, Ruby, who is invited to help her friend Claire, whom she has known since childhood. Claire has inherited a large Victorian home in which strange things have been occurring, leading her to believe that the old house may be haunted. Ruby, who previously has been known to possess powers of extra-sensory perception, agrees to help her friend sort out what may be happening there.

What is unique in this book is that there is also a hugely important third thread to the plot. It deals with events that took place over a hundred years ago during a tragic storm and flood. The historical tale, together with Ruby's visit to Claire's house and the way that China Bayles herself is drawn to the same location, all come together to create a very eventful and, at times, even scary mystery that isn't fully resolved until the last few pages. As always, there are short paragraphs about various plants and their symbolism at the beginning of each chapter. In this case, I thought they tied in particularly well with the three different parts of the story and helped to forge a relationship between them.

This is an outstanding book--a little different from the others, but very moving and full of suspense. Highly recommended!

I’ve read the China Bayles series from the beginning and the murder mysteries are always so incredibly awesome! So when I picked this one up and it wasn’t really a murder mystery, but rather a supernatural story about ghosts, I was… disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline itself, for what it was, was very well written. The author has always done a great job of building a thrilling story with a detailed setting that keeps you drawn in to the plot. And the characters are, as usual, real and very charming. But I couldn’t move past the fact that this book didn’t follow the usual framework of the previous installments of the series.

I’m looking forward to the next book – and hopefully the author goes back to the original game plan and takes China and her crew on a murder mystery ride!

I've often admired the writing of this author and this series in particular, but this book blew me away. It was unexpected and fresh and different. Also intense and genuinely frightening. Susan's books are so well researched, have so many interesting tidbits and often relate to genuine historical events--in this case a profoundly sad event about which I confess I found fascinating reading. It's not that easy to go back and forth between several stories years apart but this book does it with ease and style. I literally held my breath and had trouble not breaking my #1 reading rule--not looking ahead to see what happens. I am astounded that the books in the series continue to be fresh and interesting after so many. I hope everyone will come to enjoy China and Ruby and company the way I have. (Note: I think the series is best read in order.) I hated to see this one end and I look forward to each new one with happy anticipation.

Ruby Wilcox, owner of the Crystal Cave, a new age shop and a psychic, is overwhelmed by the demands of owning a business (which gives her less time to teach classes and do the other things she loves) and the death of her fiancé two years previously. When her childhood friend Claire, whose husband died two years ago, contacts her and asks her to check out the old house she would like to turn into a B & B, Ruby agrees to go.
There is one drawback: the house is haunted by the ghost of Rachel, a woman who had built it and lived in it as a permanent memory of the family she lost in a similar house in the Galveston Hurricane on September 8, 1900. It was the worst natural disaster in the United States with at least 6,000 people and probably almost double that many losing their lives.
The two stories are interwoven. One part is the story of Rachel, her family, her house, and the hurricane. It tells of how the storm progressed and how it affected the city and the people. There are also websites mentioned in the references at the end of the book with more information and pictures of the disaster.
The second part tells how Rachel's ghost affects Claire and Ruby and how they are eventually able to learn why she is there and what she wants them to do.
The first part of the book talking about the usual main character, China Bayles, provides background information for people who haven't read any of the series before. The end of the book includes several recipes. Susan Wittig Albert also introduces each chapter with information about the uses and meanings of herbs and flowers that have some relation to the plot.
I was disappointed in this book. I found Rachel's story very interesting and sad. I think it should have had more detail about the way she and the people in her home reacted to the hurricane. On the other hand, there was too much detail about the actions and effects of Rachel on Ruby, Claire, and, later, China. There was also a lot of repetition.
I don't see how someone would think a B & B in an isolated location accessible only by a very poor road would be successful. I also don't understand the motive of the bank robbers. I see that part thrown in gratuitously.
I don't read stories about ghosts or the supernatural or psychics. I prefer my fiction to be more realistic. I read this one because I've liked the previous China Bayles books. In this case, Rachel was the most interesting character.

Interesting history on the Galveston hurricane in 1900. What I hated about the book was the silly ghost story. Ruby, with her tarot cards and Ouija board and claims of being a psychic, has always been my least favorite character in this series, and she is the main person in this story, as is the "ghost". One would think Susan Wittig Albert, who has been a fairly sane writer to this point could have let this one remain a silly idea she never actually brought to light. There is no such thing as a psychic or as a ghost!

I like this series. China, Ruby, and their families are interesting.

This book, although it held my interest throughout, wasn't one of her best. The ending was too predictable.

The back story, the historical one that happened back in 1900, was more interesting than Claire's problem that Ruby and China were trying to solve for most of the book.

One thing I do hate about this author, something that I find very irritating, is her statements of, "If I had but known . . . ." She uses this sentiment more than once in the book. If I remember rightly, it is used in many of her books.