The Last Chance Olive Ranch (China Bayles Mystery)

I have long loved SWA's various mystery series. China Bayles is the longest-running of them all, and the new installment is definitely a page turner. I found it awfully hard to set the iPad down when other things demanded attention, and I've thought quite a bit about the story since I finished the book.As someone else mentioned. it seems apparent that Ms. Albert has moved away from the cozy genre and into thrillers with the China series. Very possibly this was necessary, as how many descriptions of people enjoying pots of tea in strongly Texas settings will readers want to be going through? Miss Marple and her knitting appeared in only a dozen books and twenty short stories. This is the twenty-fifth China book, alongside two companion type books, one of short stores. How many plant findings, diggings, uses? So as a (very small time) blogger, I'm okay with the concept. But -- my preference in mysteries I read is more towards the cozy. I think Ms. A has achieved a pretty good balance, actually. There is still little graphic violence or foul language, there's enough sex to show that the characters are still kicking after all these years. Yet there are two distinct stories going on which have nothing do with one another other than that McQuaid and China each thinks that the other must be finding things rather easier than they are.Some of the continuing characters grow more than others in the series. McQuaid's son, Brian, changes a good deal in this story, and there may be repercussions in other books to come. Ruby Wilcox is going through a romance that might turn out differently than others we've been following. Or not. Neither McQuaid nor China seems to change much, however, but the deepening of their love over the years has withstood a great many awful situations. How will that play out in this one, where McQuaid has made a decision profoundly unwanted by his wife?

The charm of Texas Hill Country and Albert ' s much loved characters visit a winery and olive farm, new ventures in the rugged rural area between Austin and San Antonio.Old ways die hard, though. Eliza, a woman raised on a ranch, returned from travels in Europe with an idea. She turned the family ranch to growing olives and was actually seeing some progress towards a profitable business when she passed away. Her protégé took over the property and the business. Eliza had left her everything in a will. We join her story up with China and Ruby's when our favorite herbalist and crystal shop owner arrive at the Last Chance Olive Ranch for a weekend workshop. Things don't exactly happen according to plan though.Characters are challenged to learn new behaviors in response to some horrible happenings that threaten China's family, as well as the nice folks at the ranch.There is a lot of information about favorite herbs and of course olive oil. We learn sone things about the pressing threat of climate change and water management. And there's delicious recipes.The chance to sink down into this magical hill country story makes every China Bayles book enjoyable. This one was better with new characters and new settings. Plus some reminders that older folks can learn from their kids, it's not always the old people being set in their ways and showing the kids how it's done.

Albert's China Bayles series has always been a favorite of mine. Getting to know the characters through numerous books makes a good series a special home for the reader. When I received Last Chance Olive Ranch and saw that it included another lone woman fighting to retain her land, I wondered if Albert was beginning to repeat plots. No chance. This one, even for a long time reader like me, has an unexpected freshness. Albert's attention to detail gives realism to her hair-raising plots. Her ever deepening characters reveal new facets of their personalities while showing once again the qualities that we recognize and depend upon in them. This book is especially interesting in that it has a double plot -- China and her redoubtable husband McQuaid are on different perilous adventures at the same time.Her wry humor has thrilled me since the first sentence in the first book --"If I had known how the week was going to turn out, I would have sent it back first thing Monday and asked for a refund."If you want a well-plotted book that features numerous likable and sometimes quirky people in bizarre situations, one that involves you on page one and never stops galloping, this is the book for you.

China and McQuaid are not happy when they are awakened by an early morning phone call particularly when it is to find out that a sex trade murderer that McQuaid had apprehended had broken out of prison and had vowed to kill everyone who had put him there and had started with the DA and his wife. China was supposed to go to the Last Chance Olive Ranch to do a workshop and have a retreat weekend with Ruby. She wanted to stay with McQuaid, but he insisted that she go.Perhaps, if McQuaid had known what kind of trouble awaited China at the ranch he might have had second thoughts. This book reminded me of The Gift of the Magi in some perverse way.Both of the stories were attention grabbing and well constructed. I liked the characters and felt that they were nuanced. I would recommend this book to people who like cozy mysteries or who like well drawn characters. Don't miss this one.

Always enjoy a good China Battles Mystery! Living in Texas and specifically having lived near Austin myself her descriptions of the cities and countryside are so accurate and believable that I'm right there in my imagination knowing exactly what she's describing! The characters are down to earth and quirky making the book that much more enjoyable. Highly recommend this series, never lets me down!

Nicht meine Favorit, 2 Geschichten in einer, da die jeweilige Geschichte kein ganzes Buch gefüllt hätte. Beide sind sehr vorhersehbar, wenn auch gut geschrieben, trotz zu vieler Wiederholungen. Kurzweilig, aber definitiv nicht hochstehend, das kann sie besser.

This was a gift. Did not read it.

It felt that something more is going to happen

Never disappointed with her books. Another winner.

Great as are all her books