The Last Chance Olive Ranch

by Susan Wittig Albert

Overview

In this exciting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert, China Bayles fears for her husband’s life as an escaped convict targets him...
 
Max Mantel, the killer McQuaid put away years ago, has busted out of the Huntsville prison and appears to be headed for Pecan Springs. McQuaid knows there’s only one way to stop the vengeful convict—set a trap with himself as bait.
 
China wants to stay by her husband’s side and keep him from harm. But McQuaid  insists that she get out of town and go to the Last Chance Olive Ranch, where she’s agreed to teach a workshop on herbs.
 
When China and her best friend arrive at the ranch, she learns the owner, Maddie Haskell, has her own troubles. She inherited the ranch and olive oil business from the late matriarch, Eliza Butler, but Eliza’s nephew is contesting the will.
 
While China throws herself into helping Maddie, McQuaid’s plan backfires when Mantel executes a countermove he never saw coming. Now McQuaid’s life is not the only one at stake—and this time may really be his last chance...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425280041
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Series:	China Bayles Series , #25
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	641,320
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Susan Wittig Albert is the New York Times bestselling author of the China Bayles Mysteries, the Darling Dahlias Mysteries, and the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.

Date of Birth:

1940

Place of Birth:

Danville, Illinois

Education:

Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Last Chance Olive Ranch"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Susan Wittig Albert.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Susan Wittig Albert’s New York Times bestselling China Bayles Mysteries
 
“[Albert] consistently turns out some of the best-plotted mysteries on the market.”—Houston Chronicle
 
“Engrossing...China continues to appeal with her herbal information and savvy sleuthing.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“[China Bayles is] such a joy...An instant friend.”—Carolyn Hart, New York Times bestselling author
 
“One of the best-written and [most] well-plotted mysteries I’ve read in a long time.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Albert’s dialogue and characterizations put her in a class with lady sleuths V. I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

03/13/2017
At the start of Albert’s absorbing 25th China Bayles mystery (after 2016’s Blood Orange), an early morning phone call alerts herbalist and former lawyer China and her husband, PI Mike McQuaid, that Max Mantel, who was convicted of murdering two teenage girls years ago, has escaped from the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. Mantel has vowed to kill everyone connected with his incarceration, including Mike, who was a Houston homicide cop at the time. China and her friend and business partner, Ruby Wilcox, have already agreed to do a seminar on herbalism for the Last Chance Olive Ranch, an hour’s drive west of Pecan Spring, Tex., their home town. Mike insists that they fulfill their obligation, feeling that China will be safer there. Once at the ranch, China and Ruby tumble into a mystery adventure of their own. The book alternates between Mike’s tense cat-and-mouse game with Mantel and China’s brush with a murderer. Lore and tips about olive oil production and use lend interest, and the book closes with an enticing collection of recipes. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly