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Chile Death: A China Bayles Mystery
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Manufacturer: Berkley
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Publisher: Berkley
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Berkley
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Publisher: Berkley
Average Customer Rating:
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Chile Death: A China Bayles Mystery Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425171479
ISBN: 0425171477
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1999-10-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425171479
ISBN: 0425171477
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1999-10-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
Editorial Review of Chile Death: A China Bayles Mystery
She planted the seeds of mystery stardom with her first book, Thyme of Death. She continued growing with such highly-praised follow-ups as Witches' Bane and Love Lies Bleeding. Now Susan Wittig Albert's career blooms with a flourish--with the brand-new offering Chile Death.
An annual chili cookoff, a womanizing judge, and a crisis in China's personal life add up to a novel that will delight fans of this fast-rising author, a nominee for both the Anthony and Agatha Awards--and attract a whole new audience to this "appealing series that just keeps getting better." (Booklist)
Customer Reviews of Chile Death: A China Bayles Mystery
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Meandering story with a quick conclusion
Review: Chile Death is a book NOT about someone dying due to a chile pepper, but about someone eating peanut ridden chili and dying due to an allergic reaction to peanuts, so the title is quite misleading.
During the first 100 pages of the story, the book explores the ins and outs of the various character personalities and their interaction with one another. The author touches slightly on the individuals that are somehow connected to the murder. However the author seems to hapazardly use characters as if they are bullets in a machine gun.
Take page 16 for example. I counted a total of 7 characters: Lila, Mike, Hark, Jerry Jeff Cody, Wanda Rathbottom, Grady Stice, Arlene. If you add page 17, that adds another two, to a grand total of NINE characters introduced or mentioned in just two pages. My brain has a hard time consuming so many all at once.
The story meanders on until page 100 or so, when the actual murder occurs. Then the author in my opinion leads you down two or three obvious dead ends, in a hope to induce suspense into the reader. Didn't happen for me. There are also times, when the author provided unnecessary dialogue as if she had to fill a quota of words. For example take page 166.
"I just got off the phone with Bubba..." I won't repeat it here, but the whole long paragraph is an exact rehash of her conversation with Bubba a paragraph before being retold to her boyfriend Mike. Why would you do this? You could easily use this technique: "I told Mike what Bubba said."
Finally the ending comes off quickly and quite incredibly. You have a hard time swallowing the events as actually happening. Either China Bayles is incredibly lucky, or the author had to wrap things up quickly.
For a light read the book is entertaining. But mostly it is a disappointment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Best in the series, so far
Review: China Bayles feels she is in limbo when her plans for a tea room adjoining her herb shop and her marriage to Mike McQuaid are put on hold. The reason for this is Mike's ongoing rehabilitation as the result of a shooting which occurred during one of his recent investigations. Added to this, China's mother has come to help out and their relationship has always been tenuous at best. China is temporarily distracted from her problems when the whole town begins preparing for its annual chili cook-off. McQuaid is also pulled from his depresssion when the cook-off sponsors persuade him to return to his annual role as a judge in the contest. All seems to be going well when one of the other judges dies after tasting several of the chili recipes which have been submitted. China and McQuaid begin to help the police by tracking down who could have tampered with the chili and who had a motive for killing the judge. The judge was considered quite a ladies' man and was in the middle of a nasty divorce, so suspects abound. Albert takes the reader on a round of plausible red herrings before the killer is finally revealed. This book develops the characters of China, McQuaid, and China's friend Ruby to a new level and really shows Albert's skill as a writer. The many interesting facts about chili peppers sprinkled throughout the book also add to the readers' enjoyment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A mystery in every bite...
Review: Albert's books are great fun to read. I enjoy them so much...she is a more than adequate writer, fairly good at drawing her characters in words, and the plots make good sense (well as far as mysteries go...why do the protagonists insist on going into bad situation by themselves?)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good Book
Review: I Love this series. They are easy to read with good characters and an interesting but never too violent mystery.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Satisfying
Review: This is the first China Bayles novel I have ever read and will be reading more. I liked the Texas setting with a true Texas Chili Cookoff in the Texas Hill Country. The recipes are great. The mystery kept you guessing until the very end. Easy, quick to read and very satisfying.
Review Summary: Meandering story with a quick conclusion
Review: Chile Death is a book NOT about someone dying due to a chile pepper, but about someone eating peanut ridden chili and dying due to an allergic reaction to peanuts, so the title is quite misleading.
During the first 100 pages of the story, the book explores the ins and outs of the various character personalities and their interaction with one another. The author touches slightly on the individuals that are somehow connected to the murder. However the author seems to hapazardly use characters as if they are bullets in a machine gun.
Take page 16 for example. I counted a total of 7 characters: Lila, Mike, Hark, Jerry Jeff Cody, Wanda Rathbottom, Grady Stice, Arlene. If you add page 17, that adds another two, to a grand total of NINE characters introduced or mentioned in just two pages. My brain has a hard time consuming so many all at once.
The story meanders on until page 100 or so, when the actual murder occurs. Then the author in my opinion leads you down two or three obvious dead ends, in a hope to induce suspense into the reader. Didn't happen for me. There are also times, when the author provided unnecessary dialogue as if she had to fill a quota of words. For example take page 166.
"I just got off the phone with Bubba..." I won't repeat it here, but the whole long paragraph is an exact rehash of her conversation with Bubba a paragraph before being retold to her boyfriend Mike. Why would you do this? You could easily use this technique: "I told Mike what Bubba said."
Finally the ending comes off quickly and quite incredibly. You have a hard time swallowing the events as actually happening. Either China Bayles is incredibly lucky, or the author had to wrap things up quickly.
For a light read the book is entertaining. But mostly it is a disappointment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Best in the series, so far
Review: China Bayles feels she is in limbo when her plans for a tea room adjoining her herb shop and her marriage to Mike McQuaid are put on hold. The reason for this is Mike's ongoing rehabilitation as the result of a shooting which occurred during one of his recent investigations. Added to this, China's mother has come to help out and their relationship has always been tenuous at best. China is temporarily distracted from her problems when the whole town begins preparing for its annual chili cook-off. McQuaid is also pulled from his depresssion when the cook-off sponsors persuade him to return to his annual role as a judge in the contest. All seems to be going well when one of the other judges dies after tasting several of the chili recipes which have been submitted. China and McQuaid begin to help the police by tracking down who could have tampered with the chili and who had a motive for killing the judge. The judge was considered quite a ladies' man and was in the middle of a nasty divorce, so suspects abound. Albert takes the reader on a round of plausible red herrings before the killer is finally revealed. This book develops the characters of China, McQuaid, and China's friend Ruby to a new level and really shows Albert's skill as a writer. The many interesting facts about chili peppers sprinkled throughout the book also add to the readers' enjoyment.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A mystery in every bite...
Review: Albert's books are great fun to read. I enjoy them so much...she is a more than adequate writer, fairly good at drawing her characters in words, and the plots make good sense (well as far as mysteries go...why do the protagonists insist on going into bad situation by themselves?)
I knew from the minute that it became obvious there was going to be a 'tasting' that someone was going to get poisoned. It's probably one of the oldest forms of murders there is. Yet, poisoning is not exactly what happened. The murderer took into account the victim's own allergies and used that against him. The victim was one of these annoying insurance guys who use their looks to sell their insurance, as well as use scare tactics to sell to older people. He had plenty of enemies, and China and McQuaid have to sort through an overabundance of information to find the most pertinent info.
As usual Albert puts in a bit of history, a lot of recipes, and some information on the sad disease that is Alzheimer's.
A good summer read...
Karen Sadler
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good Book
Review: I Love this series. They are easy to read with good characters and an interesting but never too violent mystery.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Satisfying
Review: This is the first China Bayles novel I have ever read and will be reading more. I liked the Texas setting with a true Texas Chili Cookoff in the Texas Hill Country. The recipes are great. The mystery kept you guessing until the very end. Easy, quick to read and very satisfying.
Highly recommended.