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Posted on Wed, Apr 13, 2011 : 6 a.m.

Susan Wittig Albert's 'Mourning Gloria' perfect 'mind-altering' herb for spring

By Lisa Allmendinger

Mourning Gloria
No. 19 in the China Bayles series
By Susan Wittig Albert

Hardcover, $25.95, 301 pages

With spring valiantly trying to show her greening face, the time could not be better for reading a book that offers herb and flower themes and a new farmers’ market.

Although 'Mourning Gloria' by Susan Wittig Albert is No. 19 in the China Bayles series, this is the first title in this bestselling series that I’ve read. Now I have to hunt through the shelves of book stores large and small to find the previous 18 so I can enjoy them all.

(As an aside, the author's new Darling Dahlia title is one of my favorite new books to date, and this title is in my Top 10 for the year.)

“Those of us who cultivate herbs sometimes get into the habit of treating them like well-mannered pets.”

mourninggloria.jpg

And away we go …

“We find them useful in our food, cosmetics, and medicines; we enjoy growing them and using them to decorate our gardens and out homes; and we take delight in their taste, scent, and form. Where herbs are concerned, we like to think that we’re always in charge.”

There’s nothing better than a one-two punch of a well-crafted plot through which I learn something new. “Mourning Gloria” is just that sort of book — it looks at the mood-altering properties of plants —  and, as a bonus, it includes a young journalist named Jessica Nelson, who reminded me of my early years in this business.

Besides, what gardening lover can’t relate to China, who says she does her best thinking with a trowel in her hand?

And ex-lawyer, turned herb-shop owner (and sleuth) China is a terrifically rounded character with a family and friends you’ll want to meet in person.

Set in Texas, readers feel as through they are standing in the Pecan Springs landscape.

“Clouds were piling up in the east, dark blue on their heavy booms, rosy pink like strawberry whipped cream on top there the evening sun struck them. Lightning forked from cloud top to cloud top, and the pale leaves of the cottonwood at the back of the parking lot rattled like scraps of shiny metallic paper in the slight breeze.”

Yeah, there’s a rather grisly murder, an arson fire, some unconventional drug running, and that’s only a taste of this fast-paced action. But between the crime-solving, there’s all kinds of fascinating herb information and history.

You’ll root for China as she “assists” the local police force with a unique insight into human behavior finding clues like rose petals dropped along the way.

The author also has a pretty great website and sends a weekly newsletter filled with fun niblets of offbeat information.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com who reviews cozy mysteries each Wednesday in a column called Cozy Corner. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.