Fur is flying in Pecan Springs, Texas, as lawyer-turned-herbalist China Bayles finds herself snarled in a deadly animal rights dispute. Dottie Riddle, biology professor at Central Texas State University and the notorious Cat Lady of Pecan Springs, runs the ritziest cat rescue operation in Texas. But Dottie's generous concern for strays has earned her the hatred of neighbor and fellow biology professor Miles Harwick, and her active opposition to the biology department's animal experimentation program has brought her more academic enemies than she can count. So when Harwick is found dead with his neck in a noose, police chief Bubba Harris charges Dottie with murder. Dottie assures her good friend China Bayles that, although she hated the man, she is not a killer. As China begins to unravel the knotted threads of the dead man's life, she discovers that Dottie isn't the only one who may have wanted him dead. There's the lab assistant who knows that animals weren't the dead man's only victims. There's the student animal rights activist who pulls China's best friend, Ruby Wilcox, into the turmoil. And there's the biology chairman who shared with the dead man a festering secret that threatens the entire department. Which of them fastened the noose around the dead man's neck? Or was it, in fact, a vengeful suicide? Ably assisted by tall, flaming-haired Ruby Wilcox, law school nemesis Justine Wyzinski (The Whiz), and stunning Sheila (Smart Cookie) Dawson, Chief of Security at CTSU, China digs for the root of evil deep in the hearts of people who had a motive for murder. But meanwhile she must also dig deep into her own heart to discover how she feels about sexy ex-cop Mike McQuaid, who gives her a final ultimatum about their relationship. The China Bayles mysteries are a spicy brew of remarkable characters, intricate plots, and small-town shenanigans, stirred together with a rich seasoning of herbal magic. Hangman's Root is the best yet in this original and critical

Welcome back in her third appearance (following Thyme of Death and Witches' Bane) is China Bayles, the prickly and independent former lawyer who swerved out of the Houston fast lane to open an herb shop in Pecan Springs, Tex. Miles Harwick, an unpopular biology professor whose mild appearance belies a vindictive nature, is found drugged and hanged in his office even as animal rights activists are in the quad protesting his research and the new lab he wanted to build. When China's friend, the cat-loving and plain-talking Dottie Riddle, Harwick's neighbor and colleague opposed to his plans, becomes the main suspect, the herb-shop proprietor reluctantly realizes that her lawyer's instincts can't be left behind as easily as big-city life and activates the old-girl network to come to Dottie's defense. Despite a slow start and little herbal lore, the plot unfolds briskly and with sly humor as China and friends, some of the savviest women to inhabit mysteries since Harriet Vane, investigate crimes and motives. (Oct.)

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  • Science Fiction
    • Crime & Mystery