Book review by Jane
Wormwood is actually a book in a series of mysteries starring China Bayles. This is the 17th book in the series, and I read it first. The thing that attracted me to the book was it is set in Kentucky at a fictional old Shaker settlement. I had always wondered about the Shakers and this book provides a bit of information about them. The Shakers were an old order of religious people who lived celibate lives; and naturally, since they were not producing heirs, they died off. The author apparently deviated a little from her usual writing style on China Bayles to include a backdrop of the historical (fictional) Shakers. I have read very few mysteries since I began with the book club. I found that this book was quite fun to read, and enjoyed how the author tied in the past with the present. I like the references to wormwood as well, and I did not know exactly what wormwood was, except that the Bible refers to it. What was it? Well, it is a bitter herb—the second most bitter in the world. I guess Tracey would have been able to answer that for me, but I did need to find out on my own. The book goes into how adept the Shakers were with herbal medicines and tonics. It was exciting for me to see how wormwood tied in with the story. The end of this book has a list of herbs used by the Shakers, and I thought Tracey would be interested in the list. She likes gardening. It also has recipes, including some Shaker recipes, recipes named after the Shaker characters, and a China Bayles recipe--12 spice fried chicken. As far as China Bayles goes, I liked her. From what I know about her, she is a lawyer from a small Texas town. I’d like to read more China Bayles mysteries.

Jane.