Buy this book
Books N Bytes participates in affiliate programs including Amazon Associates and Bookshop.org. We may earn a commission when you purchase through our links at no extra cost to you.
WormWood is the China Bayles novel where Susan Wittig Albert takes her herbalist sleuth out of Pecan Springs and into the Kentucky Shaker community at Pleasant Hill. China is researching the Shakers' herbal traditions, the museum-village hosts her, and a death in the historical-reenactment community pulls her into a murder investigation she did not intend to take on.
The Shaker material is the achievement. Albert has clearly done significant research into the community's herbal pharmacology, dance forms, and historical relationship with the surrounding Kentucky countryside, and the book treats the religious community with the seriousness it deserves. The mystery itself is fair and ties into the Shaker history with appropriate care.
Four stars. One of the more interesting late-series entries and an unusual departure from the Texas setting. Recommended.
Related reads
If you liked WormWood
More by this author