I have been a fan of Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series for a long time. The focus on botanicals in various ways is consistent and always enlightening and I like the way she branches out to newer ideas in that regard across the series. I also, I have to admit, appreciate it that she was a university professor and administrator earlier in life. Turns out some of those who (I assume) fantasized about writing mysteries actually do so! Albert writes a number of series and, also, has a recent book that I found very entertaining about Eleanor Roosevelt and her "friend," entitled Loving Eleanor.
The China Bayles series is an apt one for this blog given the many many links between botanicals and cooking. Indeed, the amateur detective type (currently married to a former policeman turned PI) is herself not only running a herb store but with her friend Ruby, a cafe and catering company and more.
The most recent installment I have read is entitled Blood Orange and was published in 2016. (I have a vague idea I read The Last Chance Olive Ranch, which is Albert's 2017 installment, but am not sure if I blogged on it. Hmmm.)
In any case, Blood Orange takes a bit of a turn from the earlier installments of the series by focusing on quaffables -- that is, drinks. Indeed, the book opens with a discussion of beer -- and the ways that various botanicals (herbs, oranges, and more) have appeared in beers across history and, more recently, in craft beers. Having recently tried a beer from Middlebrow called the milk eyed mender that I really liked, I was intrigued. Throughout the tale, China thinks through the possibilities of liqueurs (which I have to admit do not sound all that great), and there is a subplot focused on a local craft brewery. The series is, of course, set in Pecan Spring, Texas -- ostensibly half way between Austin and San Antonio -- so the fictitious craft brewery is a Texas one!
The blood orange theme began a trifle oddly -- as though readers would have no idea what a blood orange is/was. After that, there were aspects of it that were fun, including ideas that might work -- involving blood orange vinaigrettes, drinks, and more. Here's what Albert offers on the website devoted to the China Bayles mysteries:
"In the early 1990s, a gardener in Moorpark, CA, was startled when she saw something very unusual on her favorite Valencia orange tree. The oranges on one limb of the tree were reddish, and the fruit was blood red. A local farm advisor clued her in. Her Valencia orange had repeated a mutation that first occurred in China, where blood oranges made their first appearance centuries ago.
Traditional Chinese herbalists used oranges to treat the digestive and respiratory systems: improve digestion, relieve intestinal gas and bloating, and reduce phlegm. But the medicinal orange came into its own in the west in1747, when a ship's doctor in the British Royal Navy discovered that oranges (and other citrus fruits) prevented scurvy in sailors on long sea voyages. Now, we know that oranges are high in vitamin C, and that citrus flavonoids are potentially antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory." (http://www.abouthyme.com/China/BloodOrange.shtml )
I have had some infused beers that are, well, truly terrible. I even recall one that was so bad it was memorable -- a pumpkin one. The Middlebrow beer I mentioned above was actually wonderful -- and as always, and despite much of a plot review here, so was Blood Orange. Yes, the main thrust of the novel has to do with hospice and medicare/medicaid fraud. And, yes, that may hit just a little too close to home as one ages? I can say that I benefited from the wonder of hospice and palliative care personnel when my mother died and more recently when friends have suffered. And, I am glad I have never met anyone who seemed eager to profit from the grief of others.
As a side note, and another area where I learned a lot: I knew nothing about various whistleblower laws and the potential upside to being a whistle blower . . . . hmmm.
