Book Feature: The Last Chance Olive Ranch by Susan Wittig Albert

Title: The Last Chance Olive Ranch: China Bayles Mystery
Author: Susan Wittig Albert 
Published: April 4, 2017, Berkley
Setting: Pecan Springs, Texas. China fears for McQuaid’s life as an escaped convict targets him...

First chapter: 

I hate it when the telephone rings at night. Granted, it wasn't night, technically speaking. It was 5 a.m., according to the clock on my side of the bed. But the only light in the room was a dim nightlight and my husband and I had both been sound asleep. To me, that qualifies as night.

From Ch. six:

...Hank grunted, "I'll do it," he said. But China better not blame me if you wind up dead." 

Book description:
Max Mantel, the killer McQuaid put away years ago, has busted out of the Huntsville prison and appears to be headed for Pecan Springs. McQuaid knows there’s only one way to stop the vengeful convict—set a trap with himself as bait.

China wants to stay by her husband’s side. But McQuaid  insists that she get out of town and go to the Last Chance Olive Ranch, where she’s agreed to teach a workshop on herbs.

While China throws herself into helping Maddie, the owner of the ranch, McQuaid’s plan backfires when Mantel executes a countermove he never saw coming. 

Have you read any of the other China Bayles mysteries?

MEME: Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or will be reading soon.