Mourning Gloria by Susan Wittig Albert

Many authors who have long-running series end up in a slump at some point.  I've found this to be true with a number of the authors I read and Susan Wittig Albert is no exception.  However, I thought Mourning Gloria - her 19th in the China Bayles herbal mysteries - to be much better than her recent offerings.  

China is driving home on a summer night when she happens on a house trailer engulfed in flames.  After calling 911, she approaches the structure only to hear someone frantically crying out.  Despite her efforts, she's not able to help and is haunted by the death of the unidentified woman.  Jessica, the young intern reporter assigned to cover the fire, gets too emotionally involved having lost her parents and twin sister in a house fire years before.  When it becomes apparent that the fire was an arson/murder, she delves even deeper in an attempt to solve the crime herself.  Once Jessica disappears, China feels an obligation to retrace the reporter's steps in an attempt to find her before Jessica also loses her life. 

The herbal focus in this novel is "psychoactive" or "mood-enhancing" plants.  As always, Albert cleverly weaves interesting folklore and scientific information about these plants throughout the book and into the storyline itself.  Albert is good about filling the reader in on each of her characters and situations, so the novel could be read and enjoyed as a stand alone.  However, I recommend starting from the beginning to fully appreciate the depth of the series. 

This was my second book for the 2011 Cozy Mystery Challenge.