Today, on the invite of a fellow BookCrosser, I went to listen to Susan Wittig Albert talk about the history of folklore of herbs – herbs being a key feature of her China Bayles mysteries. She spoke about herbs for love and marriage – such as rosemary – and interestingly enough, herbs for protection from lightning, like hens and chicks (otherwise known as house leeks). She also has a mystery series which features Beatrix Potter as the central character. Some of her books were available for sale, so I ended up buying Thyme of Death, the first China Bayles mystery. Incidentally, she also wrote several of the Nancy Drew stories in the late 1980s – past the time that I was reading them, or the books of my preferred teenage sleuth, Trixie Belden.