She became a professor of English at the University of Texas, Austin and was a university administrator at Sophie Newcomb CollegeinNew Orleans and vice president for academic affairs at Southwest Texas State University.[1] She also writes a column for Country Living Gardener magazine.
Albert began writing young adult books in 1983, publishing as Susan Blake. In 1985, she was hired to write Nancy Drew books as Carolyn Keene. She also published two Hardy Boys books.[3][4]
Albert began the China Bayles series in 1991.[3] Her first China Bayles novel was Thyme of Death. The book was nominated for two national mystery awards, the 1992 Agatha award and the 1993 Anthony award in the "Best First Novel" category.[5][6]
The titles of all the China Bayles novels include the names of herbs and include herbal themes that invoke the title. Albert is a guest speaker at both herbal clubs and women's groups around the country. She describes her books as "cozy mysteries" because they do not contain much violence or gratuitous behavior.
Albert and her husband, Bill,[7] have also co-written The Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries, a series of a dozen mysteries set in the late Victorian era. Albert is also the author of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, a series of mysteries featuring author Beatrix Potter.
The China Bayles herbal mystery series centers around the title character's deductive reasoning and knowledge as an herbalist and ex-lawyer, who solves murders with her best friend, Ruby Wilcox, owner of a New Age shop.[9]
Thyme of Death (1992)
Witches' Bane (1993)
Hangman's Root (1994)
Rosemary Remembered (1995)
Rueful Death (1996)
Love Lies Bleeding (1997)
Chile Death (1998)
Lavender Lies (1999)
Mistletoe Man (2000)
Bloodroot (2001)
Indigo Dying (2003)
An Unthymely Death (Short Story Collection) (2003)
A Dilly of a Death (2004)
Dead Man's Bones (2005)
Bleeding Hearts (2006)
The China Bayles Book of Days (365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs) (2006)
Takes place in a fictitious town called Darling, Alabama during the 1930s. Centers on a group of amateur, mystery solving women in a garden club called the Darling Dahlias.
The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree (2010)
The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies (2011)
The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose (2012)
The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star (2013)
The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush (2014)
The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady (2015)
The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover (2018)
The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle (2018)
^Swanson, Jean; James, Dean (1998). Killer Books: A Reader's Guide to Exploring the Popular World of Mystery and Suspense. New York: Berkley Prime Crime. ISBN978-0-425-16218-7.
