Susan Wittig Albert - The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree

Table of Contents

China Bayles Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

THYME OF DEATH
WITCHES BANE
HANGMANS ROOT
ROSEMARY REMEMBERED
RUEFUL DEATH
LOVE LIES BLEEDING
CHILE DEATH
LAVENDER LIES
MISTLETOE MAN

BLOODROOT
INDIGO DYING
A DILLY OF A DEATH
DEAD MANS BONES
BLEEDING HEARTS
SPANISH DAGGER
NIGHTSHADE
WORMWOOD
HOLLY BLUES

AN UNTHYMELY DEATH
CHINA BAYLES BOOK OF DAYS

With her husband, Bill Albert, writing as Robin Paige

DEATH AT BISHOPS KEEP
DEATH AT GALLOWS GREEN
DEATH AT DAISYS FOLLY
DEATH AT DEVILS BRIDGE
DEATH AT ROTTINGDEAN
DEATH AT WHITECHAPEL

DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS
DEATH AT DARTMOOR
DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE
DEATH IN HYDE PARK
DEATH AT BLENHEIM PALACE
DEATH ON THE LIZARD

The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert

THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM
THE TALE OF HOLLY HOW
THE TALE OF CUCKOO BROW WOOD
THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE
THE TALE OF BRIAR BANK
THE TALE OF APPLEBECK ORCHARD
THE TALE OF OAT CAKE CRAG

The Darling Dahlias Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE

Nonfiction books by Susan Wittig Albert

WRITING FROM LIFE

WORK OF HER OWN

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, andincidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reaction to the recipes contained in this book.

Copyright 2010 by Susan Wittig Albert.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group

(USA) Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Albert, Susan Wittig.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-18838-5

1. Young womenCrimes againstFiction. 2. Murder-Investigation-Fiction.

3. GardeningSocieties, etc.Fiction. 4. Women gardeners-Fiction. 5. Treasure troves

Fiction. 6. Nineteen thirtiesFiction. 7. AlabamaFiction. I. Title.

PS3551.L2637D37 2010

813.54dc22

2010010033

10987654321

http://us.penguingroup.com

To my cherished herb and gardening friends,
who encourage me to keep my hands in the dirt
and my fingers on the keyboard.
The Darling Dahlias and I send you our love.

Authors Note

Darling, Alabama, is a fictional town that is located in a real place: the beautiful wooded hills of southern Alabama, about seventy miles north of Mobile, west of Monroeville, and east of the Alabama River. If youd like a map of the town, please visit the series website: www.darlingdahlias.com. Youll find other items of interest there, including: historical background of the 1930s, the period in which the series takes place; Depression-era recipes and household tips; and information about Southern gardens. Ill be adding new material frequently, so please bookmark the site and visit often.

A note about the language. When I was growing up in the 1940s, we lived on the outskirts of the African-American neighborhood in Danville, Illinois. At the time, my family called our neighbors and schoolmates coloreds or colored folk or Negroes. Later, when I was in graduate school at University of California, Berkeley, and took an active part in the Civil Rights movement, we called our friends Blacks and African Americans; Negro had become an ethnic slur. (I notice, though, that the 2010 census uses Negro because many older African Americans self-identify with the term.) This historical series includes language and social practices appropriate to the early 1930s in the rural South. These may be offensive to some readers. Thank you for understanding that no offense is intended.

Susan Wittig Albert

Dear Reader,

The author of this book has kindly asked usthe officers of the Darling Dahlias Garden Clubto write this letter to you. She wants us to let you know that weve read this story and agree with her description of what went on during the month of May 1930, when some things happened that shouldnt have happened in any God-fearing town, much less in Darling, Alabama, which has 4 churches, 907 good Christian people (soon to be 908, because Mrs. Perkins is expecting any day now), and only a few Bad Apples.

Of course, in a story, its usually the Bad Apples who get all the attention, so we want to warn you not to pay too much attention to them. You should look instead at the way everybody else is behaving and doing what they ought to do, which is to help one another and follow the Golden Rule, even though (as a certain few would like to have you believe) it sometimes turns out that he who has the gold, rules. In this case, silver and gold, both, But we wont say anything more about that, since we dont want to spoil the story for you.

Anyway, we just wanted to let you know that we recommend this book because its true, most of it, And because the way the author has told it shows you how much the Dahlias care about our Darling and want to see things done right in our town, even when things are bad all over the country, with a lot of people out of work and the best help the Red Cross can offer is ten cents a day for food,

Well, thats enough of that, The Darling Dahlias always try to look on the bright side. As Aunt Hetty Little says, we keep our face to the sun so we cant see the shadows, which is why we plant sunflowers and marigolds and cosmos in amongst the collards and sweet potatoes and okra in the garden, And speaking of gardens and such, we may not have just a whole lot extra, but were always willing to share what we have. So weve given the author some of our favorite recipes and tips for making whatever youve got go further, last longer, and taste better. She says shell put them at the end of the book. We hope theyll help you, if times are as hard at your house as they are here in Darling,