🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Susan Wittig Albert
Susan Wittig Albert was born in Vermillion County, Illinois on January 2, 1940. She attended Danville High School before moving on to the University of Illinois where she received her English degree. After college, she pursued her PhD at the University of California at Berkley for English. She started her professional career as a college professor at the University of Texas at Austin and worked her way up the ranks to Administration at Sophie Newcomb University in New Orleans, Louisiana, followed by a position as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Southwest Texas State University. All the while, she wrote her books. Susan Wittig Albert is also known by her two other pen names: Robin Paige and Carolyn Keene.
All Book Series by Susan Wittig Albert
An Unthymely Death and Other Garden Mysteries
Series opener · book 1 of 2 · published 2003
The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
Series opener · book 1 of 10 · published 2010
The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker
Latest in the series · book 10 of 10 · published 2022
What Wildness Is This: Women Write about the Southwest
Book 5 of 8 · published 2007
Country Living Gardener February 2001
Series opener · book 1 of 2 · published 2001
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Susan Wittig Albert?
Susan Wittig Albert was born in Vermillion County, Illinois on January 2, 1940. She attended Danville High School before moving on to the University of Illinois where she received her English degree. After college, she pursued her PhD at the University of California at Berkley for English.
Which Susan Wittig Albert series should I start with?
The best place to start is the China Bayles series, the earliest of Susan Wittig Albert's multi-book series: it opens with Thyme of Death (1992) and runs to 29 books across 1992–2024, ending with Forget Me Never (2024). Susan Wittig Albert's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Susan Wittig Albert written?
Susan Wittig Albert has 81 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1992 and 2025. 67 of them belong to 7 named series — the largest being the China Bayles series with 29 books — and 14 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Susan Wittig Albert's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Susan Wittig Albert's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are China Bayles (1992–2024, 29 books), Victorian Mysteries (1994–2006, 12 books) and China Bayles Collections (2003–2006, 2 books), plus 4 more.
How are Susan Wittig Albert's books organised into series?
This guide splits Susan Wittig Albert's 81 books into 7 named series and 14 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: China Bayles (29 books, 1992–2024); Victorian Mysteries (12 books, 1994–2006); The Darling Dahlias (10 books, 2010–2022); The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter (8 books, 2004–2011); Crystal Cave (3 books, 2019), plus 2 further series.