I never dreamed I would write books about the Amish, and now I have over thirty to my credit. In researching my books, I have fallen in love with the varied culture the Amish represent. I’m a romance writer at heart, and sort of fell backward into writing mysteries. And I’m so thankful I did! What I love the most is how the cultures (ours and theirs) must work together (or not, depending on the people in the story) to solve the crime. Trouble sets many more obstacles than a regular mystery. More denial that someone could be guilty.
Unmarried and plain-spoken, Kathryn “Kappy” King is the odd woman out in the Amish community of Blue Sky, Pennsylvania. When Kappy's neighbor, Ruth Peachey, turns up dead, the Englisch police arrest the gentle dog breeder’s mentally challenged son, Jimmy, for her murder . . .
Doggedly believing in Jimmy’s innocence, Kappy digs for the truth among her seemingly harmless neighbors. Helping is Jimmy’s sister, Edie, who has returned to Blue Sky to clear his name. Yet no one will speak to the shunned young woman, much less give Edie any sensitive information. But when a series of suspicious “accidents” threatens the Peachey farm, Edie and Kappy must work together to free Jimmy and bait a trap for the real killer snapping hard at their heels.
I love Patricia Johns’ romances, so I knew when I started this book I would love it too. The Amish community of Blueberry is very conservative (much more than other communities I have written and read about), but it makes for an exciting escape.
It’s also quaint and filled with fabulous characters, like Petunia, our amateur detective, and the victim, Ike Smoker. Ike is particularly fascinating, as a secret life is revealed as the book continues. Most of us feel that the Amish live pure and wholesome lives, and for the most part, I believe they do. But there’s always a black sheep to shake things up.
The mystery was captivating, with a number of plausible suspects that kept me guessing until the very end.
The quiet Amish lifestyle isn't all that it seems in this debut cozy mystery series, for fans of Amanda Flower and Wanda E. Brunstetter.
Petunia Yoder is Blueberry, Pennsylvania’s youngest old maid, at twenty-two years of age, and completely unmarriageable. But she’s determined to celebrate her friends’ weddings with joy and a full heart. Unfortunately, Petunia’s best friend, Eden Beiler, is playing a dangerous game with a man who is ruining her reputation.
Ike Smoker is the community’s iceman—the one who cuts, stores, and sells the ice—and when Petunia discovers him dead with an ice pick in his chest, Eden…
Agatha Lapp is one of the most well-written Amish protagonists I’ve read. She is reserved and stiff but wholly likable. She holds right to the idea and truth of what an Amish woman is like. She is also caring and real.
I love this book because of the diverse relationships that happen—from the B&B guests to the neighbors to the surrounding Amish community. I don’t believe any two people could be more different than Agatha and Tony. Yet they must work together, which makes for interesting reading.
The mystery itself is a great whodunit that kept me turning the pages faster until the end.
When Agatha Lapp’s brother and sister-in-law are tragically killed in a buggy accident, Agatha relocates to the new Amish community in Hunt Texas, nestled in the Texas Hill Country. She’s there to make a success of her brother’s dream--an Amish B&B. Agatha is friendly, efficient, and capable. She's also a fifty-five year old widow who has learned to be independent.
Then she discovers Russell Dixon’s lifeless body in Cabin 3. She runs next door where retired detective Tony Vargas lives. The police determine that her guest died of natural causes, but as Agatha and Tony put…
One thing I know: I can always trust Amanda Flower to give me a great mystery with tons of laughs. This book does not stray from this pattern.
I love how the main character, Millie, interacts with the people around her, from the young people she’s trying to set up to her good friends and even a handsome love interest from the past. Her goats make for excellent laughs, and the story moves quickly.
When widowed Millie Fisher moves back to her childhood home of Harvest, Ohio, she notices one thing right away—the young Amish are bungling their courtships and marrying the wrong people! A quiltmaker by trade, Millie has nevertheless stitched together a few lives in her time, with truly romantic results. Her first mission? Her own niece, widowed gardener Edith Hochstetler, recently engaged to rude, greedy Zeke Miller. Anyone can see he’s not right for such a gentle young woman—except Edith herself.
Pleased when she convinces the bride-to-be to leave her betrothed before the wedding,…
This was my first Samantha Price book, but it won’t be my last. I loved it!
Of course, I have always loved cold cases, and this one was fantastic. I love following clues, but it’s even more challenging following clues that are decades old. I thought the mystery was well-thought-out and very clever.
But I love it when there are lessons to be learned, both spiritual and practical. This book has both. Huzzah!
Welcome to the world of Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries, where USA Today Bestselling author Samantha Price blends intrigue, humor, and charm in this much-loved series. When Ettie Smith inherits her late friend Agatha's home, she stumbles upon a chilling secret: a body concealed beneath the floorboards. While the police are quick to attribute this grim discovery to Agatha, Ettie firmly believes in her friend's innocence and sets off to discover the truth. With her wisdom and dogged determination, Ettie unearths hidden secrets and unexpected links to the past. Just as she's closing in on the truth, an old, mysterious key…
First of all, I love a good pun! What a title! And it’s perfect for the book. (In fact, the whole series has the best pun titles I think I’ve ever seen.) But they say I can’t judge a book by its title or cover. However, it is the first thing that gets me going.
Next for this book is the great mix of Amish, English (non-Amish), and shunned ex-Amish souls all milling around together. Such varied characters make for a rich story with lots of interesting (and sometimes humorous) interactions.
Cultures collide despite the fact there’s a murder to be solved—a shop to run, a romance to be saved, and perhaps another one blossoming.
The simple life gets complicated when death comes calling in the first novel in the national bestselling Amish Mystery series.
Claire Weatherly has fled a high-stress lifestyle for a slower pace-in Amish country: Heavenly, Pennsylvania. She only planned a short visit but instead found herself opening an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and settling in.Claire loves her new home, and she's slowly making friends among the locals, including Esther, a young Amish woman who works in the shop. So when the store's former owner,the unlikable Walter Snow, is murdered, and the man Esther is sweet on becomes a suspect, Claire…
One summer night in a small prairie city, 18-year-old Gabriel Reece accidentally outs himself to his redneck brother Colin, flees on his motorcycle, and gets struck by lightning on his way out of town.
He’s strangely fine, walking away from his melted pile of bike without a scratch. There’s no time to consider his new inhuman durability before his brother disappears and his childhood home burns down. He’s become popular, too—local cops and a weird private eye are after him, wanting to know if his brother is behind a recent murder.
On Friday, Gabriel Reece gets struck by lightning while riding his motorcycle.
It's not the worst thing that happens to him that week.
Gabe walks away from a smoldering pile of metal without a scratch-or any clothes, which seem to have been vaporized. And that's weird, but he's more worried about the sudden disappearance of his brother, Colin, who ditched town the second Gabe accidentally outed himself as gay.
Gabe tries to sift through fragmented memories of his crummy childhood for clues to his sudden invincibility, but he barely has time to think before people around town start turning up…
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