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Matchmaking Can Be Murder.
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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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
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…
I’ve always been drawn to realistic stories of moral dilemmas, hidden secrets, and unexpected twists. To do that in my novels, I draw from real-life experiences. I enjoy researching all my book locations and situations—everything from Amish special needs schools to Amish camel farms. Striving to be as authentic as possible, I spend time with my Amish friends, so the problems my characters face often are based on real-life events they’ve faced, and I have an Amish reader who checks the novels accuracy as I strive to write life-changing, heart-tugging novels of faith, hope, and forgiveness.
Titus Returns isn’t a typical Amish story, and I like that it delves into serious topics that many Amish romances avoid—prison, PTSD, depression, and alcoholism.
When Titus returns after five years in prison, he’s a different person and no longer at home in his Amish community. He’s been through experiences no one could possibly understand, leaving him struggling with his faith, his identity, and PTSD.
He desires to make amends, but faces temptation from his now-married, former girlfriend along with the anger of the twin who blames him for her brother’s death. Despite all Titus’s problems, I appreciated the way this story of tragedy and loss turned around through the healing power of forgiveness.
Wells Landing (Book 5) Five tumultuous years ago, Titus Lambert had a tragic car wreck that left him serving time for vehicular manslaughter. He may not belong in peaceful Wells Landing anymore, but he must make amends. Visiting the Kings, whose son Alvin died that terrible night, he finds their farm in disrepair. They need his help. Honest toil and his friendship with Abbie King slowly help Titus’s soul to heal.
My passion for this theme comes from my own long marriage and my passion for it. Having heard the phrase “I wouldn’t put up with that” so many times, it’s a relief to me to read that yes, many people do. Instead of giving up on something as important to them as a life partnership, they don’t give up until all hope is gone. Marriage resurrected is all about hope.
This is written by one of my favorite authors of Amish stories.
There is much heartache in this story, but that goes along with the marriage resurrected theme; regardless of what happens, the story of a marriage disintegrating is painful.
While there is never doubt that Judith and Isaac’s relationship will survive, the story of how is captivating.
As an Amish wife and mother struggles to hold her family together, a story from the past teaches her how to face her daily challenges with strength and love in the second Keepers of the Promise novel.
In modern day central Pennsylvania, Judith Wegler tries to heal the growing rift between her husband, Isaac, and his teenage brother Joseph—whom Judith and Isaac have raised as their own ever since both brothers lost their parents and siblings in a horrific fire. Meanwhile, Isaac’s hurtful silence about this tragic past has robbed Judith of any certainty of her husband’s love. But when…
I’ve always been drawn to realistic stories of moral dilemmas, hidden secrets, and unexpected twists. To do that in my novels, I draw from real-life experiences. I enjoy researching all my book locations and situations—everything from Amish special needs schools to Amish camel farms. Striving to be as authentic as possible, I spend time with my Amish friends, so the problems my characters face often are based on real-life events they’ve faced, and I have an Amish reader who checks the novels accuracy as I strive to write life-changing, heart-tugging novels of faith, hope, and forgiveness.
Told by an outsider, lawyer Ellie Hathaway, who left the Amish community years ago, Picoult immerses us in a stunning and heartbreaking story of a young Amish girl accused of murdering her newborn.
I admire the amount of research Picoult did to stay true to many of the Amish traditions, but she also spins a mesmerizing tale that captivated me emotionally and provided many twists and turns, including an unexpected and shocking reveal at the end. The story left many haunting moral questions that lingered long after I finished the book.
From the bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper comes the riveting story of a murder that shatters the picturesque calm of Amish country -- and tests the heart and soul of the lawyer defending the woman at the center of the storm.
The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster County to its core. But the police investigation leads to a more shocking disclosure: circumstantial evidence suggests that eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish woman believed to be the newborn's mother, took the child's life. When Ellie Hathaway, a disillusioned big-city attorney, comes to Paradise, Pennsylvania,…
Growing up in a violent household drove me to find refuge in books and libraries. By vicariously experiencing other lives, I found inspiration in strong heroines. I am continuously attracted to stories where women who are victims of crime or injustice fight back with grit, brains, and strategy to win. That being said, in a worldly society that demands conformity in behavior and thought, the outsider—that independent thinker who embraces her individuality and faith—is my very favorite kind of heroine. The outsider heroine is also the kind I create in my books to inspire women to complain less and achieve more.
I admire Kate for her strong sense of self. She accepts her outsider status as a strength.
Amish-raised Kate Burkholder becomes the sheriff of Painters Mill. With a foot in both the Amish and English communities, she is often treated as an outsider as she investigates crimes. The Amish give her the cold shoulder because she left the community, and some city leaders treat her poorly because she’s a woman. She tamps down her pride most of the time and occasionally wields her authority like a hammer to get the job done.
Now the subject of the Lifetime original movie, An Amish Murder
Sworn to Silence is the first in Linda Castillo's New York Times bestselling Kate Burkholder series.
A KILLER IS PREYING ON SACRED GROUND....
In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and “English” residents have lived side by side for two centuries. But sixteen years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence. Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the…
I have SB degrees in physics and electrical engineering from M.I.T. and a JD degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. I’m interested in how things work and how people think. I’ve written four novels, published countless articles, as well as many children’s stories. A few of them may be found on my author’s website.
Linda Castillo is a master of the Amish whodunnit, having written fifteen books in a series staged in Amish country and culture. I’ve read five of them. Her characters are vivid and come alive on the page. The Hidden One, this latest “novel of suspense,” is written in the first person by her protagonist, Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police in Painters Mill, Ohio. Before you realize it, you are in Kate’s mind, trying to make sense of the many clues—bits and pieces of information—that make up a mosaic. All this is delivered up in what I would venture to say is a “woman writer’s touch”—with sensitivity and a warm heart.
The discovery of an Amish bishop's remains leads chief of police Kate Burkholder to unearth a chilling secret in The Hidden One, a new thriller from bestselling author Linda Castillo.
Over a decade ago, beloved Amish bishop Ananias Stoltzfus disappeared without a trace. When skeletal remains showing evidence of foul play are unearthed, his disappearance becomes even more sinister.
The town’s elders arrive in Painters Mill to ask chief of police Kate Burkholder for help, but she quickly realizes she has a personal connection to the crime. The handsome Amish man who stands accused of the murder, Jonas Bowman, was…
I’ve visited Amish communities for years as a tourist. An agent suggested I write it because of my faith in God. The Amish base their lifestyle and traditions on their faith in God, and she felt the books would be more authentic if the author felt the same. I’ve never been Amish, but the topic is fun to research, and some of the Amish are forthcoming in helping me. I love the fried chicken, homemade butterscotch pie, corn pudding, and beautiful quilts they have available when visiting the different Ohio and Indiana communities. They are not my typical audience.
Jennifer writes a compelling story, but she has you laughing at just the right moments in the story. The baby adds an interesting twist, and plays a part you don’t want to miss in this story. You’ll be surprised as you turn the pages, and you won’t be disappointed when you finish the story.
In the first in an engaging new series, an Amish quiltmaker moves from Pennsylvania to a new settlement in Colorado, where adventure, challenges, and love are waiting . . .
Esther Zook is starting over after her father’s death, piecing together a new life with as much care as she puts into her intricate quilts. When her wayward sister abandons her baby, it throws all those plans for a fresh start asunder. Esther had accepted her status as an old maid—but a mother? And a single one, at that? Not that she hasn’t noticed Levi Kiem, the eligible young man…
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