It's summer time and the living is easy in Heavenly, Pennsylvania.
Shopkeeper Claire Weatherly is happily busy in her gift shop,
with plenty of tourists in town to visit the local Amish community.
Claire stocks an array of goods made with care by the Amish,
so her shop, Heavenly Treasures, is a popular stop. Claire's
Aunt Diane, proprietor of Sleep Heavenly Bed and Breakfast,
is hostess to a variety of visitors, ranging from a teacher,
to a marketing consultant hired by the town, to a travel agent
and a blog writer and a photographer. Claire enjoys spending
free time with her suitor, police detective Jakob Fisher,
a man who grew up Amish, but was shunned when he left to join
the police.
When an Amish farmer is inexplicably murdered
in his barn, Jakob becomes frustrated trying to chase down
clues. Having had some success in helping the police solve
murders in the past, Claire keeps her eyes and ears open for
anything she might hear that the Amish wouldn't tell the police.
A disturbing pattern appears, that of a man asking the Amish
for directions, or for a drink of water, and then stealing
money from the Amish homes. What does this have to do with
the murder of Wayne Stutzman?
While it is wonderful to see the development
of relationships between the main characters, it was fun to
learn about horses and their role in Amish life, too. This
brought in a new element and allowed for the introduction
of new characters -both equine and human – and to show
a different side of Aunt Diane and her passion for horses.
As with the first four books in this series,
this was a delightful read with an air of peace about it.
The pace is just right, but I simply had to know the outcome,
and even though I put the book down for the night repeatedly,
I found myself turning the light on again several times for
“just one more chapter.” The outcome was satisfying
with no loose ends left, and everything fell into place perfectly.
The conclusion brought tears to my eyes as the fate of one
particular horse was resolved exactly as I'd hoped it would
be.
I highly recommend this Amish themed cozy
mystery to mystery lovers everywhere. A visit to Heavenly,
Pennsylvania, is like a ride on a cloud with ups and downs
and joys and sorrows, with a peek into the lives of some very
special characters.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Hearse
and Buggy #1
Assaulted
Pretzel #2
Shunned
and Dangerous #3
Suspendered
Sentence #4
Reviewer Note: Laura Bradford also
writes as Elizabeth Lynn Casey |