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onecraftchick's review
4.0
These are just good easy reads. I love the Amish and Christian discussions as well as a good mystery. I was in a complete reading slump and this book (and the first in the series) is a reminder of why reading is fun and entertaining. And although God is discussed He isn't the center of the books...the characters and how they deal with life, relationships with others, and a mysterious death all while being true to their beliefs is the center.
stephanie121087's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
honniker's review against another edition
3.0
A cute, intriguing Amish murder mystery. I enjoyed the story and the characters, however I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of character development in some ways and several of the characters seemed just kind of flat. Perhaps it's because this is the second book in a series and I didn't read the first one.
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
A nice clean mystery set in Amish country. A young man is killed by a crossbow while walking along a path and several of the villagers try to help the police figure out who the killer is. The village shops are run by a manager who has been involved in solving a crime before. She is very concerned about her employees and wants to protect them and can't figure out why someone killed this man and is threatening others.
One of the worker's brothers returns at the same time and he eventually is arrested. The family doesn't think he has done it and they are trying to help him but he is a bit secretive. The Amish are a very close knit and reserved community which makes it harder to get information to solve the murder. There are hints that some survivalist groups are involved and the villager manager and her assistant go out to a meeting to see if this might be true. The police do not appreciate them getting involved.
Some interesting descriptions of life in some of the Amish homes and how some families are stricter than others and how they coop with the English.
One of the worker's brothers returns at the same time and he eventually is arrested. The family doesn't think he has done it and they are trying to help him but he is a bit secretive. The Amish are a very close knit and reserved community which makes it harder to get information to solve the murder. There are hints that some survivalist groups are involved and the villager manager and her assistant go out to a meeting to see if this might be true. The police do not appreciate them getting involved.
Some interesting descriptions of life in some of the Amish homes and how some families are stricter than others and how they coop with the English.
squidbag's review
3.0
Second verse, same as the first.
Not an entirely fair assessment, since the mystery was deeper and had more dimensions on this outing, and since re-visiting characters can either make you tired of them or make them more appealing, and Chapman's got a good grip on the latter; these people seem more like people this time out. New characters, however - people with tortured pasts and our first African-American character in the series - seem cartoonish still. It's clear that movie-of-the-week screenplays are lurking at the fringes of her imagination as she writes.
Still, the premise (exactly how many plausible murders can you have at an Amish fucking Village anyway?) stands firm, the story itself is very straightforward and has depth, and there's nothing broken about this book. I'm only critical because it's not exactly my cup of Simple Brew, and because these people pray just enough to keep me off-guard but interested.
Moving on...
Not an entirely fair assessment, since the mystery was deeper and had more dimensions on this outing, and since re-visiting characters can either make you tired of them or make them more appealing, and Chapman's got a good grip on the latter; these people seem more like people this time out. New characters, however - people with tortured pasts and our first African-American character in the series - seem cartoonish still. It's clear that movie-of-the-week screenplays are lurking at the fringes of her imagination as she writes.
Still, the premise (exactly how many plausible murders can you have at an Amish fucking Village anyway?) stands firm, the story itself is very straightforward and has depth, and there's nothing broken about this book. I'm only critical because it's not exactly my cup of Simple Brew, and because these people pray just enough to keep me off-guard but interested.
Moving on...
More...