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stephanie121087's review
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
lisaeliza's review against another edition
3.0
I find myself torn with this series. On the one hand, it's very well written. On the other hand, it portrays the Amish so oddly. Amish women openly having relationships with an English man well after they've been baptized? Amish killing other Amish? It strains credibility. I like Chapman's series under the pseudonym Isabella Alan better.
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
A cozy mystery centering around an Amish Village. The manager of the village, Amber, starts getting some threatening emails stating that there are poisoned pies around and that her friends may be hurt. She is trying to figure out who is doing this while also running the village and being concerned with the lives of her employees. There are several side stories going on at the same time with one of Amber's employees, Hannah, is preparing to get married another employee, Preston, is dealing with PTSD and gets a service dog to help him. There is also the issue of a man who is dating 3 of the women from the village and this causes some problems.
The book had started with the death of ladies man while running a 5K and the story then goes back a month prior to the incident to show what led up to that moment. Lots of talk of religion and how it effects the different characters from Amish to English. Third book in the series so there is a lot of references to things that happened in the two prior books but isn't necessary to have read those to enjoy this story.
Enjoyable.
The book had started with the death of ladies man while running a 5K and the story then goes back a month prior to the incident to show what led up to that moment. Lots of talk of religion and how it effects the different characters from Amish to English. Third book in the series so there is a lot of references to things that happened in the two prior books but isn't necessary to have read those to enjoy this story.
Enjoyable.
squidbag's review
3.0
I have gotten a lot of the same question while I completed this series, and it boils down to "Hey, what's with all the Amish fiction?" The truth is, it's fun to do things that you don't normally do, and when the things in question don't suck, it's easy to keep doing them. That said, having finished this series, I have no great desire to read more of Chapman's work or anymore Amish fiction. It was solid, it never knocked me down, it was...cozy. And during a time of year that I feel jarred and slightly broken anyway, maybe this is what I wanted. I started a thing and I was compelled to finish it. I needed to know if Jesse and Hannah ever got married. I'm probably done with this now.
This was easily the most complex of the trilogy, with a subplot about PTSD and a four-sided murder mystery, with the murder happening on page one and the rest of the book unfolding to that point and beyond. The characters had the same arc as before, with the through line of the established ones becoming more developed while the newbies are sketches or cartoons. Additional risk was introduced here, but with the spans of weeks coming between incidents in the book, the pressure eases right off. Still a solid book that I can now first-person recommend to a certain type of Bookmobile patron.
This was easily the most complex of the trilogy, with a subplot about PTSD and a four-sided murder mystery, with the murder happening on page one and the rest of the book unfolding to that point and beyond. The characters had the same arc as before, with the through line of the established ones becoming more developed while the newbies are sketches or cartoons. Additional risk was introduced here, but with the spans of weeks coming between incidents in the book, the pressure eases right off. Still a solid book that I can now first-person recommend to a certain type of Bookmobile patron.
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