Saturday, August 31, 2013

Review ~ Murder, Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan (Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries #1)



First in a new series!

When Angela Braddock inherits her late aunt’s beautiful Amish quilt shop, she leaves behind her career and broken engagement for a fresh start in Holmes County, Ohio.


With her snazzy cowboy boots and her ornithophobic French bulldog, Angie doesn’t exactly fit in with the predominantly Amish community in Rolling Brook, but her aunt’s quilting circle tries to make her feel welcome as she prepares for the reopening of Running Stitch. 

On the big day, Angie gets a taste of success as the locals and Englischtourists browse the store’s wares while the quilters stitch away. But when Angie finds the body of ornery Amish woodworker Joseph in her storeroom the next morning, everything starts falling apart.

With evidence mounting against her, Angie is determined to find the culprit before the local sheriff can arrest her. Rolling Brook always appeared to be a simple place, but the closer Angie gets to the killer, the more she realizes that nothing in the small Amish community is as plain as it seems.

My Review

Murder, Plain andSimple by Isabella Alan is my first book by this author and I can say for sure it won’t be my last. Not often do I find a book that mixes the Amish and English ways of life as well as this author has done. Angie Braddock inherits her late aunt’s quilt shop, located on Main St, in the quaint Amish town of Rolling Brook, in beautiful Holmes County, Ohio. After a failed engagement in Texas, Angie thinks inheriting the shop is a sign from God. Little does she know there are some serious undercurrents running through the town and its citizens. 

Martha is an Amish friend of Angie’s aunt and has been running the shop for several years. When EnglischerAngie shows up eager to become the proprietress, there are some tension-filled moments between the two.

Joseph is an Amish shop owner across the street and alleges to be the rightful owner of the quilt shop. He claims Angie’s aunt never had a deed to the building. Is his assertion legitimate? Angie needs to find that deed if she wants to assume legal ownership but where did Aunt Eleanor put it? The hunt is on.

Sheriff Mitchell enters the scene when Angie finds a dead body in the storage room of the quilt shop. There are a lot of suspicious characters and I was kept guessing to the end. Each time I thought I had the murderer figured out, I was wrong.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book that contained enough compelling mystery and intrigue that an intense romance wasn’t needed to carry along the story. Don’t get me wrong. It’s clear that Sheriff Mitchell and Angie are attracted to one another but I think we are going to see this relationship develop slowly through several books. Theirs is a light romance entwined within the story.

Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower) has written an intricate and multi-dimensional mystery that captivated me from beginning to end. I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it to any mystery aficionado. I received an ARC from the author and publisher for review purposes. Only my honest opinion of the book was required. No compensation was received.


About the Author



Isabella Alan is the pseudonym for Amanda Flower Amanda Flower, an Agatha-nominated mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Her debut mystery, Maid of Murder, was an Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel. Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland.


1 comment:

I am so delighted that you've taken time to come by and comment. Blessings for a joy-filled day!

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