Bonnie A. (ladycholla) -
Helpful Score: 1
Very good first book, look forward to the next one. Several interesting angles to look forward to. Oliver is a cute dog. His fear of birds is an interesting twist.
Fun, clean read.
Fun, clean read.
JoAnne M. (joannefm2) - , reviewed Murder, Plain and Simple (Amish Quilt Shop, Bk 1) on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Angie Braddock recently left Dallas, Texas because her late aunt left her a quilting shop, Running Stitch, in the Amish town of Rolling Brook, Ohio. Her Aunt Eleanor married an Amish man and gave up her Englisch ways to join their community, and now the shop was hers. To tell the truth, Angie didn't mind leaving, considering after a seven-year relationship, her boyfriend broke it off, telling her he couldn't commit to marriage. Now she's in a new place with new people and trying to find her way.
It's also apparent that the woodworker next door, Joseph Walker, doesn't want her there. He's insistent the shop belongs to his family and he'll find the deed her aunt hid to prove it. But Angie stands her ground - and the next morning when she enters the shop, accompanied by Danny Nicholson, a reporter, she finds the body of Joseph in her storeroom, killed by one of her tools. Now she's under suspicion of murder, and since the sheriff won't let her off the hook, she's determined to find the killer on her own. But asking questions could be detrimental to her health - permanently...
This is the first book in a series, and I really wanted to like it. Although many of the characters seemed authentic, I didn't think that the town trustees were all Englischers when this is supposedly an Amish town. How did that happen? Maybe things like that don't bother others, but I'm a great believer in details, and it's details that I pay attention to.
I also didn't care for the 'nemesis' angle which occurred near the end of the book. Nope; not interested. I much prefer series where someone isn't out to ruin the life of the protagonist. So if this continues in the next book - or even plays a major role - then I will stop reading (although I do like to give at least three books before I make a decision, the nemesis thing really irritates me in books.)
Then there was the ending, which didn't make sense to me at all. Things the murderer did just didn't seem like they made any sense, but I'm not listing them here because it would reveal things about the murder which aren't given until the end of the book - and why I found it didn't make any sense.
Unfortunately, because of the way things were explained, nothing Angie's Aunt Eleanor did made any sense to me. As I stated, I will read the next in the series, but there's no saying at this point whether I will even finish that book or not. Sorry.
It's also apparent that the woodworker next door, Joseph Walker, doesn't want her there. He's insistent the shop belongs to his family and he'll find the deed her aunt hid to prove it. But Angie stands her ground - and the next morning when she enters the shop, accompanied by Danny Nicholson, a reporter, she finds the body of Joseph in her storeroom, killed by one of her tools. Now she's under suspicion of murder, and since the sheriff won't let her off the hook, she's determined to find the killer on her own. But asking questions could be detrimental to her health - permanently...
This is the first book in a series, and I really wanted to like it. Although many of the characters seemed authentic, I didn't think that the town trustees were all Englischers when this is supposedly an Amish town. How did that happen? Maybe things like that don't bother others, but I'm a great believer in details, and it's details that I pay attention to.
I also didn't care for the 'nemesis' angle which occurred near the end of the book. Nope; not interested. I much prefer series where someone isn't out to ruin the life of the protagonist. So if this continues in the next book - or even plays a major role - then I will stop reading (although I do like to give at least three books before I make a decision, the nemesis thing really irritates me in books.)
Then there was the ending, which didn't make sense to me at all. Things the murderer did just didn't seem like they made any sense, but I'm not listing them here because it would reveal things about the murder which aren't given until the end of the book - and why I found it didn't make any sense.
Unfortunately, because of the way things were explained, nothing Angie's Aunt Eleanor did made any sense to me. As I stated, I will read the next in the series, but there's no saying at this point whether I will even finish that book or not. Sorry.
Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) -
35-year-old Angie leaves Dallas, Texas after a broken engagement to inherit her beloved aunt's Amish quilt shop in Rolling Brook, Ohio. The night after the shop's grand re-opening, a murder happens in the shop, and the story launches from there.
Since this is the first book in the series, the author invests a fair amount of time setting the scene and introducing the reader to the cast of characters. I didn't solve the mystery until near the end and appreciated the 'red herrings' the author provides.
I haven't read a cozy mystery in quite some time and was somewhat annoyed by how repetitive some of this book was (I don't need to be reminded 100 times that the murder victim's name was Joseph), but I think that's more a fault of the genre rather than this author. I'm intrigued enough to continue on with the next book in this series.
Since this is the first book in the series, the author invests a fair amount of time setting the scene and introducing the reader to the cast of characters. I didn't solve the mystery until near the end and appreciated the 'red herrings' the author provides.
I haven't read a cozy mystery in quite some time and was somewhat annoyed by how repetitive some of this book was (I don't need to be reminded 100 times that the murder victim's name was Joseph), but I think that's more a fault of the genre rather than this author. I'm intrigued enough to continue on with the next book in this series.
