Just Plain Murder

September 15, 2018
Pennsylvania shop owner Claire Weatherly (A Churn for the Worse, 2016, etc.) helps her formerly Amish boyfriend solve another murder.Shunned by the Amish family, friends, and neighbors in his native town of Heavenly for abjuring his faith after baptism, Jakob Fisher is still proud of his work as a police detective. And he's grateful to his mentor, Russ Granger, for showing him how to be the best detective possible. So when Russ, who's retired to Florida, is murdered on a visit back home, Jakob naturally becomes obsessed with finding his killer. Confident that the key to the murder lies in a case from Russ' past, Claire takes time off from her shop to help Jakob plow through the files Russ brought with him, leaving Heavenly Treasures in the capable hands of teenage shop assistant Annie Hershberger. Claire confides to her Amish best friend, Esther Miller, her fears that Jakob may be driving himself too hard in his quest to bring Russ' killer to justice. Esther, like almost all Bradford's Amish, is supremely calm, centered, and competent, but she just can't seem to quell Claire's English agitation. Only by helping Jakob drive a murderer out of the paradise that is Heavenly can Claire restore her world, and Jakob's, back to order.Bradford's look at Amish life is cartoonishly superficial, marked chiefly by having her characters repeat "mamm," "dat," and "Rumspringa" every few sentences. Even a fairly clever solution can't redeem this sixth installment from its literary sins.

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November 1, 2018

Claire Weatherly has found Heavenly, PA, to be close to divine; she's content with her shop Heavenly Treasures, her life with Aunt Claire, friends in the Amish community, and her relationship with police detective Jakob Fisher. However, Heavenly has been the scene of some crimes. While on a romantic picnic with Claire, Jakob learns his mentor, retired police chief Russ Granger, has been murdered. He berates himself for not answering a call from Russ, while Claire worries that he's spending all his waking hours investigating. Everyone assures her she's the respite he needs, but Claire becomes increasingly concerned that the man she's grown to love will not recover from the loss of the man who shaped him. The author has built a tight community in Heavenly, creating an atmospheric setting for a cozy series. The homespun, simple life leaves time for Claire to reflect on her relationships in thoughtful conversations with friends. VERDICT Fans of Bradford's character-centric series will appreciate this latest entry. New readers may enjoy meeting the protagonists in the first book in the series, Hearse and Buggy.{amp}mdash;Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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