Matchmaking Can Be Murder

November 1, 2019
An Amish sleuth goes all out to save her niece from a murder charge. After many years away caring for an ailing sister, widowed, childless Millie Fisher has returned to Harvest, Ohio. She lives in a small house outside town with her two mischievous Boer goats, Phillip and Peter, who do a bang-up job of keeping her property weed-free. Millie, who has an uncanny ability to tell when two people are right for each other, is deeply concerned that her beloved niece Edith Hochstetler, a widow, is about to marry Zeke Miller, who's emphatically not right for her. Edith's been wonderfully successful in running Edy's Greenhouse, her late father's business, but now something seems to be going wrong. After she admits to Millie that she doesn't love Zeke, her decision to call off the wedding has dire consequences. While visiting a new "Englisch" cafe in Harvest, Millie runs into her childhood friend Lois Kenny, married four times and grandmother of cafe owner Darcy Woodin. In addition, Millie sees that her nephew, Edith's twin brother, Enoch Lapp, has returned to Harvest. Enoch, who left to become Englisch, blames Millie for some of the problems he had as a youth. When Zeke's found beaten to death at the Greenhouse, Millie and her goats chase away a hidden man. Seeing Edith become a suspect, Millie resolves to clear her. Luckily, one of the investigators is Deputy Aiden Brody, whom Millie's met before (Assaulted Caramel, 2017) and who's familiar with Amish ways. When they learn that Zeke was romancing both Edith and Darcy, Millie and Lois team up on a wild adventure that uses their local knowledge to help pin down a dangerous killer. A sentimental view of Amish life complete with two charming goats makes for easy reading.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2019
Matchmaker Millie Fisher returns to her Amish community in Harvest, Ohio, after a 10-year absence. She's relieved when her beloved niece Edith, owner of Edy's Greenhouse, tells her that she has changed her mind and decided not to marry Zeke Miller. Shortly after learning about Edith's decision, Millie finds Edith in her greenhouse standing over Zeke's dead body. Millie, along with her Englischer (non-Amish) friend Lois Henry, investigates to clear Edith and Lois' granddaughter, who has also become a suspect. Complicating matters, Millie must make peace with her nephew Enoch, whom she felt she wronged before he also left Harvest and his Amish faith. After Millie identifies the man she observed running away from the greenhouse right after the murder, it appears they solved the case?but did they? Plot twists, the lovingly described setting and customs of Millie's Amish community, quirky characters (including two rambunctious goats), and plenty of humor distinguish this first in a new series linked to Flower's Amish Candy Shop mysteries. Suggest to those who enjoy Tamar Myers' humorous Magdalena Yoder Pennsylvania Dutch cozies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)