March 2015, Zondervan, 358 pages, ebook & Audiobook, Personal copy
Content: murder, Amish life, humour, mild romance, tissues needed
Summary from Vanetta's website
When the coffee shop manager is murdered in Middlebury’s Amish
Artisan Village, two women from different walks of life must join
together to solve the mystery.
Spring has arrived in Middlebury, Indiana, and Amber Wright is
optimistic about the growing profit from her collection of Amish
shops—until she receives a call that Ethan Gray is dead. Hurrying over
to A Simple Blend, she finds a solitary hole in the front window and the
store manager lying next to the espresso machine, dead from an apparent
heart attack. All the money is still in his register.
When Amber hires a young Amish woman, Hannah Troyer, to take over the
shop’s duties, the two women become fast friends—as well as amateur
sleuths. The police believe Gray’s death is a by-product of vandalism,
but Amber and Hannah aren’t convinced.
Clues that don’t add up, a neighbor who is pulled into the midst of
the investigation, a town with secrets to hide, and a blossoming
romance—all will combine to push Amber and Hannah into unfamiliar roles
in order to solve a mystery that will once again reveal the depth of
God’s grace.
Nayu's thoughts
Vannetta
seems to me to be a big name in Amish/Christian fiction. I've
started reading another trilogy of hers, which starts with Falling to Pieces, which startled me when Murder
Simply Brewed
mentioned it as a nearby town where murders happen regularly. Ha! I
laughed out loud because I knew from the title alone that MSB would
have murder in. I didn't realise just how twisty the plot twists
would be, or how truly terrified I'd be at the snake incident. I have
a snake phobia and I needed no imagination to feel the terror when
SPOILER happened, and Amber's fear of the snake. Even thinking
back on it gives me the heebie jeebies. It is a large part of the
story, but thankfully not all.
I
love Hannah. She cares about doing her best and not letting others
down, especially when she has to take over the cafe. Although out of
her comfort zone of a quilt shop, she soon makes the cafe her own,
adding touches which her boss/overseer both appreciates and
encourages. I like her enquiring mind and how she thinks things
through. I enjoyed how her co-main characters equally stood out
strongly, how they wound up in others' lives, their strengths and
weaknesses all making a difference to Hannah's life and the outcome
of the investigation.
Like Vanetta's other books I feel as
though I'm right there among the Amish, seeing the now familiar
customs and hearing familiar Pensylvanian Dutch phrases. It's a style
of life which has similar ideals to the ones I have. I did read the
book which I received for review as well as hop across to the
audiobook version which I bought because it meant I could 'read' the
story while doing craft work. I loved it so much I've bought book 2!
Find out more on Vannetta's website.
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