Falling to Pieces by Vannetta Chapman really surprised me, in a very good way! This was Christian fiction without preaching at the reader, which I found very attractive. I also loved the seamless way the Amish and English interacted with each other and became friends as well as good neighbors.

The characters were very well developed and likeable. Callie started out rather abrasive but she really grew on me, and Deborah was as sweet tempered as they come. The mystery was well written and I was kept guessing until the very end.

In summary, I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading the next book in the series.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank Zondervan Publishing and Vannetta Chapman for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

Callie has inherited her aunt’s quilt shop in a small Amish community. Her plans to sell the shop are halted, at least temporarily, when an Amish woman and her two friends approach Callie to honor a verbal agreement they had with her aunt to sell their quilts. Quite soon, things begin to happen. The quilt shop is again open and flourishing, the women are becoming friends as they get to know each other, and then the obnoxious local newspaper editor is found dead by Callie, who becomes a person of interest to the police. Callie and her new friends team up to catch the real culprit, but, being amateurs, soon need rescuing themselves. Author Vannetta Chapman has penned a story that combines the Amish community and the English world in a interesting way to produce a delightful and gentle mystery. The first in a series, this entertaining novel will leave the reader wanting to read the next one. ( )

An Amish mystery. ( )

Falling to Pieces
This is a fun whodunit mystery taking place in the Amish town of Shipshewana. After Callie's aunt passes, she arrives from Texas with the intent of selling her aunt's quilt shop. After a little coaxing the Amish ladies that provided quilts for the shop, convince her to re-open the now forlorn looking shop. Deborah's family comes to help Callie restore the shop and clean the grounds.

Deborah, one of the Amish women quilters and Callie work together to sell some of the quilts on EBay. The editor of the local newspaper finds this as a good story to sell a few more of his papers and embellishes the story with incorrect information which gives Callie a bad start in her new business.

Callie becomes friends with the Amish women and gains their trust.

The editor is found dead in his office and Callie finds him and somehow becomes entangled legally with this apparent crime. More incidents happen in town and the police are looking to capture the person responsible. Callie and Deborah play detectives, plotting together to figure out how to find the person responsible for the crimes and find themselves in a scary situation.

The story is one of trust and friendship among women of different backgrounds and how they can bond together and work together even though they have many differences. I enjoyed the story very much and it was a fun read. ( )

Falling to Pieces - Vannetta Chapman This is the first book in a new 3 book series. It connects the English with the Amish. Callie comes to town from Houston to see to her aunt's affairs. Her aunt Daisy owned a quilt shop in town before she died and Callie having suffered some heartache thinks a change of scenery for a little bit might be healing to her. She is not interested in making friends – she is just there to sell the shop and move on – although she is not sure where she is moving on to. Life has hurt her deeply and she is trying to deal with is all – without God. Deborah, an Amish wife and mother, asks Callie, to sell some quilts on EBay (which she pronounces wrong) to help out her friends. This story is really the story of friendship, acceptance, small towns and how they come together. There is even a mystery thrown in. Deborah doesn’t seem to be looking for new friends either – she is looking to help her friends, who have minor rolls. Then there is Max, who doesn't love a story with a dog who takes on a large role? I enjoyed this book - there are some things that I am not so fond of, a few loose ends that I am still shaking my head about but liked it enough to want to read the second book in the series.
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