Desiring a new start after her divorce, Claire goes to stay with her Aunt Diane at her B&B in Heavenly, Pennsylvania. Claire opens an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and hires a young Amish woman to help in the store. But there are problems in the town. An English man has duped and stolen from the Amish craftsmen, and when he is found murdered, an Amish man is suspected of the crime. The new detective in town just happens to have family there, but because he left the Amish community to become a police officer after he was baptized, he is still being shunned. It’s an awkward and tense situation, one that cannot be quickly resolved. This is a good beginning to the series. The characters are interesting and likable. The mystery is intriguing. A touch of romance rounds out the story, and leads into the next book. ( )

Claire moves to Heavenly, Pennsylvania after leaving a job that caused too much stress, and now she's hoping for something else. After purchasing a shop that sells Amish goods, she starts to make friends, including young Esther, who also works for her. But when the former owner is murdered, there's trouble. It also seems that he was stealing from the Amish and not paying them for their hard work. Now Claire's caught between two worlds as she tries to find a killer, keep her friends and her shop, and help the new detective by being a go-between for him and his estranged family members.

I really wanted to read this book because my husband grew up around the Amish and I have spent many hours poring through items in their shops and those carrying their goods (and probably spending more money than I should have). That's about as much connection as I have to what's in this book.

In a couple of words: it's boring. The conversations are boring, even the murder was boring -- we only got details after the fact (a chalk outline). I pretty much skimmed a lot of it, so this will be short. The murder is committed right away, but the only thing we know about the victim is how he died and that he stole from the Amish. The next is a bit of a spoiler (although it doesn't specifically name the killer). Finding out who the murderer was, was a pretty easy thing to do. Anyone can figure out that there aren't a lot of suspects, and the author isn't going to kill off one of the people who will definitely be in later books. That leaves you to figure it out pretty easily.

Anyway, while I realize this is the beginning of a love triangle -- which I absolutely abhor in books of any genre -- at least I can say that it doesn't really matter because I have no inclination to read any of the other books in this series. Pity, because I really like this author. Sorry, it just wasn't for me. ( )

I really wanted to read this book because my husband grew up around the Amish and I have spent many hours poring through items in their shops and those carrying their goods. That's about as much connection I have as to what's in this book.

In a couple of words: it's boring. The conversations are boring, even the murder was boring - we only got details after the fact (a chalk outline). I pretty much skimmed a lot of it, so this will be short. The murder is committed right away, but the only thing we know about the victim is how he died and that he stole from the Amish. The next is a spoiler to the killer (although it doesn't specifically name them, it pretty much points you in that direction, so if you haven't read the book, please don't read the spoiler. Finding the killer was pretty easy, since anyone can figure out that there aren't a lot of suspects.

Anyway, while I realize this is the beginning of a love triangle - which I absolutely abhor in books of any genre - at least I can say that it doesn't matter because I have no inclination to read any of the other books in this series. Pity. Sorry, it just wasn't for me. ( )

Enjoyable read. I liked the characters and the information on the Amish woven into the story. ( )

I was excited to read the first book in the Amish mystery series as I've always been fascinated with the Amish and their way of life. But this book was a disappointment to me. The characters weren't realistic and there was entirely too much schmaltz and "puppy dog eyes" for my liking. The protagonist, Claire Weatherly runs a shop in a small town connected to an Amish community. She sells Amish made arts and crafts in that book. I don't know how she manages to keep that shop afloat because there were never any customers in the shop - ever. The whole book was sans customers and full of tears, longing glances and lovesick yearnings. Sorry, I just didn't care who committed the crime by the time the book ended. ( )