Could Callie Harper's life get any worse? She lost her
husband to cancer a year ago, quit her job in Houston after
an argument with her boss, and here she is in Shipshewana,
Indiana, with a quilt shop to sell. Her Aunt Daisy passed
away and left everything she owned to Callie, including
Daisy's Quilt Shop and Max, a yellow Lab. Shipshewana is a
small rural community with an Amish population just outside
of town. The first person Callie meets is Deborah Yoder.
Deborah is a young Amish woman who had an agreement with
Aunt Daisy to sell some of the Amish quilts. She approaches
Callie about that agreement, but Callie is adamant that she
is not going to be here long. As soon as she sells the shop
she will be gone. Deborah encourages her to at least clean
up the yard and garden and reopen the shop for a better
selling prospect. Callie agrees, but insists it is only
temporary.
When the local newspaper editor gives Callie's shop a
critical review, she pays him a visit and has an argument
with him. After the editor is found dead that night, all
eyes are on Callie as the number one suspect. Before she
can exonerate herself, a series of break-ins occur, and
someone else is sent to the hospital with an injury
received during one of these break-ins. But the townspeople
and several in the Amish community have gotten to know
Callie and they rally in her support.
Callie and Deborah decide to do some detective work of
their own in trying to solve this mystery. When they walk
in on an intruder in the quilt shop and Max gets shot
trying to protect them, Callie is more determined than ever
to catch the murderer. Will the scheme they devise work?
When this is over, will Callie sell the shop and return to
Texas, or will she stay in Shipshewana?
This delightful Amish murder mystery is full of inspiration
and explores the idea that pain has a place in your life.
How you deal with that pain is a choice you have to make.
FALLING TO PIECES is the first in a new series by
Vanetta Chapman. I reviewed her debut novel and
really enjoyed it. This one is a keeper as well. Can't wait
for the other books in this series!
In this first book of a three-book series, author Vannetta
Chapman brings a fresh twist to the popular Amish fiction
genre. She blends the familiar components consumers love in
Amish books-faith, community, simplicity, family-with an
innovative who-done-it plot that keeps readers guessing
right up to the last stitch in the quilt.
When two women-one Amish, one English-each with different
motives, join forces to organize a successful on-line quilt
auction, neither expects nor wants a friendship. As
different as night and day, Deborah and Callie are uneasy
partners who simply want to make the best of a temporary
situation. But a murder, a surprising prime suspect, a
stubborn detective, and the town's reaction throw the two
women together, and they form an unlikely alliance to solve
a mystery and catch a killer.
Set in the well-known Amish community of Shipshewana,
Falling to Pieces will attract both devoted fans of the
rapidly-growing Amish fiction genre, as well as those who
are captivated by the Amish way of life.