Claire Weatherly lived in New York, but she's decided to
leave her hectic, fast-paced lifestyle behind and trade it
in for one that's slower and less stress-filled. She moves
to Heavenly, Pennsylvania, which is mostly an Amish town.
She originally went there planning to visit her Aunt Diane
at the bed and breakfast that Diane owned, but she
soon became enamored of the town. And she needed a place to
heal her heart after going through a less-than-amicable
divorce.
Soon, Claire owns her own souvenir shop, specializing in
handmade Amish goods. She's making friends, including some
of the Amish townspeople, with whom she does business. In
particular, Esther a young Amish girl who works in
Heavenly Treasures as an assistant. Claire suspects that
Esther likes Eli, a young Amish man, and it's clear that he
is attracted to Esther. Before Claire can encourage the
shy young assistant, trouble looms.
The man who used to own Heavenly Treasures is found dead
behind the store, and Eli becomes a suspect. Claire can't
believe that Eli would do such a thing, although he does
seem to have a temper that the Amish elders frown on.
Complicating matters, the detective assigned to the case is
new in town. Detective Jakob Fisher used to live in
Heavenly, and he used to be Amish. But the Amish have
shunned him as he turned his back on the Amish lifestyle
after pledging to keep the Amish ways. This means that no
Amish person can speak to him -- not even to assist in the
investigation.
Claire desperately wants to prove that Eli is innocent, and
she can't bear to see Jakob in so much pain. She agrees to
act as an intermediary between Jakob and the Amish community
in hopes of helping to solve the murder and reuniting a
family. But as the investigation continues, a string of
small crimes is committed against a store that neighbors
Claire's. Could someone be committing hate crimes against
the Amish?
HEARSE AND BUGGY was a really great, well-written mystery.
The
characters all had depth and dimension, and were easy to
relate to. Even unlikeable characters were the kind that
you "loved to hate" rather than just plain hated. The Amish
community was portrayed in such a way that didn't make them
objects of curiosity, as some books do, but merely
community members -- as it should have been. The plot
itself was excellent - the culprit was revealed at exactly
the right time, and it was someone I did not guess but I
certainly had enough clues (in hindsight) to have put it
together. HEARSE AND BUGGY was a delightful book, and I
can not wait to
visit Heavenly again!
Claire Weatherly never intended her visit to Amish country's Heavenly, Pennsylvania to be anything other than that—a visit. But when she begins to feel the healing power of the town's simple life, she decides to stay and open an Amish specialty shop of her own. So when the former owner of the store is murdered, Claire can't help but get involved. Especially when dealing with the new detective is out of the question...
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