Grace Miller is, in theory, coming home when she accepts an assignment to cover a story about a tragedy in an Amish district of New York State. Yet the rural community of Quail Hollow hasn't been home to her since she was three when her mother was killed. She soon finds herself in PLAIN JEOPARDY. I highly recommend this read.

Not only is Grace rubbing salt into wounds by enquiring about young people hurt and killed after a drugged driver crashed a car, she opens painful memories by asking what happened to her own family. These local people don't seem to understand that she has a story to cover, and her editor wants the personal angle. Trying not to upset anyone, Grace feels the need to give a voice to an Amish teen girl in the hospital. I could already see that this girl is a stand-in for herself. The murder of Grace's mother was never resolved, and she's been unable to give voice to her hurts.

Conner Gates, who witnesses when a driver nearly squashes Grace in the dark, is a police officer today, and his father Harry was sheriff when Grace's mother was killed. Conner offers to connect her with Harry. Since the Amish don't allow photos, Grace has no mementos of her late mother. Maybe Harry can shed some light on her mother's life—and unresolved death. Grace is given some pointers but warned that if she keeps digging she might not be able to live with what she discovers.

In addition to the main characters in this excellent crime story, I really enjoyed Deputy Becky Spoth, a practical-minded female officer who grew up Amish and decided to serve her community in another way. Quail Hollow, NY, is snowed under during this story, so the elements form a large part of the scenic setting and provide clues—like footprints—or restrict travel at times. Top marks to author Alison Stone for giving us such a realistic, tension-filled tale of clashing cultures, of cold case and new, of past haunting the present. Plus a romance! This book has something for everyone. I found PLAIN JEOPARDY suitable for anyone from mid-teens upwards, and especially for lovers of romantic suspense where the situation and mystery take precedence.