Book Review: Hearse and Buggy (An Amish Mystery) by Laura Bradford

      In the romantic mystery Hearse and Buggy (An Amish Mystery), Laura Bradford displays the Amish lifestyle through the perspective of “English” woman, Claire Weatherly who has moved to Heavenly to find a life of simplicity. She ends up trying to deal with her attraction for two men and becomes an amateur detective when a murder occurs at the back of her store.

    I love a well balanced sweet romance novel, and this one was like a  multicolored round swirly lollipop as big as my head. Laura Bradford captivated me with the simple lives of the Amish. She drew me into Claire’s experiences, the depth of her emotions and how the pain of her past was influencing her present. One of my favorite things about the book was how much Claire loved the art of the Amish. I could see the art in my mind’s eye as it was being described. I wanted to feel the texture of the wood as Claire brushed her fingers over the pieces.

  The murder mystery kept me wondering all though the story who the killer was. In the end was I wrong or was I right? I’m not saying.  

   Hearse and Buggy was a wonderful novel and I recommend it to all and sunder. I give it four chocolate bars and I'm definitely ordering her second book in this series Assaulted Pretzel.

     By the way, author Debbie Christiana recommended this book to me when I told her was fond of sweet romance novels. Thanks Debbie, I’m going to have to listen to you more often.

Here's is the blurb:

Claire Weatherly has fled her high-stress lifestyle for one with a slower pace--in Amish country: Heavenly, Pennsylvania. She only planned for it to be a short visit to her aunt's inn, but instead found herself opening an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and settling in for the long haul. Claire loves her new home, and she's slowly making friends among the locals, including Esther, a young Amish woman who works in the shop with her.

So when the former owner of the store, an unlikable man names Walter Snow, is murdered, and the man Esther is sweet on becomes a suspect, Claire can't help but get involved.

To catch a killer, newly returned Detective Jakob Fisher, who left Heavenly--and his Amish upbringing--as a teenager, is on the case. But his investigation is stalled by the fact that none of his former community will speak to him. Claire's connections make her the perfect go-between.

As Claire starts to dig into who else might have wanted Snow dead, she uncovers more than she wanted to know about her neighbors. And suddenly, everything she had hoped to find in this peaceful refuge is at risk...