Cheryl Cooper and Levi Miller have painstakingly planned a special “Live Like the Amish” weekend for a group of senior citizens. The Miller family farm will serve as the perfect backdrop for the event, and they plan to give their guests an inside look at all things Amish– from buggies to fry pies and everything in between. It promises to be a relaxing time for all… until a pop star in disguise … disguise shows up and one of the grannies turns out to be a fugitive. And when the entire busload of people disappears before it reaches its destination, Cheryl realizes there’s more to being a tour operator than she bargained for. She and her friends scramble to locate the missing bus but are met with roadblocks at every turn. Can they figure out who is behind the vanishing vehicle before it’s too late? Or has it gone so far off the beaten path that it will never be found?
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In off the Beaten Path an entire tour bus load of people disappear while in route to the Miller farm. Cheryl Cooper, Levi Miller and his step mother Ruth Miller had organised a Live Like the Amish weekend tour trip, on the Internet. All had gone as planned and the bus of weekend guest had been to The Swiss Miss gift shop and other places of interest and where on their way to the Miller farm but never reached their destination. A search of the area found no results of the missing tour bus. What could have happened to the bus load of people? Where they kidnapped? Where they in danger.
I thought the book started out really good but further on into it, it just didn’t seem to keep my interest like other books in this series have done. The Sugar Creek Amish Mysteries is one of my favorite Guideposts series, but this time I was somewhat disappointed. I wasn’t overly impressed with the ending either. All pieces came together to complete the story with a small amount of excitement but just the motives behind the things that happened where not very realistic . I realize this is fiction but we want it to be somewhat realistic too. There was two or three different things happening in this story besides the bus disappearing. The whole thing was a bit of a let down for this reader.
This is cosy mystery in the Amish genre. It’s Christian Fiction and clean read.
I purchased a Kindle e-book copy of this book from Amazon. A favorable review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.
I took another stroll through Sugarcreek to see what Cheryl and the Millers were up to. Another mystery, of course!
What I enjoyed about “Off the Beaten Path”:
The characters – I do like Cheryl and the fact that she has struggles and insecurities. The Millers are also so charming and endearing.
It was definitely a mystery – I figured out a few little details earlier on in the book, but after that I was somewhat perplexed. I will admit that it wasn’t until the detail revealed at the market that I put the bus mystery to rest. I had no clue how the two secondary mysteries added up until the book explained them to me.
The little lessons and references to faith – These are always welcome qualities I love about this series and this one was no exception.
What I didn’t care for as much:
The tone – One of the features of that draws me to this series is the typically lighthearted nature of this series. The mysteries haven’t involved deaths, but “lighter” investigations. This one felt a little more sinister than the previous installments. That was a little disappointing.
There was a lot going on – Three separate mysteries happening in this one. That was a little complicated. It was difficult to keep track of everything.
The pace – There were long stretches where the story just seemed to get stuck in a rut and stall. It would eventually jumpstart again, but with three mysteries going on, you’d think at least one of them would be progressing all the time. (You’d be wrong.)
The outcome – ***SPOILER ALERT – SKIP TO NEXT SECTION TO AVOID*** I just wasn’t sold on how the bus ended up on Velma’s farm and Mickey’s involvement. The part with Roy’s grandmother, the lipstick drive, and the two goons from a campaign came from so far out of left field that I felt like someone had tripped and accidentally planted a second book inside the first. It just made so little sense!
The thing with this series is the books are written by various authors, therefore there will be subtle shifts in the storytelling. This was the first book in the series by this particular author and perhaps her style just isn’t my favorite. It won’t prevent me from continuing with the series, but I’m not sure I will be looking forward to future visits written by this author as much. Time will tell. As for reviews I read filled with skepticism at how unrealistic it was for Lacey to be both an actress and a pop star, I point you in the direction of such folks as John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, and Mandy Moore. Not that impossible!