In a town where Amish and Englisch mingle every day, a grisly murder leads to mutual suspicion. Can Amber and Hannah find the killer before fear unravels the community… and before he strikes again?
Even before she heard of Owen Esch’s death, Hannah Troyer knew something was amiss at The Cat’s Meow yarn shop. The store has been closing at odd times, the ever-dependable Mary isn’t always at her … isn’t always at her post… and an Englisch man has been loitering around back.
Now, as leaves of brown, gold, and orange blanket Middlebury, Indiana, Owen lies dead on the Pumpkinvine Trail. The only clues to the murderer’s identity point in two very different directions — one of them leading right to The Cat’s Meow.
The police call in a federal investigator, but Hannah and village manager Amber Bowman are in no mood to wait for them to figure out what they already know — that no one from the Amish Village killed Owen Esch.
Amber and Hannah need to work quickly to solve the murder mystery and bring harmony back to the Amish community.
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I just have to pause for a moment before I jump into this book because. . .this was my 50th book of the year! I’m almost halfway through my Goodreads reading goal and it’s still April, not for much longer but still for just now. It’s yet another milestone of the year, and I get to share it with Vannetta! OK, enough about me, let’s talk about this book. The second book in the Amish Village Mysteries series ‘Murder Tightly Knit’ builds on the community and characters from ‘Murder Simply Brewed’. It’s been a couple months (for them and me!) and Hannah and Jesse are now more serious in their relationship while Amber and Tate are living their happily ever after. And yet again, someone ends up dead under mysterious circumstances.
Here’s what sorta bugged me. I get that murder in their community isn’t a thing that normally happens but they are still worrying and wondering over the death of Ethan (I mean I get it, the barista is vital to life sustainment – is so a word red squiggly lines of hate, it is! – but still) and it still clouds and winds its way into their everyday worries. Another thing, Amber and Hannah have been down this road before, the need to solve a crime aside from law enforcement because they don’t feel heard. However, they come across as these wishy-washy nervous Nelly’s half the time and too big and bold for their britches the other half. I feel like they were jumping in both feet and then when their brains caught up they realized their folly.
Guess what? I don’t really care about that whole paragraph above, and let me tell ya why. First, while yes this story is not quite so ‘tightly knit’ with meandering thoughts and story-lines and potential killers and even characters it still builds a world that was engaging. It was interesting see the different sides and takes on the idea of prepping (from the church group to Shaw who saw all preppers – including the entire Amish way of life – as anti government or individuals who were setting up the government to fail). It was refreshing to have an Amish character who was not your typical squeaky clean and wholesome and well balanced as is usually portrayed in fiction. This resonated with me because Amish is a faith, it’s a culture and a way of life but it’s also all about people. People who are *gasp* human with all the foibles and quirks and even mental health issues that goes with humanness and the base of human nature. I also loved seeing relationships (friendships and more than friendships) grow and develop. I can’t wait to get into the next (and sadly final) book in this series!
I enjoyed the story line because it kept me reading to find out what would happen next. Yes, I was surprised by the ending and the character that was guilty.
This is a fun read! If you’re like me and love a good clean, cozy mystery—you’re going to love this fun series by Vannetta Chapman.
If you happen to read my blog, you’d see that I’m a big Nancy Drew fan. The reason I love this series so far is that it has a similar feel. In Murder Tightly Knit, Amber (a 40-some-year-old woman) and one of her employees (a young Amish woman) find themselves solving another murder.
Here’s the thing about cozy mysteries. They’re not always realistic. You have to just go with it. Let loose and let yourself enjoy the companionship, the conversations over coffee and cake. And you just have to accept that two women without any police training happen to solve a murder.
This book is just fun. I have no complaints at all. I did notice a few descriptions of people in the story that seemed slightly stereotypical. An example would be a woman putting on pounds after she married. Then there was an African-American woman wearing safari animals on her clothing. She also mentioned fried chicken at one point. And you know, I think the author was going for a Texas reference but it made me go, “hmm,” for half a second. These things pulled my focus momentarily but it didn’t keep me from the story. I was having too much fun with the characters to sit and ponder it.
One of my favorite parts about this book is the random chapters from the killer’s point of view. I just find that so interesting to hear how he could justify what he had done.
If you’re a fan of Amish and cozy mysteries then you should definitely pick up this series by Vannetta Chapman.
I couldn’t get into this book…too many characters, too much background stuff. I finally gave up reading it.
Pretty good mystery
A different Amish type book. The Author makes you feel sympathy for the Amish and their sorrows.
I enjoyed the twists in the story
This is a well-written, page-turner, solving the murder of a popular Amish man in an this Indiana community. When the women working in the yarn shop and managing the Amish Yarns start putting together clues, danger lurks at every corner…. A good read!
Great story