Murder, Plain and Simple: An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery by Isabella Alan

                I really do have a hard time resisting a new mystery series.  When I see one that interests me, I always figure, why not give it a shot?  The worst that happens is that if I don’t like it, I return the book to the library earlier than I had planned.  So far, lately, I haven’t found too many mystery series that I’ve tried that I don’t like.  This leads me to juggling a lot of different series at the same time.  Ah, well.  I can handle it.

                My most recent mystery series is the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries.  Angie Braddock has recently moved to Ohio from Texas because she has inherited her Aunt Eleanor’s Amish quilt shop.  Despite not being Amish herself (Angie is what the Amish would call English), Angie is excited for this business adventure.  She was very close to her aunt, and is heartbroken that she has died.  Angie is also heartbroken that her boyfriend of several years, and eventual fiancé, broke up with her, not long after Eleanor died.  That’s why it is perfect timing for Angie to learn she has inherited the quilt shop.  She can get out of town, away from the ex-fiancé, and to a place where she was loved.

                At least Angie thinks that is where she is going.  Yes, Angie’s aunt loved her dearly.  They even exchanged letters and Eleanor taught Angie to quilt as she was growing up.  The problem is, that while Eleanor loved Angie and wanted her to have the shop, the other Amish are not necessarily in agreement.  Some of them strongly believe that an Englisher should not own an Amish shop even though Angie has inherited it from an Amish person.  The person most vocal about this is Joseph Walker, the owner of the business right next door.  Not only is Joseph very free in voicing his disapproval of Angie’s ownership, he claims she does not have the right to own the shop at all because the building is his.

                Angie cannot believe that this is true.  Eleanor and her husband would have made sure to get the deed to the building years ago.  The problem is, no matter how hard Angie looks, she can’t find it.  Without the actual deed in her hands, Angie sees a legal fight in her future.  At least she does until she finds Joseph dead in her storeroom.  Then Angie’s main worry isn’t about finding that deed, it’s about staying out of jail. 

               Throughout this book, I felt so badly for Angie. All she was trying to do was keep her aunt’s hard work alive and people resented her for it. Immediately the ones against Angie owning the shop did not like her, despite not knowing her, and did their best to try and get Angie to leave town. It did not matter to them Angie’s explanations about why she was making the few changes she was. They wanted her out. Fortunately, this was not the case with everyone in the town. There were some, both Amish and English, who welcomed Angie warmly. Some of these people were Eleanor’s dear friends, while others Angie made on her own. In either case I was always happy to see Angie encounter someone who was warm and welcoming as she tried to settle into her new home. It made the changes Angie was making in her life much easier to deal with. Now, if only she weren’t a murder suspect.