Murder, Handcrafted: An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery by Isabella Alan

                  I have reached yet another end of a series so far.  With having finished so many series so fast, I’m starting to think I should slow down.  But what fun would that be?  Plus, finishing one series gives me the chance to concentrate on another.  Not that I don’t do that anyways.  Finishing this one will just make it much easier.

                Now that her parents have moved to town and are remodeling their home, life has certainly become more of an adventure for Angie Braddock.  Not that she didn’t have adventures before with her Amish quilt shop and all the murders she solves.  One adventure Angie really didn’t need, however, was a call from her mother letting Angie know her father has injured himself and needs to be taken to the hospital.  Not only does this turn of events cause Angie to worry about her father, but it also leaves her parents’ kitchen in disrepair.  A remodeling job her father had planned on doing himself, Angie knows she has to find someone to help her father until he gets back on his feet. 

                This is where Jonah comes in.  Angie’s childhood friend, Jonah is happy to take on the remodeling task.  At least he is until Jonah discovers the electrician is the exact same man he blames for his cousin’s death.  With this in the electrician’s past, it’s not surprising that when he is found dead the main suspect is Angie’s dear friend Jonah.  Of course, Angie does not believe for a second that Jonah could ever be a killer.  She knows him too well, and killing someone is not something Jonah would do.  Unfortunately, Jonah insists on holding something back from everyone, including Angie, making him look more suspicious.  Without this bit of information that Angie feels could exonerate Jonah, Angie struggles to prove his innocence.  She still does whatever she can to help him, but she can’t shake the feeling that if Jonah would simply open up and tell her what he’s not saying, Angie could get Jonah off the police’s suspect list that much faster.

                What I found so interesting about this book was how many people told Angie to stay out of the case.  There’s always one or two (Sherriff Mitchell, especially), but this time it seemed that no matter where Angie turned, someone was telling her to stay out of things.  It did not matter that she was trying to save a friend; everyone wanted her to keep out.  I’m not sure why they were doing this.  Some may have done it out of caring for Angie’s wellbeing, while others were probably sick of Angie asking questions.  Then there are those that might be tired of the small bit of glory Angie gets after solving these cases.  No matter what the reason, it was odd to see so many people against her.  But then they were also completely against even the merest mention of a Bigfoot sighting, so maybe they were all just feeling cranky.  With their usually quiet town suddenly swarmed with people looking for Bigfoot, I can see why they might be.  Even those who believed in Bigfoot would probably get tired of their town being invaded after awhile.