Synopses & Reviews
When Stella Crown hires a new farmhand to help run her Pennsylvania dairy business, she gets more than she bargained for. The Mennonite widow arrives burdened not only with grief, but with rumors of infidelity and murder. And a young child. Stella herself is battling deep sorrow over the loss of her long-time friend and employee Howie and worries over her shaky finances. Before you know it, she is coping with an influx of nasty in-laws, heartbroken beaus, and spiteful vandalism. Determined to protect herself and her farm, Stella sets out to discover the truth while trying to give her new employee a respectful benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, Stella's good friend and fellow biker Lenny is riding a crisis. At one moment jovial, the next angry and suspicious, Lenny is haunted by pain and secrets he won't share with Stella. His odd behavior is soon complimented by bizarre attacks on his home and his business.
Now there are two people close to Stella with undisclosed pasts. And the saying, ""Three can keep a secret, if two are dead,"" suddenly gains new and terrible meaning.
Review
"Three can keep a secret, if two are dead..."
Review
Praise for Till the Cows Come Home
"Clemens' plotting is solid and unexpected, and all her characters the desperate farmers, their frustrated families, even the local biker fraternity, come quickly to life."
-- The Chicago Tribune
Review
If you haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting one of the most original figures in recent crime fiction--Stella Crown, 29-year-old Pennsylvania dairy farmer and dedicated biker--Judy Clemens' perfectly realized second book about her is a good place to start.
Stella is a lean, tall, tough woman who wears the tattoo of a cow's skull on the back of her neck. She manages the precarious business of being an independent dairy farmer with the help of loyal friends--bikers from her club, HOG (for Harley Owner's Group), as well as neighboring small landholders, many of them Mennonites with varying ideas of religious freedom. But every day seems to bring a new challenge, making her wonder if it's all worth it.
In "Till the Cows Come Home," her first outing, she survived threats to her milk supply (poisoned by a large company that wanted her farm) and a nearly fatal road accident that seriously damaged her body and bike.
Almost paralyzed with grief after the death of Howie, her longtime friend and hired hand, Stella takes on the troubled but extremely competent and hard-working Lucy Lapp--who arrives complete with an 8-year-old daughter, a changing story about how her husband died and a cloud of rumors spread by a radical Mennonite church in her hometown. Adding to Stella's confusion is the refusal of her biker friend Lenny to explain why his garage business is being attacked.
The elements of Stella's life, as diverse as they are, ring loud and true, thanks to Clemens' ear for what farmers and bikers sound like, especially when they're under pressure. Next time you pour yourself a glass of low-fat milk, think of Stella going from shoveling out a barn to having fun at a bikers' annual pig roast. & Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune, July 24, 2005.
Review
Judy Clemens returns with the second installment of her highly original series focused on Stella Crown. The first book, Till The Cows Come Home, earned an Agatha Award nomination.
In Three Can Keep A Secret (Poisoned Pen Press, 254 pages, $24.95), Crown hires a farmhand with a young daughter to help around her Pennsylvania/Mennonite-country dairy farm. Stella needs the assistance because she recently sustained some pretty brutal injuries pursuing one of her more colorful hobbies -- she spilled her Harley (Stella favors a 1988 Low Rider).
Stella is an interesting and engaging creation -- a motorcycle-riding dairy farmer boasting tattoos and an occasionally salty tongue. This isn't ""cozy"" country, by a long shot (""That Harley is all I have of a life outside this farm,"" Stella, who narrates, confesses, ""and most of my friends are bikers."")
Clemens, who lives in Ohio, also fronts her book with an interesting juxtaposition of epigrams: The first is dated 1755 and attributed to ""Thirteen Mennonite Ministers of Pennsylvania."" The second, which supplies the novel with its title, is the motto of the Hell's Angels: ""Three can keep a secret, if two are dead.""
Crown bonds quickly with Lucy Lapp and her young daughter, Tess, who is 8. But shortly after moving Lucy and Tess onto her property, some disturbing rumors begin to surface about the widow Lapp.
It seems some think that Lucy's husband's fatal fall may have resulted from a push. The true secret behind that plunge is one of the novel's startling, and most wrenching revelations.
Many mystery series or writers are easy to categorize or to group. Clemens, and Stella Crown, are unique, and the mix of bikes, violent death andthe respectfully rendered faith that centers many of the characters makes for a fresh and compelling mix. -- Craig McDonald, ThisWeek (August 4, 2005)
Review
I did not read Clemens' series opener, "Till the Cows Come Home," something I regret after enjoying "Secret." The book follows Pennsylvania dairy farmer
Stella Crown, who needs a new farmhand after the tragic death of Howie, her longtime employee and friend. She hires Lucy Lapp, a widow with a small
daughter, who shares Stella's affection for life on a dairy farm. Lucy knows her way around a cow, all right, but seems to attract a lot of negative
attention, including angry in-laws, someone spiteful enough to cover the barn with graffiti and a whole lot of questions about how her husband died.
For Stella, who wants to believe the best of her new employee, these problems are piled on top of a difficult life. For one thing, she is still
recovering from an accident that destroyed her beloved motorcycle. For another, Lenny, her friend and fellow biker, is behaving very strangely and
refuses to confide in anyone about what's troubling him. Then there's Stella's longtime friend Abe and his large Mennonite family. Abe's fondness for Stella appears to have romantic overtones. Indeed, something's not kosher (if you can use that expression about a Mennonite community) on the
farm. How Stella solves the problems makes for a delightful story, brimming with life and quirkiness and stocked with memorable characters. I may have
missed Volume 1, but I'll be on the lookout for Volume 3. --Roberta Alexander, Contra Costa Times (10/9/05)
Synopsis
When Stella Crown hires a new farmhand to help run her Pennsylvania dairy business, she gets more than she bargained for.
Her new helper is a Mennonite widow who arrives burdened not only with grief, but with rumors of infidelity and murder...and a young child. Before you know it, Stella, battling her own deep sorrow over the loss of her long-time friend and employee Hank as well as worries over her shaky finances, copes with an influx of nasty in-laws, heartbroken beaus, and spiteful vandalism. Determined to protect herself and her farm, Stella sets out to discover the truth while trying to give her new employee a respectful benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, Stella's good friend and fellow biker, Lenny, is riding a crisis. At one moment jovial, the next angry and suspicious, Lenny is haunted by pain and secrets he won't share with Stella. His bizarre behavior is soon complimented by vicious attacks on his home and his business.
About the Author
Judy Clemens was born and raised a Mennonite, and is still involved with the church. She lives in rural Ohio, where she is pleased to see women in leadership in every aspect of the community. Dairy farming is not a part of her daily life, for which she is grateful, since itA[a�a[s such a difficult job. She lives in an old farmhouse with her family, and their livestock consists of four housecats.