Synopses & Reviews
As he goes about his milking chores on a cold October morning, Bishop Leon Shetler daydreams of escaping the Ohio winter and taking a bus to the Pinecraft Amish community in Florida for a vacation. His reverie is suddenly interrupted when young Crist Burkholder enters the barn, head down, hat in hand, to make a confession. I just killed Glenn Spiegle. An Amish murderer? Sheriff Robertson asks when he arrives on the scene. Who will believe that? But Burkholder is adamant about his guilt, fueled by the passion of his love for Vesta Miller, the young woman both he and Spiegle so desperately wanted to marry. No sooner does the sheriff start his investigation than he learns of two more murders in the Pinecraft community, and a startling connection is made. There's no way around it--Professor Mike Branden will have to put his research trip on hold and, along with detective Ricky Niell, travel south to investigate. There they discover the disturbing truth about Spiegle's conversion to the Amish faith and the reason for the long-smoldering hatred that has reached into the secluded pastoral valleys of Holmes County.
In Harmless as Doves, P. L. Gaus takes the action to Florida in one of the most exciting mysteries in the series. This is Gaus at his best.
Review
“Spellbinding.” -Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Book 7 of the Amish-Country Mysteries "A sensitive account of the impact on this community when outsiders (that is, the cops) descend to deal with an Amish youth who has confessed to the murder of his fiancée's older, richer, and very persistent admirer.” The New York Times Book Review
The chill of autumn is just settling into Holmes County, Ohio, when Bishop Leon Shetler is startled out of his morning reverie by the words, I just killed Glenn Spiegle.” No oneleast of all Sherriff Bruce Robertsonbelieves that Crist Burkholder could actually be a murderer. But the young Amish man is adamant that he killed his romantic rival in order to win Vesta Miller. So when Robertsons investigation reveals two potentially related murders in Floridas Pinecraft Amish community, Professor Mike Branden and detective Ricky Niell head south to unravel the connection between the dead man and a far-flung Amish outpost on the shores of Sarasota Bay
Praise for P. L. Gaus and his Amish-Country mysteries:
Gaus spins a fine mystery.” Booklist
Tony Hillerman of the Amish.” The Christian Science Monitor
About the Author
Paul L. Gaus was born and raised in Ohio, and has lived with his wife, Madonna, in Wooster, Ohio, for over thirty years.