Customer Reviews

Cast a Blue Shadow (Ohio Amish Mystery Series #4)

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This book is sub-titled An Ohio Amish Mystery and is set amid the rolling hills of Holmes County, Ohio. Holmes County and vicinity hosts the largest Amish settlement in the world and Paul L. Gaus knows this area well.

Michael Brandon, the main character in this and Gaus's other books, takes on the academic community in his fictional Millersburg College. Along with Brandon are other familiar characters from Gaus's previous book, notably Pastor Calvin Troyer and Sheriff Bruce Robertson as well as an expanded role for Brandon's wife Carolyn.

A rich Holmes County widow has died after a meeting with members of Millersburg College faculty in which she had announced her intention to change the way she donated money to the college. It appears to be murder and motives abound. Brandon is invited to join the investigation because he is familiar with the principals involved as well as being a lifelong friend of Sheriff Robertson.

The author has learned to put together a good story in which he brings all the pieces together just right. Gaus is not an unabashed cheerleader for the Amish, idealizing their lives, but portrays real people with their own peculiar problems. In fact, it is possible to read this book without really thinking of the Amish as a group. This is a good mystery that keeps you wanting to come back for more.

I have to say I love his Books. The one complaint I have here is with the lack of Autumn lol. We need a Novel set in the Fall.
But aside from that it was great. I would also like to see the character of Sonny Favor developed in a future book. Perhaps a contrast of Martha Lehams future life to that of Sonny's..

The murder of a multimillionaire in her own home has the quiet county of Holmes stirred up. Being mostly Amish, there is little to no crime in the area, but when it happens the crime is BIG. The problem the police have in solving this case is it seems EVERYONE has a motive to murder Juliet Favor! She is a decidedly wicked woman with a vengeful streak and she has no problem telling people what she thinks of them, from her daughter to the president of the University....or cutting the funds her late husband endowed on Millersburg College and their children.
Martha Lehman is a troubled young lady with a terrible past and even she doesn't understand everything that has happened to her. Silent for years in her youth after this tragedy, Favor's murder, she goes back to the trusted silence for protection again. Mike Braden is a professor at the college who is aiding the police and a friend of Martha. He is helping interview possible suspects when he gets a call that Martha has been found with blood all over her!
The Amish community has never brought peace to Martha, so her friends get defensive when an old neighbor shows up to help Martha. She is either guilty of murder, covering up for someone or too traumatized to speak, but everything in the case hinges on Martha, and her silence is screaming.
With a masterful story telling ability, Gaus has you turning the pages of this book as quickly as you can to determine `who done it' and how they did! You don't want to miss this installment of his Amish-Country Mystery Series!
Reviewed by Ashley Wintters for Suspense Magazine

This is an Ohio Amish Mystery, It is a good read, and suitable for any age.

Cast a Blue Shadow is so strikingly different from Gaus' previous books that one wonders whether he had a midlife crisis when he wrote it. I had to struggle to finish it. I had purchased it for a library of a private group, but after reading it, could not donate it to such a group. I had blithely ordered all 6 of his series after reading the first book, and that was a mistake. The subject matter and language in this book did not fit with the pattern of the previous books.