The peaceful Amish community of Maplecreek is under attack from an unknown assailant -- and the main target is the children. Community leader Luke Brand is forced to seek the help of the outside world, against the town's wishes, and that help comes in the form of Kat Lindley, a policewoman from the big city. Together, Luke and Kat must fight the perpetrators...and the forbidden feelings that are growing between them.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
..".her deft juxtaposition of the cast of creepy characters and a small-town setting oozing Brady Bunch wholesomeness makes for a haunting read."
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Maplecreek, Ohio September 6, 2002
For someone who'll never shoot again," Kat Lindley muttered as she strode up the walk of the only new building this little town had evidently seen for years, "whatcha gonna do?"
Kat really wanted this interview to go well, even though it was for what her buddies in the CPD would call a "rubber gun job"—desk work. She could feel the cool morning breeze in the ache of her reconstructed hip and wrist as well as on her sweaty palms. Imagine, metal screws holding together bones in a woman her age. At least now she could sympathize with Morelli's early arthritis.
But Kat was relieved she'd never have to work the city streets again. The reality of little John Seyjack's murder at the hands of his berserk father and then Seyjack Senior's death during the ensuing SWAT team response had shaken her to her core, even though she had been unconscious during all that.
She wasn't sure she could face the unknowns of being a cop again. She'd been through hell this past year, almost bleeding to death, then a lengthy hospital stay, hip and wrist surgery, and walking on crutches, then a cane. Rehab had been grueling to regain her ADL's, activities of daily living, which did not include ever shooting a gun again. That was a necessity for an active duty cop, so her dream career was as fractured as her bones.
Kat had been through counseling, too, though she hardly needed a shrink to realize she blamed herself for causing the child's death. She knew it had ripped open her wound of festering guilt from losing her little brother years ago. But she still felt she was to blame for taking Jay away from their first foster home. The result was their separation when placed in their second homes. Jay had died of a burst appendix because his foster family believed in prayer more than in doctors. If she hadn't rebelled in the first foster home, however rough it was, they would have been together. She'd have gotten him help when he became sick. No psychiatrist could really help her, because she could never make up for it, never forgive herself for the deaths of Jay and John.
Two months ago, Kat had pulled herself out of her depression and had taken training to become a police dispatcher, though she'd probably die of boredom doing it. And it would be a real downer not to be on the streets anymore. Since she had no ties in Columbus beyond a few friends on the force, and she had less in common with them every day, she'd chosen a clean break with her past.
Last month she had moved here to northeast Ohio, which she'd always thought of as peaceful Amish country. She'd rented an upstairs apartment from a widow in the town of Pleasant, near Maplecreek, the county seat. At first she spent her time hitting the antique sales she'd always loved, carefully bargaining for pieces she could use or resell. But her nest egg had dwindled, so she'd applied for the job of the Roscoe County Sheriff's Police and Emergency Vehicle Dispatcher. If she didn't get it, she'd surely find something else to tide her over until she could get an antiques resale business going. That was her new goal in life.
"Katherine Anne Lindley, go get 'em," she whispered as she went in the double doors of the new civic center, which served as police station, volunteer fire department and mayor's office.
The current day dispatcher, a pregnant young woman who explained she was also filling in for the receptionist, who was at a dentist's appointment, greeted her warmly and took her right in to meet Sheriff Ray Martin in his large, glass-walled office.
"Katherine, real glad to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. He indicated a maple colonial chair and held it for her as if seating her at a table. The chair's padded cushion was covered in quilted calico with a ruffle.
"It's a real pleasure," he added as he sat in his own chair across his cluttered desk. The handsome wood console behind him held the expected fax machine, PC screen and keyboard, but also ceramic planters full of sprawling ivy and a slew of what must be his kids' photos.
"Please, call me Kat. I haven't been Katherine for years," she told him, returning his bright smile. The man and his office fit the area. Maplecreek's large farms, mostly Amish-owned, the gift shops, bed-and-breakfasts, "Dutch" restaurants, and small commercial ventures made a real stew-pot of past and present. The town could have been straight out of a Currier and Ives print, but for the continual onslaught of tourists who came to gawk, eat and buy, just as Kat often had.
Sheriff Martin was about fifty, five foot eleven, a sturdy-looking man with military-cut, silvering hair and the hint of an incipient potbelly, though he wore his crisp-looking brown and tan uniform well. His hazel eyes were alert and interested as he led her through initial small talk. Their conversation showed Kat he loved his job and his jurisdiction. His youngest son, Mark—the sheriff showed her a picture of himself with a plump, smiling wife and three kids—was currently quarterbacking the consolidated high school team, and they had a big game tonight. It was homecoming, so they were going to have fireworks at halftime.
Maplecreek was the place he had grown up in and returned to after military service, Ray Martin told her, putting her even more at ease by almost letting her interview him. He rocked slightly in his swivel chair as they chatted. She felt she could trust him, though she'd learned the hard way that she stunk at quick character assessments.
"Before we discuss the specific duties of this job," Sheriff Martin went on, "I just want us to be clear about your move here. It's a long-term thing, that right?"
"Yes, I've pulled up stakes in Columbus. And I don't want you to have any questions about all I've been through lately. After an incident went—" Her voice snagged and she took a deep breath. "After it went very bad last year, I was shot. I was investigated by Internal Affairs for the way I handled a situation. But I was cleared. Actually, the man who shot me had not only abused his son but robbed several banks in the Columbus suburbs."
He nodded. "Gotta admit I read all about you online, Kat. Besides the IA guys clearing you, I see you got a string of awards, American Legion of Valor, all that. Listen, I understand about needing life changes and that it can be tough to readjust. For years, Roscoe County had one sheriff. Like a king around here, Sheriff Barnes was—did things his own way, so folks come to expect business as usual from me. But we got us this new civic center, new leadership, new ways of doing things. This area's growing and changing, with even some residential developments creeping in. It looks real idyllic and peaceful here'bouts, but it's full of folks who don't always see eye-to-eye, which you'll learn soon enough working in this office."
"If you're offering me the job, Sheriff, I'm ready to accept."
"Good," he said, getting up to shake her hand again, as if that sealed it. "Tell you what. How about I let you meet the office staff and spend an hour or so with the day dispatcher today, 'cause she can explain what she does better'n me. If it's fine by you, you can start on Monday. I'm real shorthanded, and it'll be good to have a dispatcher who knows the ropes about enforcement, too, know what I mean?"
If she didn't know, Kat figured, in a town this tiny and an area this rural, she would soon.
"Eli," Luke Brand told his nine-year-old son in the low German dialect the Amish always used among themselves. "I told you to cut green branches for roasting those sausages."
"But Daad," the boy protested with a gap-toothed grin as he thrust his dried, burning stick over the flames among those of the older kids, "it gets done fast this way, and I like it crusty. The sticks I cut for Sarah and Melly were green, ja, see? For the marshmallows later I'll get me a new one."
Luke just shook his head. Little Eli always liked to turn his marshmallows into flaming torches, too. This Friday night bonfire, which drew so many of the Amish young people, was at the back lot line of the Brand farm this week, so Luke had volunteered to oversee it. Since he was a widower, the teenagers during their running-around period seemed to accept his watchful eye easier than they did that of someone with a fussing woman in tow. And the courting couples didn't mind if he brought his two kids and his brother Dan's nine-year-old daughter Melanie along. To keep out of their way as best he could, he took his sizzling sausage, thrust it into a bun smothered with onions, mustard and homemade cucumber dill pickles and went off to eat it near the edge of the cornfield where the boys had left their courting buggies.
It was a beautiful, moonlit autumn night, and Luke was glad to be doing something to keep from feeling lonely. In the five years since he'd been widowed, the nights were the hardest to get through. His family and friends had tried to pair him with some of the younger girls, since most Amish women his age were wed, but things just hadn't clicked for him, although he wasn't mourning Anna anymore.
He sighed and his shoulders slumped before he got hold of himself and remembered to stay grateful for his many blessings. The coming autumn was his favorite time of year, with warm, sunny days, cool nights, and the trees turning rich reds and golds. The vast cornfields that surrounded the farm would be ready for harvest soon, for the growing season was late this year. He could feel the first hints of crisp air clear down in his lungs when he inhaled.
But he admitted to himself that he'd like to share all that, take a walk in the woods with someone special. At least at night he was usually exhausted enough to sleep long and hard from all the work around the farm and his windmill shop.
Out here, away from big-city lights, as his brother Dan always said, the stars stood out like scattered diamonds, not that Luke, even at age thirty-two, had seen ... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Good!!,
By
This review is from: Dark Harvest (Maplecreek Amish Trilogy #2) (Mass Market Paperback)
I usually don't read "romantic mysteries" because they can be too much sweetness and not enough suspense. This book had plenty of suspense, which made me keep reading into the wee hours of the morning. I especially enjoyed reading about the Amish, as I have had several opportunities to visit places around the country where they live. I really enjoyed Kat Lindley, and I hope we find out more about her future life in the Amish community. If you liked this book, also read PLAIN TRUTH by Jodi Picoult. This is a mystery set in the Amish country of Pennsylvania.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
remind readers of the Ford-McGillis movie Witness,
This review is from: Dark Harvest (Maplecreek Amish Trilogy #2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Someone is attacking the vulnerable especially the young of the Amish community of Maplecreek. The people prefer to handle the problem without outside help, but the assaults are turning uglier and increasingly dangerous. Widower Luke Brand knows his community must turn to professional police for help.Former urban police officer Kat Lindley almost died in her last major action and the memory still haunts her because the kid she tried to help died. Still, she agrees to go undercover as Katie of the Amish betrothed to Luke of Maplecreek to find the culprit threatening the children. As she works closely with Luke, they fall in love, but both know a devout Amish person and an outsider could never forge a relationship that is if they even survive the deadly menace that threatens a peaceful town. This is an exciting romantic suspense that will in many ways remind readers of the Ford-McGillis movie Witness. The story line combines a dangerous foe willing to kill vs the romantic backdrop of two people from opposite cultures falling in love. Though the suspense is terse, it seems minor when compared to the relationship between the wonderful lead couple (at least it is not police corruption). Harriet Klausner
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of excitement...,
By Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dark Harvest (Maplecreek Amish Trilogy #2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Kat felt it her duty as a policewoman and as a person to investigate, obliquely, when she suspected a little boy was being abused. That cost her when the father shot her, making her shooting hand ineffectual.Months later, rehabilitation behind her, Kat starts a new life near Amish country. Someone is out to get these peaceful folk; pranks are becoming dangerous. Investigating will require Kat to become Katie, an Amish girl from another community there as betrothed to Luke, a handsome widower. As she delves into the community, a new world is opened to her. She also begins to feel things she never expected to for a man who is not part of her world. Things become dangerous, both for her heart and life. **** For a book set in a peaceful farm village, Dark Harvest has lots of excitement. In this cultural clash a sweet and thrilling romance is the result. ****(...)
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