Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery (The Amish-Country Mysteries) [Paperback]

P. L. Gaus (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Amish-Country Mysteries | Publication Date: July 8, 2008

Separate from the Worldis a story of a rift between two Amish factions, one that favors the use of medicine and that participates in a college study of genetic traits particular to the Amish community, and the other that rejects any outside influence. Once more, P. L. Gaus takes us inside a separate culture and, in a manner both gentle and grim, highlights the complex relationship of the Amish and the “English” as they live inside or outside each other's orbits.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Gaus's excellent sixth Ohio Amish mystery (after 2006's A Prayer for the Night), Enos Erb, an Amish farmer, makes an unusual request of Michael Branden, burned-out history professor and amateur sleuth, given that the Amish practice nonviolence and have no use for the justice system of the outside English world. Erb wants the professor's help finding his brother's murderer. People's unwillingness to confront evil hampers Branden's investigation, which gets interrupted by the apparent suicide of a coed, campus unrest and the kidnapping of an Amish child. Between helping Pastor Cal Troyer cope with a personal crisis and keeping Sheriff Bruce Robertson from blundering impulsively, Brandon realizes that a clever, murderous sociopath is exploiting the preconceptions of Amish and English. While Gaus may not be an elegant stylist, a convincing plot and credible, sympathetic characters make another winner in this fine regional series. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Professor Michael Branden is tired after 30 years of teaching. The school year is ending, and, as he grades final exams, he wonders whether it is time to retire. An unexpected visit from an Amish man, who claims that his brother was murdered, ends the reverie. Both the man and his brother are dwarfs, a common genetic disorder among the Amish. As they discuss the strange case, a commotion outside interrupts them. It seems that a young woman has committed suicide by jumping from the campus bell tower. Professor Branden—Cast a Blue Shadow (2003), Clouds without Rain (2001)—teams up with his colleagues, Sheriff Bruce Robertson and Pastor Cal Troyer, to find out what really happened. The latest in this too-little-known series again combines a fascinating, realistic look at an Amish community in Ohio with a gently satiric take on academic life. --Barbara Bibel --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Ohio University Press; 1 edition (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821418157
• ISBN-13: 978-0821418154
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #398,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Ohio Amish mystery, September 10, 2008

By 

Ronald Eggleston (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery (The Amish-Country Mysteries) (Paperback)

[[ASIN:0821418157 Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery
This is the sixth book in a series by Gaus. It reminds me of the Hillerman books about SW Native Americans, in that a good story is used to convey understanding about various aspects of a different element (in this case Amish) of American culture. Most of the books in the series are quite good, although the second, Broken English, dove too deeply into technical aspects of weaponry and destroyed the focus on the human element. Separate from the World cleverly shows the conflicts within the Amish community over dealing with science and the "English" (the non-Amish).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasic, November 23, 2008

By 

Pat Graybeal "NanaPat" (Abingdon Va) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery (The Amish-Country Mysteries) (Paperback)

All amish books are fantasic I wish I could find more books to read . I have read every Amish fiction out The Time Cavern (The Time Cavern Series)

4.0 out of 5 stars As cosy as Agatha Christie, March 1, 2011

By 

Mark P. Sadler "Reviewed by Mark P Sadler" (Tucson AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery (The Amish-Country Mysteries) (Hardcover)

If you switched Agatha Christie over a century and placed her in the middle of Amish country you would have "Separate from the World", it is that type of a cozy.
Here you have Professor Michael Branden, teacher at a small town college and a native of the area, who has been best friends with the local sheriff, Bruce Robertson, since grade school. Along with another grade school buddy, Caleb Troyer, the local pastor, the trio becomes this group of investigators in a series of books that Gaus gives us, solving mysteries that involve the complexity of the Amish.
In "Separate from the World", we meet the Erb family, and it's descendants, that through apparent cross breeding with the families, has developed an unusual number of dwarf's in the gene pool. The study of the genetics, blood studies and inbreeding becomes a study subject for a number of the students at neighboring at Millersburg College, and surprisingly the Erb family provides them with family history until the split in the Amish way of life is discovered and the elder forbids any further discussion with the students.
At the same time an apparent suicide of a female student opens an investigation into improprieties from another professor which opens the lead for Gaus to link her death with the controversial genetics study into the Erb family. He leads us a circuitous route, unraveling clues until the very last moment, leading to a very satisfying ending.
Separate from the World: An Ohio Amish Mystery (The Amish-Country Mysteries)