From Publishers Weekly
In the Old Order Amish communities of Ohio's Holmes County, it is rare for one of the self-styled "plain" people to seek aid from an outsider, one of "the English." But Bishop Eli Miller needs help and goes for it to a local academic, Michael Brandon. Years before, Miller had exiled his son Jonah for his wild ways. Now Jonah has snatched his own son, Jeremiah, who has been living with the bishop. In a note to his father, Jonah sends assurances that the boy will be returned by harvest time. Concern about Jeremiah's exposure to the outside world prompts the bishop to ask Brandon to locate the boy. And Brandon, too, is worried: Jeff HostettlerAwhose sister, Jeremiah's mother, committed suicideAhas vowed to kill Jonah on sight. When Jonah is discovered shot dead, dressed in traditional Amish garb and apparently on his way back in repentance to the bishop's home, Hostettler becomes the prime suspect. But where is Jeremiah? Gaus brings a refreshing authenticity to his unusual setting and characters. There are no wisecracking gumshoes here, but instead believable characters whose faith is explored with respect. Anyone who enjoyed the film Witness should take to this fine mystery debut. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
YA-With an unusual setting and a quiet tone, this mystery carries readers into the world of the Ohio Amish, where a bishop's grandson, Jeremiah, has disappeared. The boy had been living with the bishop and his family since his father was banished from the community 10 years earlier, just before Jeremiah's illegitimate birth to a local drug-addicted teenager. The bishop calls upon a local "English" (non-Amish) college professor to locate the boy, as he has reason to believe that Jeremiah is with his missing father for the summer. Eventually Jeremiah's father is found, shot to death, not far from the bishop's farm, but Jeremiah himself has not turned up. Thus the matter becomes public and involves the sheriff and his deputy, who work with the professor to solve the murder and find the boy. This thoughtful book contrasts the Old Order Amish way of life with that of modern America, and provides a refreshing look at a cast of small-town people who do their jobs capably as a matter of course and make their own moral choices.
Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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