Blood of the Prodigal
An Amish Country Mystery, No 1
P L Gaus

Plume
September 28th, 2010 / 0452296463
Mystery
Amazon

Reviewed by Susan Johnson

Professor Michael Braden and his dear friend Pastor Caleb Troyer are prepared to enjoy a summer reminiscent of their childhood days growing up in the small town of Millersburg, Pennsylvania. Millersburg is in Holmes County, Ohio, home to the largest settlement of the Amish and Mennonite peoples in the world.

Michael and Caleb are friendly with the Amish and trusted by them, something that is not always easy as the Amish keep well to themselves.

The trouble starts when Bishop Miller, a local leader asks for their help in locating his ten-year-old grandson. Bishop Miller has been raising the boy since his father, Jonah was banned many years before.

Bishop Miller’s son Jonah is soon found dead, dressed in the Amish clothes that he has been forbidden from wearing since his grand Rumschpringe led him to a decade of drugs and whiskey and keeping company with people his family would never approve of. His ten-year-old son is still missing.

After the murder is discovered Braden and Troyer must work with the local sheriff to solve the boy’s disappearance but they soon discover that not everyone is being truthful and there are secrets that have been hidden for many years.

Gaus well describes and depicts both the area and the Amish people as he has lived in the area and studied and befriended the people for many years.

As a reader I love the Amish culture and read anything I can that refers to them. PL Gaus shows the people in a humanized light that makes the book very hard to put down. I will gladly go in search of the other books in this series.

Reviews of other titles in series

Broken English, No 2 [review]
Clouds without Rain, No3 [review]