P. L. GausCritiques

Unlike other books in this series, this one is a continuation of the former installment. One needs to read the earlier book to understand what is going on in this one. Professor Mike Brandon's sabbatical is nearly over, and it's been a few months since the action in Florida. Fannie Helmuth is still missing, and Sheriff Robertson questions his effectiveness as sheriff since he's unable to locate her. Howie Dent, the young man with whom she fled, is found tortured to death. Sheriff Robertson begins to suspect Fannie's friend who seemed to be a victim of the drugs in the suitcases scheme might actually be working with the cartel. The detectives learn the couple sent messages back home through the pages of the Budget via scribes in various communities and are able to track down Fannie. With the FBI involved, can Fannie remain safe from the cartel? Although Professor Brandon seemed a bit more involved in this investigation than in the previous book, I miss the precedence set by the older books in the series. It seems the departure from the established normal transpired when the books ceased to be published by Ohio University Press. While I still enjoy the series, I prefer the older books to the "noir" genre of the latest installments.½

As someone who enjoyed the first seven books in this series, this new installment with a new publisher disappointed me. In previous installments, Professor Michael Brandon was the main character/sleuth. Brandon is nowhere around for the first 2/3 of the book. When he does show up, he's conveniently in Florida with his wife when Ricky Neill needs to come down and will need help. The sheriff's department became central, and I felt the time was split between Sheriff Robertson and Ricky Neill. An Amish girl's brutal murder sparks an investigation which shows she unknowingly carried drugs from Florida back to Holmes County in an extra suitcase she was not to open. Other Amish girls who recently visited Pinecraft as well as other evidence help them identify suspects. Holmes County officials work with Florida officials and the DEA to bring resolution. However, the resolution is perhaps the weakest part of this installment. While I enjoy the characters of Sheriff Robertson and Ricky Neill, I want Professor Brandon back in a central role in future installments.

In the wooded Amish hill country, a professor at a small college, a local pastor, and the county sheriff are the only ones among the mainstream, or "English," who possess the instincts and skills to work the cases that impact all county residents, no matter their code of conduct or religious creed.

When an Amish boy is kidnapped, a bishop, fearful for the safety of his followers, plunges three outsiders into the traditionally closed society of the "Plain Ones."

I have read many many Amish books and I just had a hard time with this one. You don't have an opportunity to even guess at who may have "done it" as the ending came out of left field.

This long-awaited tenth book of the series does not disappoint, and was worth the wait. Professor Michael Branden has a promising yet obviously troubled student. He offers assistance, but before they can connect, Lydia is dead. And quickly after that discovery, another suspicious death occurs. In trying to ascertain whether these deaths were accidental, murder, or suicide, Mike slowly unravels the secrecy surrounding the Amish Schwartzentruber community. This very Old Amish Order eschews all modern and worldly things and ideas. Lydia left that community willingly, but then her sister Mary disappears with her baby, leaving behind several older children in the care of her husband, John. But John is so severely clinically depressed that he can no longer function and is suicidal. Author P L Gaus writes a gripping story of good intentions gone wrong. A neighbor and a couple of religious zealots try to persuade Mary, now at her wit’s end with her husband, to leave. But there is no clear plan for Mary, and they offer no hope for John. It takes the old trio of friends, Mike, the sheriff, and their pastor as well as several others to finally trace down the clues to solve the disappearance. Reading about this Amish sect and their unrelenting disdain for the English and for English ways was fascinating. So many people cared deeply, but some were misguided in their fervor and caused much trouble. The meticulous way in which Professor Branden first examines the problems he encounters and then endeavors to help those who so desperately need saving, even persuading the Schwartzentrubers’ bishop to accept the help English medicines can offer, makes for some riveting reading.

As the widow of a revered Millersburg College alumnus and one of the school's biggest donors, Juliet Favor has immense wealth that empowers her acquisition of whatever, and whomever, she wants. So when Juliet is murdered the night before she is slated to sign a new will--one that would prove unfavorable to both the college and her two children, Sonny and Sally--Sheriff Bruce Robertson faces no shortage of suspects. Professor Michael Branden and Pastor Caleb Troyer fear that Martha Lehman, Sonny's Mennonite girlfriend, holds the key.

The idea of the story was interesting but was written in a way that there wasn’t much impact or suspense. I also never really cared about the characters. I think there needed to be a little more development of the story to draw me in. Overall, just a so-so read.

I have loved this series from the beginning. The author is respectful in describing the Amish, and has created characters that live beyond the pages of the books. This book deals with a delicate topic within the communities around the Amish, and does so in a way that I think is honest, open, and critical of both sides. Rarely does fiction dig into real life situations like this story does. I have again been impressed by the author.

Little mystery set in Amish Country, a little too slow. It's not bad, just not compelling. May pick it up again at another time.

I love this series, especially the audiobooks read by George Newbern. In this installment a young Amish couple plans to elope to spare the girl from an undesirable marriage her father wishes to arrange. Before they can do so, Crist packs a punch that sends the other man to the ground. He assumes the man is dead and goes to his bishop to confess. The police are called. He confesses. In their haste, the sheriff's office fails to read him his Miranda rights. The girl's authoritative father soon takes off to Florida, disregarding everything his bishop tells him. Much of the early action in the book centers on Pastor Cal Troyer. Professor Branden is on sabbatical, researching at Duke University's Library. When Holmes County needs to send deputies to Florida, Branden, a reserve deputy, is sent to join Ricky Neal in the Sarasota area. While I don't know a great deal about the Pinecrest Amish Settlement in Florida, Gaus seems to have done his research because it concurs with what my quick search through sources tells me about it. One story line regarding Branden's wife carries over from the previous installment, so it is suggested readers follow the publication order. This "remorse" theme carries through the story and comes from the book's Bible verse derived title's interpretation. Setting part of the story outside Holmes County added some variety to the series. I look forward to the next installment.

It's final exam time and spring commencement time at Millersburg College. Professor Michael Brandon feels burnout when it comes to grading and debates retirement. An Amish dwarf comes to his office to ask him to investigate the death of his brother which was ruled accidental but can only be murder. During his visit, a young woman falls from the college's bell tower. Professor Brandon recognizes her as one of his students. The young man with her is also one of his students. Did she jump or was she pushed? The seemingly unrelated threads merge together for a suspenseful conclusion. The perpetrator in the Amish case, worsening as more adversity strikes the Erb family, is clever, leaving little evidence other than a psychological profile. This is a strong installment in the series. I listened to the audio version read by George Newbern who always does a great job with this series.

It's a rumspringa gone awry. A group of nine Amish youth become involved in drugs to the point one is murdered, apparently by a drug dealer. Another is injured. One of the girls seeks help from pastor Cal Troyer and reserve sheriff deputy Professor Michael Branden. Sheriff Robertson finds himself at odds with DEA on how to handle the case when the girl is kidnapped by the dealers. Jeremiah Miller, whom we met in an earlier installment, is in this installment. Will the youth renounce their Amish faith or return once their rumspringa is up? Will they even be alive to make the choice? Will marriage follow for the girls? I don't want to give away too much. I stumbled upon the audio version of this series a couple of installments back. I really enjoy George Newbern's narration of the series. It is published by a mainstream publisher, but it would still be appreciated by those enjoying Christian fiction. This installment is probably a bit "preachier" than some of the others as both Pastor Cal Troyer and the Amish bishop offer advice to the young people.

Martha Lehman, a former Amish and now Mennonite woman, had a troubled childhood which caused her to stop speaking for a number of years. Now something has triggered a reaction that has suppressed her speech once again. She shows up at the steps of her counselor with blood on her apron and body. In the meantime, part-time sheriff's deputy and professor at Millersburg College Michael Brandon is called to investigate the death of Juliet Favor, a woman with deep pockets who was about to change her will, giving motives to a multitude of persons. Martha was dating the son of the woman and had been at the home the previous night as had most of the woman's family members and department heads and administrators of the college. Brandon and others do not believe Martha capable of murder but believe she is covering up for someone. The conclusion itself is fairly predictable based on the hints dropped. However, it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours. I personally believe the author was preaching the superiority of Mennonite faith to Amish faith. As a Christian, I do believe in salvation by grace through faith as the author portrayed the Mennonites. However, I'm not sure what the author's point was in bringing up the perceived reliance on good works in Amish doctrine. The material would have been more appropriate in an appendix than in the story as it was irrelevant to the plot. I listened to the audio book read by George Newbern who did a good job as he had in earlier installments.½

Something is happening to Gaus' novels; and it's not necessarily good.
The detailed trivia has overcome the mystery in the last two books. The sheriff and his department are much more prominant than previously important characters.
I have read the entire series and find that they are becoming less and less enjoyable...½

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.

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.

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.

The scene of the accident was a mess, an Amish horse and buggy hit by a jack-knifed semi, with several other vehicles involved. The Holmes county sheriff was badly burned while attempting to rescue the driver of a car. Questions remain as to why the horse appeared to falter while turning into the driveway of the farm.

Separately, Professor Mike Branden has been acting as a decoy to catch the goat-masked men who have been robbing some of the Amish farmers as they are driving around in their buggies. And his friend, Pastor Cal Troyer, has been lending a ear to the new Amish bishop who wants to get his people back into stricter adherence to the Ordnung, the unwritten rules and regulations that guide Amish life.

While I enjoyed this book, I will say that I liked the two previous books by the author better. Following the thread of the plot was a bit more confusing. However, it has not stopped me from ordering the fourth book in the series from my library.

Professor Michael Branden, who works on the side with the sheriff's department, is trying to catch a couple of Amish youth who are robbing Amish buggies while wearing masks. As he is returning the borrowed buggy, he hears a call to the scene of an accident involving a truck and a buggy. The accident leaves more questions than answers, including the question of whether it could have been murder. Real estate developers have been less than honest in their dealings with many Amish and will soon foreclose on a number of Amish farms. A new bishop is concerned about the effects on his flock. All the angles of the story work together to create a satisfying read (or listen). The audio version is narrated by George Newbern who does a commendable job.

Whiskers of the Lion is the first book I have read by PL Gaus. I enjoyed this mystery book and was drawn in by the characters and the way the story unfolded. Each chapter is part of a time-line of events leading up to the conclusion of this mystery story. The characters were interesting and real and it was refreshing to read a mystery taking place in Amish country. I enjoyed the book enough that I plan to find the first book in the series in order to get more information and background on the characters. I didn't, however, find it difficult to read this book without reading the first. My thanks to the Library Thing Early Reviewers program for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. I probably would not have picked it up otherwise.

I won this book on Librarything and did not realize that it was book 2 in the series. I started to read the book and felt that I was missing information. I must admit I only got through half of the book before I gave up. I may pick up the first book and read. Maybe I'll like the series when I start at the beginning.

Whiskers of the Lion is a sequel to the previous book in this series, The Names of Our Tears, in which Amish woman Ruth Zook was murdered after unknowingly carrying drugs home from Florida in her suitcase. In this volume, Fannie Helmuth, a friend of Zook's, is trying to avoid members of the drug cartel so that she can hang onto her life. Her lifelong friend, Englisher Howie Dent, meets his end in a gruesome murder/torture scene in an empty Amish farmhouse. Sheriff Bruce Robertson, makes up his mind to do all that he can to protect Fannie and at the same time catch the criminals. It is not necessary to read the previous book in the series in order to enjoy this one. Gaus uses enough flashbacks that the reader can easily enough figure out what has gone on previously. As usual, the book is well-written and gives the reader the perspective of English people who deal with Amish ones on a daily basis. As opposed to "Christian" Amish books, these are what this reader would call "Hard-Boiled Amish".

This book is different from other Amish stories, because it is a mystery instead of a love story. I enjoyed it and will definitely read it again after I read the first one in the set.
Thank you.

Set in Ohio, this book is part of the Amish-Country Mysteries series. That sentence contains my main problem with this book. Often when you jump into a series, you feel a little left out of the loop. For this entire book, I felt like I was watching part two of a “to be continued” TV show or the second film of a trilogy. I was expected to care about people I knew nothing about because all their backstory was in the previous episode. The story itself was interesting, the setting was definitely interesting – I learned quite a bit about Amish culture – but I just had a hard time with feeling like I had missed the first 10 chapters of the story. (Evidently based on other reviews, this is not a commonly held opinion, so I would recommend the book based on the story and characters. Just be warned that you might want to read the previous book first.)

This mystery definitely held my attention. I read it in stages because of time restraints. In those in between times I was constantly trying to figure out what was going to happen next. It had some nice twists and turns. I'll definitely pass it on,

I found the descriptions and the metaphors clunky. There was also some repetition of these strong images that made it awkward to read. I did like the characters and while I have not read any of the other books in the series, I felt up to speed. The mystery itself was good and what kept me going through the more difficult passages.

It's August, and young Amish woman Fannie Hemulth and her friend Howie Dent have been on the run since April. Holmes County, Ohio, Sheriff Bruce Robertson wants to find the pair before the drug gang that's after them. All of his employees have been working overtime to find Fannie and Howie and take them into protective custody. The case is eating at Robertson's confidence. The whole department is shaken when newly promoted Stan Armbruster discovers Howie's body. How had he come back into town without their knowledge? And where is Fannie? Is she dead or alive? When a new lead surfaces, Sheriff Robertson enlists college professor and reserve deputy Mike Branden and his wife Caroline to help locate Fannie and persuade her to testify against the head of the drug gang. Although they're not Amish, they have a sensitivity and an understanding of the Amish community and way of life.

The urgency of the search drives this tightly written procedural. I found it hard to put down. The closely knit community and the descriptions of Holmes County locations combine to give the novel a strong sense of place. Instead of a single protagonist, there is a core of well-developed characters, and I cared about all of them.

This book apparently resolves some unfinished plot elements from the previous book. Enough background is provided for readers who haven't read the previous book so that I didn't feel like I had gaps in my knowledge. If I had realized that there was such a strong connection to the previous book in the series I probably would have read it first. This isn't a cozy series, but it will have crossover appeal for many cozy readers. Highly recommended.

This review is based on an advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.