Deborah Woodworth

Deborah Woodworth's historical series featuring Sister Rose Callahan is one that I've enjoyed from the first book, Death of a Winter Shaker. One of my cherished memories is of visiting Pleasant Hill, a Shaker community in Kentucky when I was sixteen. I found the history of the Shakers and their accomplishments fascinating, and I still do. The second Sister Rose Callahan starts walking the streets and paths of her community, I am immediately transported to Pleasant Hill.

Woodworth's research is impeccable, and she weaves it all seamlessly into her story. There's no feeling that you've been thrown into history class and are about to face a pop quiz.

The mystery in Sins of a Shaker Summer is a good one. Readers are quickly drawn to the new group of Believers who arrived from another community. They're secretive, don't talk much, and they seem to be conducting strange experiments in the medicinal herb shop, which is one of the many ways the Believers earn money. But what exactly is going on, and which one of the newcomers is responsible? This takes some work to figure out.

But no matter how strong the mystery is or how wonderful the sense of place and time is, the story isn't going to shine unless the characters do. The characters shine in this book. Sister Rose is a conscientious, compassionate woman who wants everything in her community to run well and for everyone to be healthy and happy. She also is a first-rate investigator. Brother Wilhelm, the other person in charge is a rabid fundamentalist. He wants everything like it was in the Good Old Days, and he believes Rose is too modern and should be thrown out of the community. Wilhelm wants to ignore the outside world even though the Shakers must rely on non-Believers to buy their goods and for converts to their faith.

There are also other dynamics among the characters. Newcomer Sister Patience is causing concern and divisiveness with her visions and pronouncements, and it's up to Sister Rose to find out if the woman is a true visionary or a fraud. And... looming over the entire community is the outside world. Everyone is suffering through the Depression, and when any little thing goes wrong, there must be someone to blame. For those living outside the Shaker community, the best scapegoats are always the Believers. They're weird. They believe in celibacy. Their religious services sometimes look like a circus sideshow. Yes, the Believers are very easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, and it's this attitude that brings a very real sense of menace to Sins of a Shaker Summer and the other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that will transport you to another time and place, one with a strong mystery and even stronger characters, I recommend Deborah Woodworth's Sister Rose Callahan series. It's been one of my "go-to" series from the very first book.… (plus d'informations)

3.5***

Book # 1 in the Sister Rose Callahan cozy mystery series, set in a Shaker community in 1930’s Kentucky. Their peaceful community is focused on hard work, worship and nonviolence, so they are shocked with a body is found in the herb house. The deceased was a “winter” Shaker – one of the many drifters who professed to be a Believer to escape the harshest season during the unsettled Great Depression.

Shaker Sister Rose Callahan begins to investigate when it becomes clear that the Sheriff has no intention of searching very far for the culprit. The villagers are suspicious of the Shakers, even going to far as to call them witches, and the murder has put them on edge, with some villagers resorting to violence.

I really enjoyed this mystery. Woodworth has given the reader some very interesting and complex characters. Rose is determined, clear-thinking, intelligent and tenacious. She’s also principled and will not hesitate to name a fellow Shaker as the murderer if that is where her investigation leads her. There are plenty of suspects; the Shaker way of life, with its requirement for celibacy and strict division of the sexes, means that the only way to grow the community is to take in outsiders. And the desperation of the times means that people are willing to say anything for the security of a warm bed and enough food to eat.

I look forward to reading more of this series, and from this author.… (plus d'informations)

The trouble with reading so many series is the fact that some are bound to fall by the wayside. Before I began my book blog, I read the first Sister Rose Callahan mystery, Death of a Winter Shaker, and I really enjoyed it. As a teenager, I once visited the Shaker community of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, and learned how fascinating the Shakers were. Besides their gorgeous furniture, they were quite innovative in architecture, interior design, agriculture, and labor-saving devices. Since they were celibate, their communities depended on converts and orphans to survive and thrive. Woodworth's series is set when most Shaker villages had died out. The first book took up the topic of "winter Shakers"-- those homeless people who would convert to Shakerism during the winter so they would have food, clothing, and shelter, only to leave when spring came. This second book focuses on intolerance, a theme that is very pertinent today.

Sister Rose Callahan is a woman who was brought up as a Shaker but lived out in the world for a short period of time, so she's more than capable of dealing with non-believers. But with the shortage of members, she's had to assume the role of eldress-- caring for the spiritual health of the female members of the community-- as well as trustee-- the person who takes care of the financial side of things. This wouldn't be an easy task for anyone, but it's particularly tough for Sister Rose, since Elder Wilhelm is a thorn in her side, constantly harping about the good old days and completely unwilling to deal with the problems of the present in any real meaningful way.

As in the first book, A Deadly Shaker Spring has a marvelous sense of place and culture. You really don't need to know a thing about the Shakers to understand what's going on. If you do know about them-- like I do-- your knowledge will be enhanced. Since readers will know the person (or persons) responsible, this mystery isn't a whodunit, but a whydunit, and although I did find one character's conversion at the end to be too quick to be completely believable, I still found this to be an excellent read. Even after more than ten years between reading the first book and the second, I immediately fell back in with the characters, and that, to me, is a sign of how good Deborah Woodworth's writing is. I'm glad I have all the books in the series waiting for me. They are "reading money" in the bank.… (plus d'informations)

Something isn't right in the North Homage Shaker community, and it seems to have something to do with the Medicinal Herb Garden and the recently transferred Shakers from a sister community. The new residents in North Homage mainly keep to themselves. What secrets do they harbor? And did one of those secrets eventually lead to death? Sister Rose Callahan's recent appointment as eldress doesn't stop her from pursuing her own investigation, just as she did when she was the community's trustee.

This is another enjoyable installment in a Depression-era cozy series set in a Kentucky Shaker community. While the mystery is a bit slow to develop, the characters and setting will sustain most readers' interest until the suspense starts to build. The medicinal herb aspect of the plot should appeal to cozy readers with an interest in gardening. While I enjoyed spending time with characters I had come to know through the first two books in the series, there's nothing about the plot that would require reading the previous books first. Recommended for historical cozy fans.… (plus d'informations)