Kristina Anderson
Courting Can Be Killer by Amanda Flower is an entertaining cozy mystery. Millie Fisher is a great main character. I like how she talks to the goats and lives on her own. Millie is the matchmaker for her community as well as Amish Marple (Lois nicknamed her this). She is a sixty-seven-year-old Amish woman who is the opposite of her best friend and Englischer, Lois Henry. Lois is a hoot. I like that she is so different from Millie (pink hair, colorful clothes, loud voice). I laughed often while reading about Millie’s and Lois’ antics as well as those of Millie’s goats, Peter and Philip (they seem to get into more mischief than my cats). The goats are hilarious. I thought Courting Can Be Killer was well-written with steady pacing. The story moved along quickly and was over way too soon. I like the characters and the town of Harvest, Ohio. An Amish Matchmaker Mystery series is a spin-off from An Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. While Bailey King is out of town, we do visit Swissmen Sweets and catch up with Charlotte. We get a quick visit with Bailey later in the story, and get to see what Jethro, the polka dotted pig, is up to (it is funny). Courting Can Be Killer can be read as a standalone if you have not had the time to read Matchmaking Can Be Murder. The mystery was fun to follow. There are a couple of suspects along with good clues to help readers solve the crime. Deputy Aiden Brody and Deputy Little are on the case. Deputy Brody would prefer Millie and Lois stay out of the investigation, but he does find their information helpful. Courting Can Be Killer is an amusing cozy mystery with hooligan goats, a rash of robberies, a bothersome bishop’s wife, a dubious blaze, a curious chair, a domineering dad, and two senior sleuths.
Janice Tangen
Amish, cozy-mystery, family, friendship, investigation, situational-humor, verbal-humor**** Amish matchmaker Millie Fisher has moved back to her home county in Ohio after caring for her sister in Michigan. Now that they are 67, Millie and her non-Amish friend from childhood, Lois, are still great friends despite their differing lifestyles. So when a young man from the Amish community in Michigan who had moved to Ohio with Millie winds up dead in a suspicious a fire the two old friends sleuth together when not chasing Millie's goats or piecing quilts. I really enjoyed the story about a different Amish community than the ones I am familiar with, and the mystery was pretty good, too! I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!