Book Blog Tour Stop, Review & Giveaway: A Plain Scandal by Amanda Flower

Description (from cover):

‘The people of Appleseed Creek in the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country are under attack. Soon after the dust has settled on a buggy accident that turned out to be murder, an unknown assailant begins cutting off the long hair of the Amish women and the beards of Amish men.

New to the area, computer specialist Chloe Humphrey may not share their customs, but she is certainly alarmed over these crimes against the Amish and worried how such events will impact her growing number of friends who are more connected to that way of life.

In this small community, when Chloe discovers the body of an Amish businessman who was stabbed in the back and whose beard was cut off, she knows that finding the murderer and restoring peace to Appleseed Creek is as much her responsibility as anyone else’s.’

My thoughts:

I don’t know exactly what it is about the Amish community that draws me in, but it intrigues me. I read Amanda Flower’s first book in this series, A Plain Death, last year and fell in love with the characters and learning about the Amish. Flower has a way of weaving the English and Amish worlds together to spin a wonderful tale that is very hard to put down. Chloe Humphrey is a character that is easy relate to. She is very unfamiliar with the Amish ways of life, but being surrounded by them she finds them to be very interesting and is eager to learn more about their culture. I feel like these books make me so much more interested in the Amish, the people and their culture. The Amish are known universally for their strict ways and the author gives us a glimpse into Amish ways of life that so few of us really know and understand.

Chloe is back on the mystery trail again after someone has been cutting the long hair of local Amish women and cutting the beards of Amish men. These are horrendous crimes to the Amish community and everyone is upset and wants these hate crimes to stop. Chloe uses her connections with the Amish and the English communities to see that no one else gets hurt. However, soon things take a more sinister turn when she stumbles across a body of a local Amish businessman. No one really liked the deceased and Chloe has an abundance of suspects to investigate. Will she be able to solve this murder and find out who is behind the hate crimes as well, or will she be the murderer’s next victim?

Simply put, I couldn’t put this one down. I stayed up late to finish it because it was just that good. I think that I am now a loyal fan to this series because the mystery elements is so well-developed and the author has a way of making the Amish seem so very intriguing. I love mysteries where I get to learn about something along the way and this book was perfect for keeping this reader amused. Take an interesting set of people, add a murder mystery, some great characters and a way with words and you have a masterpiece on your hands. Amanda Flower has created a wonderful series and I am dying to get my hands on the next installment! As a reader I really appreciate that the author did something a little different and it really makes reading this series seem so fresh. A great read for cozy mystery lovers that will leave you interested and hard-pressed to put this one down.

Overall Rating: 4.5

Title:  A Plain Scandal
Author:  Amanda Flower
Series:  Appleseed Creek Mystery #2
Publisher:  B&H Books
Publication Date:  February 15, 2013
Pages:  336
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Get It:  Amazon; Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Amanda Flower, an Agatha-nominated mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Her debut mystery, Maid of Murder, was an Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel. Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland. She also writes mysteries as Isabella Alan. You can connect with Amanda Flower via her website, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, or Pinterest.

This has been a stop on the Plain Scandal Book Tour presented by Cozy Mystery Book Tours. Make sure you stop by there to enter into a giveaway for this tour: a $50 Amazon.com/Book Depository/Barnes & Noble giftcard. Also make sure you check out the other stops on the tour as some are offering giveaways of this book!

I have one ARC of A Plain Scandal up for giveaway! Must be a resident of the United States in order to enter. Please enter using the form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 
Disclaimer: This book was given to my by the publisher, through Netgalley and Cozy Mystery Book Tours, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.