Shunned and Dangerous by Laura Bradford

Shunned and Dangerous by Laura Bradford ISBN-13: 9780425252437 Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: March 4, 2014

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Living in the small town of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, Claire Weatherly has come to admire the Amish for their wholesome, honest way of life. But she also knows that nothing is as simple as it seems.

When Claire hears that Mose Fisher has made one of his famous corn mazes, she can’t wait to walk the paths and test her skill. But deep inside the maze, she discovers the body of Amish dairy farmer Harley Zook.

It won’t be easy for Detective Jakob Fisher to investigate a murder on his own father’s farm—not after being shunned by the man for leaving the Amish community and becoming a cop. With Mose himself as a suspect and old family secrets cropping up, Claire does what she can to help Jakob catch the killer.


My Review:
Shunned and Dangerous is a cozy mystery. It's the third book in a series. You don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one, and this novel didn't spoil the whodunits in the previous novels.

This novel is full of character development--much more than most cozy mysteries. The author did an excellent job of weaving in details about living near the Amish and what it's like for people to be or leave the Amish. The characters were engaging, complex, and reacted realistically.

The mystery was clue-based. Claire helped the detective by doing things with or for him. While she noticed things, she didn't question things, even things as simple as "is anyone going to dispose of this stinking milk?" She acted like it'd always be there and was surprised when someone did clean it up. It was a bit frustrating that she didn't make some pretty obvious connections a lot sooner, but then I guess the mystery would have been solved too quickly. However, she was a nice, caring person, and the characters and setting kept me immersed in the story.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery, especially to those interested in the emotional conflict that the ex-Amish detective faces.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.