Review: A Plain Death by Amanda Flower

Chloe Humphrey is a twenty-four-year old Masters graduate, a computer geek with a pet cat called Gigabyte and counts two suitcases full of obsolete computer parts among her most precious possessions. She is moving from Cleveland to Appleseed Creek, Ohio, to take a two-year job as Director of Computer Services at the local college. As she is driving to her new home, she picks up an Amish woman who is being harassed by two men. Nineteen-year-old Becky has recently left home, following an argument over her artistic desires, and Chloe finds herself with an unexpected boarder who places her in the middle of a family argument.

Things get even more untidy when Becky borrows Chloe’s car without permission, and has an accident which kills the Amish Bishop. But what appears at first to be a simple car accident turns into a murder investigation, and Chloe works with Becky’s handsome older brother, Timothy, to determine who the likely victim was, investigate who could possibly want to kill them. Timothy has left the Amish faith, and is now working at the college as a carpenter. Meanwhile, Chloe has been asked to make budget cuts in her new role, which will mean making one of her staff redundant, which is not a decision she wants to make.

I really enjoyed A Plain Death. It is a cozy mystery set in an area with significant Amish and Mennonite populations, and involves both Plain and Englisher characters, which I find more interesting than a story centred around the Amish. It also has an intelligent and likeable heroine working closely with a strong, good-looking hero to solve a mystery, with a good level of suspense and a little romance thrown in. All that was missing was… um, no. That would be a spoiler. I look forward to reading more about Chloe, Timothy and Appleseed Creek in future books.

Thanks to B&H Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.