by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of In the Land of Milk and Honey, and a link to order it from Amazon, as well as a link to purchase it from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

Elizabeth Harris, formerly of the NYC police department, now lives in rural Amish country in Pennsylvania. She helped solve the murder of an Amish girl and now has a better rapport with the community than most law enforcement officials.

Her friend, Hannah Yoder, tells Elizabeth about the death of an Amish boy and the illness of another family. Thought to be the flu, it’s much worse. Elizabeth asks around but before she can come to any conclusions, an entire Amish family is found dead in their beds. The CDC is called in to determine if it’s a new illness and how it’s spread. Other Amish families fall sick as well.

Many of the Amish rely on the sale of unpasteurized milk, legal for them to sell as long as it’s not across state lines. Of course, when it’s sold at farmer’s markets, they don’t always know where their customers live. When the illness spreads outside the community and milk is found to be contaminated, the sale of milk is halted, leaving bad feelings on all sides.

On the home front, Ezra, an Amish man shunned by friends and family for leaving the community after baptism, is restless. He likes his life with Elizabeth and is proud of her work, but misses the feeling of belonging. He’s able to find a group of former Amish to spend time with, but will that pull him away from Elizabeth or move them closer together?

This is the second book in the Elizabeth Harris Mystery series. Elizabeth is a likable character, knows her job and does it well, and makes room for personal relationships. Ezra is a good life partner for her since his lifestyle is calm and peaceful, a nice foil against the darker side of life she sees at work. Each are learning to live their lives again after personal tragedies and are willing to do it together.

For a glimpse into Amish life as well as police procedures, this book is a good place to start.

To enter to win a copy of In the Land of Milk and Honey, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “milk,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 24, 2016. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

In the Land of Milk and Honey

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.