Wrapping up Murder and Mayhem May - Blood of the Prodigal

May was a wonderful reading month.  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I've been reading mysteries all month.  I finished 14 books, and 11 of them were mysteries.  The last two I finished this past week: Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus and Copper River by William Kent Krueger. They each deserve their own review, so I'll post Copper River later next week.

The Gaus book is the first of the Ohio Amish Country mysteries.  I read one of the later ones in the series first (The Names of our Tears) and I didn't feel I needed back-fill. However, this one, Blood of the Prodigal gives an excellent explanation of the Amish philosophy, religion and way of life, and serves as a great introduction to the series. I can't say I agree with everything that was done in the name of religion, but the story, of a young man shunned, a younger boy kidnapped, and a dead body (was it a murder?) to be investigated by "English" vice Amish certainly made for a page turning read. I'd definitely recommend the series to anyone who likes a good mystery with well-developed characters, a sense of place, and a knotty mystery. I honestly didn't know the outcome until about 5 paragraphs from the end!

Title: Blood of the Prodigal
Author: P.L. Gaus
Publisher: Plume (2010)
Genre: Mystery
Subject: Amish way of life, secrecy, murder, kidnapping
Setting: Ohio
Series: Amish Country Mystery
Source: Public library
Why did I read this book now? I wanted to read the 1st in this series.