Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Search-Shelley Shepard Gray

The Search


Shelley Shepard Gray

Avon Inspire, Jun 19 2012, $12.99

ISBN: 9780062089724



After several months in Crittenden, Kentucky Perry Borntrager vanished. Three teenagers found his corpse at the bottom of an abandoned well on the Miller Farm. Knowing he was in over his head, Crittenden County Deputy Sheriff Mose Kramer asked his friend Cincinnati PD Detective Luke Reynolds to help with the inquiry, which he agreed to do (see The Secrets of Crittenden County: Missing).



Luke focuses on Frannie Eicher, Amish owner of the Yellow Bird Inn, as he believes she is hiding something important. She is filled with guilt and remorse blaming herself for Perry’s death because she rejected his plan for them to leave the Amish and failed to get Perry off the drugs. However, she also feels unhappy that she is fickly is attracted to the Englischer detective. When Frannie is hurt in an accident, Beth Byler takes over running the inn; while Luke, already struggling with his desire for her, knows his heart is winning the battle with his brain.



The second Secrets of Crittenden police procedural romance continues the engaging investigation by the Englischer detective amidst uncooperative Amish, but made more complicated by his unprofessional attraction to one of the prime suspects. The clash of cultures is deftly handled so that differences don't overwhelm the delightful prime plot of falling in love while a murder investigation is occurring. Although it behooves fans to have read Missing first as Search builds off of the first book’s foundation, readers will appreciate this fine entry as Luke “Found” his heart, but not the killer.



Harriet Klausner



No comments: