by Esther Raber
Second in the Abigail Lapp Amish Mystery series, “An Appointment with Death” by Esther Raber is a clean mystery set at Abigail’s Troyer Farms Bed and Breakfast. If it was a real B&B, I would want to stay there too. She loves meeting new people, taking extra care that her patrons enjoy their stay and cooking great breakfasts. The first brought back one of my favorites. (I grew up on a farm and my mother was a wonderful cook.) Imagine, if you will, a basket of home-made biscuits fresh out of the oven, a plate of sausages and gravy.
There was one problem with that first breakfast. Abigail woke up sick that morning and just refused to acknowledge that she felt awful and was running a fever. One of her guests did not feel well last night and Abigail encouraged him to see her Dr. Smith. But she wasn’t going. She liked her doctor but did not like going to her doctor.
But Amos, her nephew and what-would-she-do-without-him helper, noticed it. And that’s how Abigail ended up in Dr. Smith’s office and left with three pieces of information. The first is she has the flu and the second is that Dr. Smith is retiring and will be turning over his practice to a new doctor soon. And third, she is to return to his office in three days.
Enter Amos’ mudder Sarah who is Abigail’s sister. Bossy, zero tact, I-told-you-so and a if-you-would-just-do-what-I-tell-you woman, Sarah also is a good cook and can help at the B&B until Abigail is well. IF you can put up with her.
I admit I always enjoy a book with engaging ‘pet’ characters. In this series, meet Chaser, a cat that sleeps with Abigail and is the resident mouser and animal guard of the B&B.
Returning to Dr. Smith’s office for her three-days-later checkup, no one is there. And it is quiet. Too quiet.
I enjoyed the approach the author took to this mystery. Dr. Smith reminded me of my childhood doctor. Other characters: Deputy Tynes already knows Abigail and Amos from book one. There is Dr. Ryman who Abigail sees for her three-days-later checkup and gets an earful. The guests — Mr. & Mrs. Iverson, a newlywed couple, Scott Anderson, and Dr. Robert Ridgeton, the buyer of Dr. Smith’s practice.
An Appointment with Death is an enjoyable Amish mystery found on Kindle Unlimited. I immediately checked to see if the first book, “A Murder at the Inn” was available (it was). Though I read book two first, there was no problem with not reading book one.
Abigail is a figure-it-out woman. Everything that happened involves her or her B&B in some way. So, she can’t let go of who? why?
The rating of four stars is due to the quick solution of the murder. The author did a great job of setting the scenes, making the reader knowledgeable about various characters — all the ingredients of a good mystery. But the solution came too quick for this reviewer. It was just wrapped up too neatly. Too quickly.
This review will be posted on Goodreads and Amazon.
Rating: 4 stars
Cover rating: Very good. Words easy to read, even on the thumbnail prints shown on a Kindle.
Series & Number: Abigail Lapp Amish Mystery, #2.
#AnAppointmentWithDeath #EstherRaber #kindleunlimited
