by Esther Raber
The Inn in the title is Troyer Farms Bed and Breakfast owned and operated by Abigail Lapp. The Murder at the Inn is first in the Abigail Lapp Amish Mystery series by Esther Raber a clean read and takes place at Christmas time.
Abigail is decorating her B&B for Christmas with fresh pine boughs. Formerly a farmhouse built of stone by her great-grandfather, Ms. Raber describes the old haus so well I can see it in my mind’s eye. At the beginning we learn that Abigail is a widow; she and Isaac never had children.
One of the first characters we meet is Chaser, the cat although I always feel like I should write Chaser, the Cat. A brown and orange tabby that she rescued from a woodpile. Chaser is having fun knocking the candles and boughs off the window ledges soon after Abigail arranges them.
Amos is her seventeen-year-old nephew, currently on Rumspringa, who helps Abigail with various chores around the B&B.
It was snowing. No guests were expected over Christmas and Abigail was looking forward to the quiet and a bit of rest. A heavy knock at the door finds a man standing on her doorstep. He is cold, dressed in Englisch clothing. Stating his car had broken down and he’d walked a couple of miles, of course, Abigail welcomes him. Chaser does something he rarely does; he jumps in the stranger’s lap as he sits warming himself by the fire.
His name is Daniel Bradford and confides he thinks he should have lived a simpler life (like the Amish) and that he takes medication for a heart condition. He is looking for a place to retire that is away from “the hassles of the city” but access to “good doctors”.
The next morning Abigail makes her breakfast casserole. The description makes me wish I were going to have a very generous helping. Amos comes in for his morning assignments but checks the oven. When Mr. Bradford doesn’t come downstairs, Amos goes to check on him and …
Other key characters are Deputy Tynes who has been called to come to the B&B. An elderly Englisch couple, James and Diane Mitchell who claim they were driving for hours and very hungry and just happened on the B&B. And a late arrival, an Amish taciturn man Jacob Sutter who Chaser takes an immediate dislike to.
The snow is coming down heavily and no one is going to go anywhere. Abigail decides she needs to feed her guests more than just breakfast. And then…
And then. Deputy Tynes comes to the B&B and tells her that Mr. Bradford did not have a heart attack. A murder has happened at Abigail’s Bed and Breakfast and her mind keeps going over and over — who? why? how?
The book is interesting; the plot nicely done until the last portion of the book. For this reviewer, a major hole in the plot that even a first read/Beta reader should have caught before publication. Ergo, minus one star.
It was fairly easy to figure out who the murderer was but not why. But I would encourage the author to not throw the ending at the reader so quickly. Sorta felt like a cake that the cook ran out of icing for the top of the cake. It was good but gee, I wanted the icing too. Minus 1 star.
Rating: 3 stars
Cover rating: Good. The cloudy sky is like book two, “An Appointment with Death“, as is the typography. The inn itself with lots of snow would have been better than a nestled village.
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