matchmaking Can Be Murder by Amanda Flower is a wonderful cozy mystery. I recommend it to all mystery lovers.

A new series set in Harvest, Ohio with the Amish community we've grown to love from the Amish Candy Shop series.

Self-proclaimed matchmaker, Millie Fischer, returns to her hometown and starts matchmaking with her niece, Edith. Soon Edith's fiancé is found dead and Millie jumps in to help solve the murder. This book is fast paced and keeps your attention. I would recommend this book/series.

Fun but nothing extra special. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, this is a good one but kinda flat in most parts. Amish country was a good setting for the story but I feel that's been overdone in cozies. Popular author who yields good mysteries but some are hit or miss for me - this was more of a miss.

received for free from netgalley for honest review* super cute! love the goats and love the familiar characters!

Millie Fischer, an Amish lady with the unique ability to be able to tell if a couple is right for each other, has returned to her hometown of Harvest and her own small farm. She has noticed that her widowed niece, Edith, who is engaged to Zeke Miller, is not happy and knows it is because the match is not right. Without having to persuade her, Edith tells Millie that she has decided to break the engagement but does not explain why. When Zeke Miller is found murdered in Edith's greenhouse a few days later, Millie is concerned that Edith will be blamed so she enlists the help of some of friends to find the real killer.

I really enjoyed this mystery for multiple reasons. The story itself helped to show the differences between the Amish and the Englishers, carried characters over from the Amish Candy Shop series, and was a well-written mystery showcasing new characters.

Looking forward to seeing Millie again!

Not my favorite series by Amanda Flower, but since it was set in the same world as Amish Candy Shop Mysteries I'm already reading the sequel Courting Can Be Killer. I like:

1. The fact that characters from the other series pop up and in a meaningful way.
2. It (and the Amish Candy Shop series) doesn't whitewash all things Amish.
3. The main character and her sidekick are mature women and accept each other as is.

The story just lacked that "spark" that made me quickly turn the pages. I could (and did-Miranda James' Cat Me If You Can) put it down to read something else.

So, just an OK from me.

Amanda Flower is one of the most popular and well known Cozy Mystery authors and there is a reason why! The characters she builds with the small town feel is perfect for a cozy reading night! You will not regret picking up this series!!

Matchmaking Can Be Murder is the first in the Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series. Millie is a widow living in the Amish community she grew up in. She senses when a couple is meant for each other and when they are not. She is very relieved when her niece Edith breaks off her engagement with Zeke. But when Edith finds Zeke’s murdered body in her greenhouse, Millie cannot resist the urge to try to find the killer to shift the local law enforcement’s attention away from Edith. She partners with her former childhood friend, Lois, who is not a member of the Amish community. Their easy and fun friendship blossoms even after years apart leading very different lives.

There is plenty of room for more installments in this series. With a nearby town of English and a community of Amish to be matched, I predict the many more mysteries for Millie and Lois to solve.

I am thankful for the electronic copy of this book I received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

“Matchmaking Can Be Murder“ by Amanda Flower the first in a new series which is a spin off from her Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series. I really enjoy her Candy Shop series so I thought I would like this one too and I wasn’t disappointed.

I’m a huge fan of Amanda Flowers other cozy series , so had to read this spin off. I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in one sitting. It was entertaining, had characters and a town I already knew and loved. I liked how this showed us the story from the Amish side in the form of Millie.

I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Kensington Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

I love a great Amish Cozy and this one was amazing. Amanda Flower is one of the best Amish cozy mystery writers. The book flows so well and I didn't want it to end I can't wait for the next book..

This is a spin-off from the Amish Candy Shop mystery series. It was fun to see characters from the candy shop series in this series as well. Millie is a matchmaker and her niece, Edith, ends up breaking her engagement only to find him dead in her greenhouse the next day. Millie and her English friend, Lois, investigate to help ensure Edith isn't arrested for the murder. Edith's twin, Enoch, who had left many years ago, also returns to town. An intriguing story with loveable characters. I can't wait to read more of this series.

Another success for Amanda Flower!

Matchmaking Can Be Murder

by Amanda Flower

Already familiar with the little town of Harvest through Amanda Flower’s Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series, I was a a little confused when I found myself in a familiar town, but with a new main character, Millie. Then I remembered that Matchmaking Can Be Murder is the first in a new series. Many of the characters in the first series, which focuses on Bailey, an Englisch candy maker are back in this series. The new series features a sixty-seven year old Amish woman with a knack for knowing if two people are compatible. She returns home after years of caring for Amish kin in various communities.

Harvest is a mixed community with its Amish and Englisch citizens getting along fairly well. It is interesting to learn more about the Amish while watching their interactions with their non-Amish friends and neighbors. Especially fun is the reunion of Millie with her childhood friend Lois, a gregarious lady who has had a lot of husbands and is quite outspoken. Her clothing and jewelry are as eye-catching as Millie’s style of dress is plain. Lois makes many references to contemporary technologies and cultural icons that go right past Millie. More humor is found in the trained goat duo of Phillip and Peter who are Millie’s pets, guard goats, and lawn keepers.

Although Millie is the main character, the mystery centers around her niece Edy, a young widow with three children, whose fiancée is discovered dead in her greenhouse shortly after she breaks off the engagement. Millie and Lois attempt to discover who murdered Zeke, but they uncover more crime and convoluted personal relationships than they could ever have predicted.

It is interesting watching Millie in action as she tries to find out the truth while staying within the limits of what is right. She and Lois have to work at keeping each other in check and out of trouble. A nice touch is the author’s inclusion of Amish proverbs as they come to Millie throughout her day. I enjoy the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, but this spinoff series is even better!

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: The first book in the Amish Matchmaking Mystery Series, it is a spinoff but it is not necessary to read the series it came from.

Publication: December 31, 2019—Kensington Books

Memorable Lines:

Sometimes it worked to a person’s advantage to be friends with the biggest gossip in the district. I just had to feed Raellen the right information, and she would take care of the rest.

…”they can only fully commit to the Amish life when they know what the Englisch one is like. If they see the way the rest of the world lives and then commit to our ways, they are more likely to stay here.”

There was no way to rebuild what was shattered, but what we could make was something brand-new, something that was different but stronger than before. That’s what I hoped for the very most.

I am forever seeking to find in Flower's latest titles the goodness of her original Appleseed Creek mysteries. Alas, this is not to be. I found Mille's voice stilted and unable to capture her age's maturity. With gratitude for the e-galley, I am sadly giving up on Flower.

While this book is shorter than Amanda Flower's other books, it was a great one sitting read. It had all the great characters I have come to love. The setting was perfect. The length of the book was just perfect enough. It got to the point very quickly. The only drawback was that while the plot was well written, I am not used to my books ending so quickly. I wanted more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Well, I don't know what I expected from an Amish mystery, and I thought the difference in setting might make for an interesting read. I wasn't wrong! I love when a book teaches you things, and makes you think of the world slightly different than you did before. This was that kind of book! I actually have no idea if Australia has any kind of Amish community, and upon looking it up I see there are a few families but nothing on the communities in the US. It just wasn't something I've thought of much outside mainstream movie/TV depictions, so the first thing this book gave me was a slice of life look. The mystery itself was absolutely fantastic, and the cast surrounding the victim lead in all sorts of ways before finally revealing the killer.

The goats were a fantastic addition, and I also really loved the network of friends and family in this one. There is a hint of future romances too which just make me want to read more from this author.

Fantastic! A really great cozy book. Five stars.

Oh Millie I have totally been won over by this interfering quiltmaking matchmaker! Charming and funny this was the coziest of cozy mysteries I had never read an Amish one and I really enjoyed the story line and characters so cute and charming

When widowed Millie Fisher moves back to her childhood home of Harvest, Ohio, she notices one thing right away the young Amish are bungling their courtships and marrying the wrong people! A quilt maker by trade, Millie has nevertheless stitched together a few lives in her time, with truly romantic results. Her first mission? Her own niece, widowed gardener Edith Hochstetler, recently engaged to rude, greedy Zeke Miller. Anyone can see he’s not right for such a gentle young woman except Edith herself.

Pleased when she convinces the bride-to-be to leave her betrothed before the wedding, Millie is later panicked to find Zeke in Edith’s greenhouse as dead as a tulip in the middle of winter. To keep her niece out of prison—and to protect her own reputation Millie will have to piece together a patchwork of clues to find a killer, before she becomes the next name on his list.

I think that the whole idea of Millie being a matchmaker gets lost in the shuffle of her looking for clues to find the killer. Millie spends way too much of her time thinking about Edith and her kids, she also spends way too much time reliving what happened to Enoch in his youth. Edith seems to overshadow the whole book no matter what is happening and if she's involved or not.

The author is very repetitive with a lot of the dialog and the characters details, one example is when we are introduced to the quilting group every time Raellen is mentioned we are told she has 9 kids. Being told once is enough being told 3 or more times is just annoying. Until the murder happens in chapter 7 the book is very drawn out and not a lot happens.

I have liked all the books in the Amish Candy Shop series which this book is a spin off of but this series just isn't doing it for me, I'll read the next book to see if things get any better. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Kensington Books for my review.

I adored the spin off of the original series. This was fun look into the other aspects and people in town and I can't wait to read and learn more about Millie Fisher and her friends and family.

Millie Fisher is back in her first feature story! Readers familiar with Amanda Flower's Amish Candy Shop Mystery series will remember meeting Millie briefly in Toxic Toffee. Millie as a character proves to be a powerhouse as she manoeuvres regaining her life in Harvest, Ohio after returning from caring for her ailing sister in Michigan. Although years have passed, she is able to reunite with the Amish community and her family. However, she does not expect to be in the middle of a murder investigation after her niece's fiancee Zeke is found dead in the family greenhouse.

What is amazing about this title is the way in which readers now get to experience life of the Amish. Bailey and her family give us a small look into the Amish way of life. Now, with Millie having her own series, the Amish are the primary focus. Amanda Flower is creating an interesting relationship between the two book series'. I enjoy the way in which characters are featured in both, and how many of the themes introduced in previous books re-emerge in this title. For example, the Sheriff is mentioned as being very anti-Amish and that sentiment has been mentioned in previous Amish Candy Shop Mystery titles as well. I am excited to see the way that this plot point, as well as others, weave together throughout the continuation of both series.

First book in a new series. A bit cheesy but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with the title. I will read the second in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.