I've been mainlining a bunch of different takes on the cozy mystery lately, and my favourite upcoming release so far is an Amish murder mystery about delinquent goats and a courting buggy!

I’ve never read an Amish murder mystery before. The protagonist of “Courting Can Be Murder” by Amanda Flowers is Millie, an elderly Amish woman who serves her small community as the local matchmaker, and bombs around town with her Definitely Not Amish best friend, who runs the local cafe. Millie has no children but is devoted to her town, her niblings and great-niblings, to her quilting group, to the Amish community and to the two very badly behaved goats who share her farm.

A fire at the local flea market not only destroys a great deal of merchandise (QUILTS omg) but also sadly kills a local, hard-working young Amish man, Ben, who Millie sees as an honorary nephew. Saddened by his death, Millie is outraged when the father of the girl Ben loved starts spreading rumours about how Ben was responsible for the fire. She sets out to clear his name.

The mystery is solid, but the real pleasure of this read is the characters and the pace -- I particularly enjoyed Millie's friendship with her non-Amish BFF who aids and abets her meddling. Flowers really does a good job of making Millie's investigation sympathetic alongside a not-incompetent police investigation, with the focus on reputation vs. culpability.

Plus, the goats are hilarious.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of COURTING CAN BE KILLER (Book 2 of the Amish Matchmaker Mysteries) by Amanda Flower in exchange for an honest review. Millie Fisher is concerned about her young friend Ben Baughman. The young man is working four different jobs to try to impress Tess Lieb’s father, who is refusing to grant his permission for the couple to wed. When Ben is killed in a mysterious fire at one of his jobs, Tess’s father starts rumors ruining Ben’s reputation. Determined to clear Ben’s name, Millie investigates his death and takes a very close look at an overly territorial father. As usual, Millie’s activities, egged on by her Englischer friend Lois, cause uproar in the community.

I enjoyed this book, and I like the series as well as the first, and still ongoing series, The Amish Candyshop Mysteries. I recommend this series to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, Amish, cultural idiosyncrasies, and curious elders.

#CourtingCanBeKiller #NetGalley

An enjoyable read, I especially warmed to the character Lois. I can easily imagine her with a throaty laugh!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher fo ra copy of the book.

This might reveal my age but when I think of Millie, I think of Angela Lansbury, if she were Amish. This was a cute and fast story. I love Millie’s goats, Peter and Phillip, they cracked me up with their antics.

This was such a cute book! This is the 2nd book in the series, and is a spin-off of her Amish Candy Shop mystery series. Her cozy mysteries are among my favorites, and this was no exception!

I enjoyed this continuation of the Matchmaker series. It piggybacks onto the Candy series that takes place in Harvest, OH as well. You see some of the same characters but also some others new ones.I like that the author is able to make the tone different enough when telling this story from the first person perspective that we feel as if they are separate people (Millie in this series and Bailey in the other). I appreciate that she has reviewed some background from the first book. Even though I read it, it has been a while and it is easy to lose track of specific details when reading a lot of series. I thought it moved well without a lot of the filler that some books have where the MC seems to spend an inordinate amount of time reviewing what was learned. I also really liked the relationship between Millie and Lois. I think it adds a nice human touch to the story.

Book two in Amish matchmaker series.
This series is connected to the Amish Candy Shop mystery.
Millie is Amish matchmaker who gets involved in solving her "adopted" nephews death.
Likeable characters primary and secondary. We get to see Millie's crazy goats. Jethro, from the candy shop mystery.
Fun cozy mystery.

Millie's two goats are the best part of this series and put the laugh in laugh-out-loud. I enjoy the author's other series so I'm glad to see the crossovers in this one. Well done and enjoyable.

I feel the author puts in a lot more effort in the background than mystery. Then I question the authenticity of the background. Millie's English is very contemporary which may be explained by her lifelong friendship with Lois, but it's a bit too "Englisch" and then when the author throws in a word or two in Penn Dutch, it's the same couple of words.

I found this a lightweight, quick read. Those who liked the first book should enjoy this one, but it's not a book or series I'd recommend off the top of my head to someone.

i received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This review is in exchange for an advanced reader copy from Netgalley. Courting Can Be Killer by Amanda Flower was a great book. Millie is the village matchmaker, whose job it is to recognize whether 2 young people were a perfect match or not. She has her hands full with Ben and Tess, when Ben dies in a large fire. Now Millie and Lois, her English friend, will try to find out what happened. Will Millie be the next victim? Can't wait to read the next book,

While I have thoroughly enjoyed most of Amanda Flower's books, I found this one underwhelming. Throughout the book, there was a lot of repetitiveness reminding us of relationships and such. I didn't feel that I had to be reminded three times that someone was related to someone else or that one of the characters had been a great help when Millie's sister was ill over and over again. It was almost as if the author was trying to pad the word count because she had nothing else to bring to the plot.

I still enjoyed the background of the town of Harvest and most of it's characters. I hope that the next matchmaker book brings us more of what is bothering Uriah and maybe give the matchmaker a romance of her own?

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the digital ARC. All opinions are my opinions are my own. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

1 star

This book is ridiculous. Anyone who knows anything about the Amish will know this book is wrobg. if you are goibg to write an Amish book, do some research.
i received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

When Ben Baughman moves to Harvest to be near Millie Fisher, his adopted aentie, he has his heart set on marrying Tess, regardless of her father’s disapproval. Working hard to prove his worthiness has ben working himself to death. When Ben is found dead in a fire at one of his jobs, rumors spread that he set the first and killed himself. Millie doesn’t believe for a second that Ben would hurt himself or burn down a business and she sets out to prove his innocence and find the murderer.

The Amish Marple and her best friend Lois are BFF goals regardless of what religion you are. This is a fun series and I am so glad that Amanda Flower brought this cross over character to her own series. You can’t help but love the spunky Amish matchmaker and her even spunkier best friend, Lois…and her goats! Looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for Millie.

Having enjoyed Amanda Flower’s other books, I was excited to read the second instalment in her Amish Matchmaker series. Millie, a widowed Amish woman, and her Englisch friend Lois Henry are back with another death to solve. This time it is a young friend of Millies’s from her time away looking after her sister in Michigan. Ben Baughman has recently moved to Millie’s district, hoping the larger community will offer him more opportunities for work. Millie had taken him under her wing, offered him a place to stay, and he quickly settled in and made a name for himself as a hard worker. Quickly independent, Ben picks up several part time jobs and is busy hustling between them. Sadly, he is discovered to have been the victim of a fire at the flea market where he worked night security. It appears that Ben may have been responsible for the fire, but .Millie knows in her heart that something is not right, and sets out with her friend Lois to find out what really happened.

I enjoy the setting of this series, as it takes place in the same town and community that the authors Amish Candy Shop series is set. This just adds to the cozy element of the story as the reader runs into those familiar characters along the way. I also enjoy the two main characters being mature women, and also friends since childhood. Their acceptance of each other despite their different backgrounds, and the humour they share adds a a fun depth to the storyline.

I thoroughly enjoyed this second outing in the series and look forward to recommending it to my customers!

The second story of Amish Millie and English Lois as they work together to solve another murder. As Lois calls her, Amish Miss Marple is on the case. When her friend Ben is killed, and people blame him for setting a fire, Lois and Millie feel like they have to step up to clear his name. A good mystery, and although the killer was easy to spot the 'why' wasn't. I felt so sad though about Ben. What a sad life, being discarded by his father, then used by others as a means to an end. Would highly recommend this book, series and author. Plus the animals are wonderful, from Jethro the pig to Peter and Philip the goats.

I’m always excited to read a book by this fabulous author.
Millie and Lois are back in this second installment of the matchmaker series.
Millie is a sixty something Amish woman, and Lois, an englisher, is her best friend.
Even though they have different lifestyles, these two childhood friends are thick as thieves.
While visiting a local flea market, Millie wants to check on her friend Ben, a young Amish man, who holds a special place in her heart. Ben is sweet on a young Amish girl, but sadly for Ben, her father is refusing to let him court her .
Things turn deadly when a fire breaks out at the flea market, and Ben becomes a prime suspect.
Millie and Lois consider themselves amateur detectives, and when they begin to get to the truth, Millie finds herself in harms way.

I have grown to love Millie and Lois, and I love the crossover of the authors other series. I had so many laugh out loud moments with Lois and of course, Millie’s goats.
I’m excited to see what’s in store next for this dynamic duo.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3517710963

I was sent a copy of this book by Netgalley for an honest review. Thank you.
I was interested in reading this book because I have read several books from Amanda Flower's other series and have enjoyed them very much. Although this is the second book in the Amish Matchmaker series (I did not read the first) I enjoyed it just as much. I didn't have a problem with not knowing what was going on. Millie is a middle aged, okay, in her sixties Amish woman with an "English" best friend. When one of the young men in her community that she has taken a grandmotherly interest in is killed in a fire, they make it their mission to find out what happened. One of the things that I especially liked was that this took place in Harvest, OH which is also the site of one of her other books. She includes characters from those books as well, so you see this book as being part of a community. While another series has Jethro the pig, Millie owns two goats, Peter and Phillip and their antics are sure to bring a smile to your face.