The discovery of a skull reignites the investigation of a forty-year-old murder mystery.

Marriage Can Be Mischief-The Mystery

Two filmmakers are in Harvest, Ohio, to film a documentary about a forty-year-old unsolved murder. Samuel Zook, while driving his wife Galilee home from work, was stabbed in the neck with a knitting needle. Galilee vanished and the sheriff theorized Galilee had stabbed her husband and then ran off to start a new life in an English (non-Amish) community.
Not everyone in the community believed Galilee was a murderer. Uriah Schrock, for one. Uriah is Galilee’s brother and Millie Fisher’s childhood friend. He’s returned to Harvest in hopes that Millie will help him find out what really happened to his sister all those years ago. Millie is determined to find out the truth and someone is equally determined to keep forty-year-old secrets buried.

Marriage Can Be Mischief-The Read

Millie Fisher and Lois Henry are an unlikely duo. Millie is Old Order Amish; she wears a prayer cap, drives a buggy instead of a car, and doesn’t like to draw attention to herself. Lois, on the other hand, has purple and red spiky hair, wears chunky costume jewelry, and brightly colored clothes. But their friendship is one that began in childhood some sixty years ago and is as solid as they come. These two know without a doubt they can depend on each other no matter what and the fact they come from such different backgrounds has never mattered. It’s a rare friendship and one that makes the books in this series work. A strong cast of supporting characters inhabits these books, adding to the draw that is Harvest, Ohio. Flower’s superb writing brings these characters to life, while giving the reader a difficult puzzle to solve.

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Other books in the Amish Matchmaking Mystery Series:

Matchmaking Can Be Murder

Courting Can Be Killer

Marriage Can Be Mischief is the third book in the An Amish Matchmaker Mystery series by Amanda Flower.

Some forty years ago, Sam Zook’s dead body was found in his buggy; his wife Galilee(Gali) had disappeared. It was known in the community that they had a far from a good marriage. Police ruled that Gali had killed her husband and ran away, never to be seen or heard from again.

Back to the present day, Uriah Schrock, who moved to Indiana after his sister Gali disappeared, has returned to, hopefully, learn what had happened to his sister and asks Millie if she would help him. Lois is taking Millie home after attending a concert at the town square. They come upon police cars gathered where Zook had been killed. Lois and Millie stopped to see what had happened. They learn that a film crew was filming a documentary about Zook’s death, and they found a human skull and bones. The bones turn out to be those of Gali. Millie and Lois set out to determine that fatal night. Before they can get much information from the police, the sheriff orders the case closed. But it’s not closed for Millie and Lois, and they will find that there are several suspects to question. When Millie buggy’s axle breaks, causing her to lose control and crashes. When the police determine that someone maliciously had cut into the axle, they reopen the investigation.

It’s always enjoyable to visit the community of Harvest, be it this series or The Amish Candy shop. The book is well-written and plotted. The characters are interesting, believable, and well developed. Once again, Phillip and Peter, Millie’s pet goats, are around and as ornery as ever. I just love these goats. There were enough twists and turns. I was kept guessing until the end of the as to who the killer was.

I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

Delightful and Entertaining

Marriage Can Be Mischief is a fun and entertaining story of a mystery surrounding a cold case. Author Amanda Flower always knows how to give just enough details in the mystery to keep you guessing til the very end. There are quite a few suspects to keep you wondering "who done it." That along with some mischievous and naughty four legged friends keep the mystery and fun going in this cozy mystery. It is truly a delightful and entertaining read.

**I received a copy of the book via NetGalley. All opinions and comments are strictly my own.

Amanda Flower's Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series focuses on seventy-odd-year-old widow Millie Fisher. The mystery in Marriage Can Be Mischief is a cold case; a skull is found at the bottom of a ravine.

Set in Harvest, Ohio, Millie leads an active life; she has her long-time best friend, Englisher Lois. As reserved as Millie is, Lois is her flamboyant opposite. It is such a fun friendship and I enjoyed reading about the two of them. She also has her quilting circle to keep her occupied. This series is an extension of the author's Amish Candy Shop tales and some of the characters from those mysteries are in this series. Add in mischievous goats and a cat to the mix along with some hilarious moments and the cozy mystery reader has a perfect cozy reading escape.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Genre: cozy mystery
This is the third Amish Matchmaking mystery. It is set in Harvest, Ohio and Holmes county, which is the same setting as the Amish Candy Shop mysteries. Some of the supporting characters in that series are part of this one.
Millie Fisher is an over 70 year Amish matchmaker. This matchmaking takes place outside the books for the most part but Millie interacts with those she has had a hand in matchmaking in this book.
The mystery for this book is a cold case that circles round to the present when a skull is found.
It’s a fine mystery for Millie as Amish Marple to solve because the sheriff plans to close the cold case as soon as the skeleton is identified. The cold case is 40 years old, but the original murderer may still be waiting in the wings.
The author pointed me in the direction of the murderer quite a bit before Millie realizes the danger she is in while investigating. Thank goodness for Lois listening to her bad feelings and taking action.
I thoroughly enjoyed this visit to Harvest even with the extra dose of Ruth. The author explains Ruth more to us in this book but I still don’t like her.
I think you could read this book without having read the other books in the series or the Amish Candy Shop mysteries.

Millie's childhood friend, Uriah, has returned to Harvest, and the Amish community is beginning to wonder if there's a spark between them, or if they're destined to be just friends. When a film crew turns up in town to investigate a decades-old unsolved murder – of Uriah's sister and her stern husband – Millie learns that Uriah came back to find out what happened to his sister. A body is found in a ravine, where it's been for a very long time, and when the local sheriff tries to pin the murder on Uriah, Millie and her friend Lois investigate on their own.

This is the third book in this spin-off series, and I'm enjoying it as much as the original series. Because it's set in the same location as the original series, it feels like a town I could find my way around in without too much difficulty. Some of the characters overlap the two series, but since the main character of this Matchmaker series is Amish rather than Englisch, the reader gets more Amish characters and learns more about Amish customs and their way of day-to-day living. The mystery in the book was good, with plenty of suspects to choose from. I had my suspicions about the identity of the killer from the moment the character was introduced, and for a change, I guessed right, although I didn't guess the motive. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

I love books that the second you open them and start them, it is like visiting with old friends that you haven't seen in awhile and you can just settle in and enjoy your read. That is how this author's book are for me - I feel like I am settling in with friends for a nice comfortable chat that MAY or MAY NOT include solving murder cases [in this case it IS murder, but it is a cold case and no one finds a dead body in this one] and I love that. Millie is the most unusual Amish woman, in both how she sees the world and how she deals with people [and her adorable goats. Gosh I love those silly goats], but she does not sway from her faith and what she inherently believes in and is not afraid to give credit to her Gott when she feels He has helped her. I love how she is able to stay true to her faith and way of life and still be best friends with Lois. It shows that true friendship can break ANY barriers and that religion does not have to be a breaking point of why people cannot be friends. I wish MORE people would get that [but I digress].

As I said, this story centers around a cold case involving an Amish couple and all the icky things that happen leading up to the murders. It IS distressing at times. As someone who grew up in a church system that ignored abuse over and over, the reminder that "pastors" and "elders" held so much power over families, even within the Amish community, was very distressing to remember, and like real life, this story doesn't really have a happy ending. Yes, the culprit is caught [after much searching and quite a bit of danger] but there were still two people who died - yes, someone did the deed, but the elders that ignored the situation and chose to close their eyes and hearts to a desperate woman are just as culpable as the killer.

Other than the fact that there was A LOT of repetition in this [<i>A LOT. Every couple of pages, something that had just happened was talked about again. Maybe by a different person, but it is the same information. I mean, how many times do we need to be reminded that Millie L O V E S blueberry anything? Because it is said in quite a few chapter and this kind of repetition started to both detract from the story and from the seriousness of the subject matter. I hope that this is not a new trend</i>], and the often distressing subject matter [thankfully, the antics of the goats AND Lois breaks some of this up] this was a very good read [it was good to see some of the resolutions at the end. One can only pray that that kind of change will happen in more churches] and I was sorry to see it end; Millie and Lois are fun to hang out with and I enjoy how they do things in their snooping and their friendship and respect for each other is so refreshing and gives hope in a time when there is just so much strife. May we all strive to have friendships like they have in each other.

Really looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amanda Flower and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Millie is a widow living in the Amish town of Harvest, Ohio. She leads an active life from her quilting circle to her skills as a matchmaker. Now her own life takes a bit of a turn when Uriah returns to town. They were an item way back when and now she wonders if there might still be a spark between them. Little did anticipate that the relationship would soon involve a forty year old cold case centering on the disappearance of his sister after the death of her abusive husband. When a skeleton is found in a ravine one thing leads to another and the police focus on Uriah. Millie sets about to clear him and track down the killer. In doing so the past must be shaken up and some locals are none to happy about it, especially the killer.
This series is a spin off from the Candy Shop books and some of the characters we have come to enjoy from those mysteries show up in this series. Add a couple of mischievous goats and a cat to the mix and I found this mystery to be the perfect cozy reading escape.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I always enjoy Amanda Flower's cozy mysteries. An Amish Matchmaker Mystery series is one of two series set in Harvest, Ohio. Millie Fisher is an older woman who is able to see if a couple is going to make it together but she also loves to solve mysteries. She and her best friend since five years, Lois Henry, can get into some precarious situations. When a skeleton is found in a ravine near where an unsolved murder was committed forty years ago, her old flame and friend, Uriah Schrock is sure that it is his missing sister's bones. Her abusive husband is the person murdered on the spot forty years ago and she disappeared. She and Lois set out to find answers and their queries not only made some folks angry but put themselves in danger or at least put Millie in danger. This is a nice addition to the series and a good mystery to unravel. I enjoy the characters, the setting, and have come to expect an interesting murder mystery. Millie is a widow and lives alone on her farm with her two trouble making goats, a cat, and her horse. Her friend Lois is an Englisher and Millie's opposite but theirs is a fun friendship to read about. This is another winner by Amanda Flower.
I received a complimentary ARC from Kensington Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine only.

This was a great cozy mystery with characters that are quirky and fun to read about. The plot was intriguing enough to make me want to read to the end. There was a little suspense and romance. Overall, a good comfort read. I love how the author uses the same town in two different mystery series. Readers can see what the characters are up to even though they are not really involved in the mystery. I received an advanced reader's copy from NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion.

An Amish Matchmaker Mystery

This is the third Amish Matchmaker Mystery. Millie Fisher is a widow. Her husband died long ago and she still mourns for him. But she is also a nosy little thing. Which makes her the go-to person when a body is found. People tell her everything and her friend Lois goes where she can not. Together they are an unstoppable force.

Harvest, Ohio is Millie’s hometown and she loves the town and her life there. She is a spot-on matchmaker and a good listener as well.

When her old friend, Uriah returns to Harvest, Millie is happy to see him. At one time they were sweet on each other but then along came her true love. Uriah married and moved to Indiana. Lately, Uriah has been working in the village as a groundskeeper and when he doesn’t show up for work, Millie and Lois have a bad feeling.

While they are out looking they come across the police and a film crew by the ravine. A skeleton has been uncovered and it looks old. Could it be Uriah’s sister who disappeared years ago? Is that really why Uriah is here?

Long ago his sister, Galilee, disappeared in a snowstorm and her husband was found dead in the buggy with a knitting needle in his neck. The sheriff had assumed she killed her husband and then fell into the ravine.

Millie and Lois are once again sticking their necks out to solve a murder. But someone is willing to kill to keep that secret and Millie may be in danger.

I love this series. Millie is such a fun character and those goats need a story of their own!

NetGalley/November 30th, 2021 Kensington

I loved being back in Harvest Ohio and spending time in this quaint Amish community. I especially enjoy my time with Millie and Lois, childhood friends, one Amish and one English, but soulmates that are there for one another.
Uriah Schrock is back in town, are their sparks between him and Millie? He is back from his now Indiana community, and looking for answers about his missing sister, she has been gone now 40 years. Answers are coming here, and for me surprises, I really didn’t guess the answers!
Come and enjoy Phillip and Peter, they seem to know what Millie is telling them and often mind her, would love to see them out for their walking journeys, of course Millie is riding her bike, and these boys are pet goats!
I am now looking forward to the next visit to this community, that unfortunately, have more mysteries, and murders than most places!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Kensington, and was not required to give a positive review.

Uriah always wondered what really happened to his sister Gali, who vanished after her husband was killed. Now 40 years later, her bones have been found and he wants the truth so he enlists the dynamic duo of Millie and Lois. They're mature, Millie's Amish, Lois is not, and they're really good at leveraging their knowledge to find villains. I like this series for them, as well as the setting and the mysteries and know that a first time reader will enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good cozy read.

This is the third book in the Amish Matchmaker series (there is also a companion series in the same small town) and I think with every book I love this place more. I especially love the way the Amish and English co-exist and at times share and learn together in this story. I also love this protagonist! It is rare you see an older amateur sleuth but the fact that this one is a quilting matchmaker crime solver is even better. I liked the mystery and while I did get to who the killer was the story was engaging and fun to read. I love the goats and how loving but mischievous they are. Millie isn’t able to stay away when rumor is human remains have been found. Everyone is sure they belong to a woman who went missing 40 years before Gali. Gali’s brother Uriah asks Millie to do some digging as he has very little faith in the English sheriff. I think my very favorite part of this series is the friendship between Lois and Millie. They could honestly be doing anything not just solving crime and it would be fun to read.

This is a delightful cozy mystery. Marriage Can Be Mischief is the third book in the Amish Matchmaker Series. I have read the other books in the series, however I feel that this could be read as a standalone if you happen to pick it up.

This story is about Amish Matchmaker Millie and her long-time best friend, Englischer Lois. As reserved and humble as Millie is, Lois is her flamboyant, loud opposite. It is such a fun friendship that has continued over the years and I love the two of them together.

A skeleton is found in a ravine in Amish country, and it could be the remains of a 40 year old missing persons case. The sister of a former beau of Millie's went missing after her husband was murdered 40 years ago. The story around town was that the woman killed her husband and left town to become "English." Local authorities and the Amish Bishop were happy to let that stand and nothing more was done. Once the remains were found, a new interest in the story arose and Millie and Lois are on the case.

I love Amanda Flowers books and this was no exception! It was fun to read and I look forward to Millie and Lois' next adventure. My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another wonderful-good mystery with Millie and Lois. I need to hook up with these two and I would be guaranteed to laugh and have some fun. They do not need a murder to get into trouble.

The mystery was grabbed me from the start and has a surprising conclusion. I picked up on who the murderer was not the reason why. I don't want to mistakenly give away anything so I am not going to say too much.

Even though it is the third book in the series, you can pick up any book and be just fine. No sex, no cursing, and no extreme detailed violence. A clean cozy mystery for any age.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

Marriage Can Be Mischief by Amanda Flower is the third book in the cozy An Amish Matchmaker Mystery series. This series is a spin off of Amanda Flower’s cozy Amish Candy Shop Mystery series with it being set in the same Amish town but with a new lead character. Readers do not need to have read the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series to enjoy this one, although I will say it’s a fun one that I have enjoyed. As with most cozy series too each book of this series will have it’s own mystery that will be fully solved within the book so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so although there is character development carrying over from book to book for those who follow from the beginning.

Millie Fisher has just moved back to her Amish community in Harvest, Ohio after being gone for several years taking care of family in other Amish communities. Millie is now a widow and is a quiltmaker, that is how she makes money to pay her bills, but Millie has always considered herself to be a matchmaker. Millie doesn’t think it would be fair though to use her gift of knowing what couples will be a good match to make money and does this out of the kindness of her heart. Unfortunately for Millie she has also picked up another side hobby that is keeping her busy and that is hunting for murderers in her Amish community with her best friend, Lois, who is actually an Englischer. This time around Millie’s childhood friend, Uriah Schrock, had returned to Harvest after being gone for decades after the disappearance of his sister, Galilee. It doesn’t seem a coincidence to Millie when bones are found by a film crew working in Harvest that belong to Uriah’s sister. Galilee’s husband had been abusive and was found murdered all those years ago and it was always thought that Galilee may have killed her husband and fled but now Millie is determined to get to the truth of it all.

The An Amish Matchmaker Mystery series is actually the third by Amanda Flower that I have followed completely from the beginning and have enjoyed every minute. These are all just the right combination of quirkiness and humour that I enjoy the most. The balance between the Amish lead and her best friend is something that keeps a smile on my face the entire time I read. When finished with this third book of the series I would rate it at four and a half stars with only just one moment I found a bit too predictable to bump it to five but otherwise a lovely addition to the series!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Millie Fisher and Lois Henry are an unlikely dual. They have much in common that they care deeply for each other. They are best friends. They are unmarried having been married. However, one is English and the other is Amish. Lois has all the English slang that Millie has no ideal what she is talking about. They love to solve mysteries and they love to match make the people in their community.

A new cold case has arrived when bones are discovered in a ravine. Millie & Lois happen to be by the ravine when the bones are discovered and see a familiar face that they had not seen for 40 years. Uriah Schrock is at the ravine. He approaches Lois and tells her his fears about his missing sister. He has asked her to check around the community since they have not seen him for so long. He hopes that she will find out something that the authorities missed. Uriah and Lois do have a history and that plays into the plot. It was assumed that Uriah's sister killed her husband and left the Amish. She was mistreated unkindly by her husband but was that the truth or something more sinister. Somebody knows something. Lois and Millie ask questions, find out more details and come face to face with the killer.

I enjoyed a different take on the Amish lifestyle with Millie and the friendship she had with Lois. It actually was a very well done "who done it". It had intrigue and humor and a little Amish wisdom.

A special thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Millie Fisher, matchmaker for the Amish in Harvest OH, is caught up by the discovery of a skeleton in the ravine near her home and when it is determined that it was an Amish wife, Galilee, that had been believed to have run away after killing her husband, Millie feels that Galilee's name needs to be cleared and sets out to solve a 40 year old murder.

Tracking down clues as well as finding people that were around at the time of Galilee's death prove problematical but with the help of her friend, Lois, Millie is on the trail of the killer. Along the way, as usual, Millie has difficulties with the Harvest Sheriff (he doesn't like the Amish) as well as her goats, Peter and Philip but she does manage to keep the young couple how are having a few doubts on the path to marriage.

So much fun, the characters are great and this lady and her goats just make me smile!

I always enjoy Amanda Flower's Cozy Mysteries. I have read several of them. The characters in this mystery series are a mixture of Amish and English. I love that most of the characters are a part of every book in the Amish Matchmaker Mystery series. These same characters are also in the Authors Amish Candy Makers series. I found this book to be humorous, edge of seat reading a time or two, unpredictable, an easy to read page turner and definitely entertaining. This Cozy Mystery was different from the usual mysteries because it is about a cold case murder. I enjoyed the flow of the story and the end left me feeling satisfied with my reading experience.
Millie Fisher and Lois Henry are best friends and extreme opposites. Millie is an Amish senior citizen and Lois is an Englisher with purple/ black spiked hair. The two grew up together and now in their retirement years they have reunited and do just about everything together except church. Millie and Lois are sleuths and love to help the Deputy Sheriffs solve murder cases.
When a skeleton is found in a ravine off a country road DNA testing reveals that it is Gali Zook who is believed to have killed her husband Samuel forty years ago. It has been speculated that she ran away and became an Engisher. Because there wasn't real evidence that Gali killed her husband it went unsolved all these years. Now that it had been proved that the skeleton was indeed Gali Zook her brother Uriah Schrock has asked Millie and Lois to investigate and solve this murder. Sheriff Marshall has closed the case claiming Gali killed her husband during an argument and then ran off falling in the ravine. But Uriah feels since her skeleton was buried that she could not have buried herself. So who was there at the scene of Samuels murder to bury Gali. Find that person and a forty year murder cold case is solved. Lois and Millie are planning to do just that!
I recommend this book to readers of Cozy Mystery and fans of the Author. This book is scheduled to be released on November 30th 2021
I received a complimentary arc of Marriage Can Be Mischief from the Author and Publisher through NetGalley. A favorable review was not requested. All opinions expressed here are my own.