Missing

Title: MISSING

Author: Shelley Shepard Gray

Publisher: Avon Inspire

March 2012

ISBN:  978-0-06208970-0

Genre: Amish/mystery

Can two young people survive the suspicions of their friends and neighbors when tragedy strikes a close-knit Amish community?

Perry Borntrager had been missing for months from the quiet Amish community of Crittenden, Kentucky, when his body is discovered at the bottom of an abandoned well. The first death from mysterious circumstances in more than two decades brings the scrutiny of the outside world: A police detective arrives to help the local sheriff with the investigation. His questioning begins with Lydia Plank, Perry’s former girlfriend, and Perry’s best friend, the Englischer Walker Anderson.

Lydia and Walker know they didn’t have anything to do with Perry’s death, but they both hold secrets about his final days. Do they dare open up about the kind of man Perry had become? In the oppressive shadow of these dark times, they discover strength in a most unlikely companionship: one that offers solace, understanding, and the promise of something more.

MISSING is the first book in Ms. Gray’s The Secrets of Crittenden County series. I can’t say this is the best Amish book I’ve read. In fact, I kind of agree with the people who wrote the one star reviews. The characters were flat. I was kept at a distance. There is no real chemistry, no tension, and the only thing is that an Amish man was murdered, and the Amish and English alike are closed mouthed, trying to keep Perry’s final days secret.

And it wasn’t resolved.

If you like Amish, I’d suggest getting MISSING, The Search, and Found all at once and reading them in order. I haven’t read the other two yet, and I don’t have them in my to-be-read pile, but honestly, I’m not interested enough at this point to get them. 3 stars. $12.99. 272 pages.