Murder Simply Brewed

Chapman, Vannetta. Murder Simply Brewed. (Amish Village Mystery ; 1). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2014.

Amber Wright is the manager of an Amish Artisan Village in Indiana. When Ethan, the coffee shop manager, dies, it appears to be a simple health issue, but not everyone believes that. Amber makes Hannah Troyer her coffee shop manager. Hannah is observant and notes some things that seem a bit off and make her suspicious as well. With no cooperation from the local officers, Amber and Hannah must investigate on their own. This is a case of a book trying to be too many things. The author needs to decide whether she wants to write romance or a mystery. If she wants to write romance, she probably needs a bit more development of that in the plot. If she wants to write mystery, she needs much further development there. The whole thing seemed rather implausible. It simply was not well-developed. The presence of a boa constrictor in the plot nearly made me abandon the book entirely. If you don't mind suspending believability for awhile and really like Amish fiction, try this one. If you are a mystery lover, avoid this one. This review is based on an advance e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.