Peanut Butter Panic

Amish Candy shop Mystery Book 7

Amanda Flower

Kensington Pub,

August 23rdm 2022

Peanut Butter Panic by Amanda Flower brings to life the wonderful characters she has created.  This story opens during the Thanksgiving holiday, but it seems that some are not going to be very thankful.  The main character is having boyfriend issues, and someone dies during the festivities. 

“I wanted to write a novel set around Thanksgiving.  I never had written that holiday in a story before.  The story begins with Thanksgiving, a holiday the Amish and English could celebrate in a community dinner. I also wanted to focus on the character Margot because she is in both series I write for.  She is always getting someone to do something they do not want to do. I explained in this book how she became the person she is today including her backstory.” 

Those working at Swissmen Sweets, the main character Bailey, her Amish grandmother Clara, and their cousin Charlotte, are front and center in the plot.  But also, is the secondary character Margot Rawlings. Margot is the community organizer and this year she has decided to put on a community Thanksgiving dinner between the Amish and the English.  But the bossy Margot is thrown a curve ball when her mother Zara decides to attend.  Zara is considered a harsh critic of the Amish community. She was the first woman judge in Holmes County and has made her feelings about the Amish well-known.  Being rude, outspoken, and always showing disappointment in Margot she is not only an overbearing mother, but also someone who unfairly sentenced the Amish.   

Zara is very driven and accomplished. She was a judge when not a lot of women were judges.  In fact, it is still rare in rural Ohio. She is not afraid to step on other people to get what she wants.  She is used to getting her way. She enjoys power which included the Amish coming to court in front of her. She liked to create fear in them.  Zara is a perfectionist who could be harsh, obsessive, blunt, and not kind, yet elegant.”

After picking her up at the airport, Margot gets a surprise when she is accompanied by her much younger boyfriend Blaze Smith who will soon become Zara’s fiancé.  Unfortunately, after the announcement at the dinner, Blaze suffers an allergic reaction to peanuts and dies on the spot.  

As Bailey puts on her amateur sleuth hat, she must also deal with her long-distance boyfriend Aiden.  He now works for the Ohio Bureau of Investigation and was sent to help in the murder inquiry. They are struggling to make time for each other and to see where the relationship is going. 

This is a solid whodunit with a great mystery.  The plot twists will keep the reader guessing.  Besides the suspense this cozy story will also put a smile on people’s faces with the humor, secondary characters, and of course the pets.

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