If you are looking for a relatively non-bloody murder mystery, ” A Simple Murder” is for you. Written by Eleanor Kuhns, the assistant director of the Goshen Library, it won the Mystery Writers of American “First Crime Novel Award.”
It is set in Maine, in the 1790s. Most of the action takes place in a Shaker community and involves several murders of Shakers and non-Shakers alike. The reader gets a good insight into how the Shaker community operated–their work ethic, daily activities, and religious practices. These details are important to the plot. She also weaves into the story a relationship between two women, and a child that may have been born out of wedlock. Not as racy as “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but come on this is the 1790’s
Initially, the story was fast paced, but it does bog down toward the end. Still it was a good read and obviously a sequel was in the author’s mind as she constructed the last few pages of the story.