Dollycas's Thoughts
Detective Elizabeth Harris comes home from New York after her husband was murdered. She needs a quieter life to start over. But life at home isn't at all what she expected. A body is found in a barn in the heart of the Amish community. The young girl is "English", and her body had clearly been moved. Why would she be here were violence is condemned and life is "simple"? As the most experienced officer Elizabeth is assigned to the case, she thinks the killer is nearby while others believe it has to be an English outsider.
This is the type of story that I would expect to see on an episode of Criminal Minds. They definitely needed help coming up with a profile for the killer, but I don't know if even Shemar Moore's Derek Morgan could figure this one out.
Elizabeth Harris is a very strong, intelligent woman. She is not afraid to go anywhere or do anything to get justice for this girl and for a girl that had gone missing months ago. The disappearance of the first girl was never reported by her parents because she was Amish and everyone thought she had just run off. Well Elizabeth doesn't think that is the case. When the police handle the Amish with kid gloves she becomes very frustrated.
The author tells us before the story even begins that nothing like this has even happened in an Amish community but she sure writes a believable story. The characters come alive in the pages as does the town, the woods, the fields, and especially the river. The imagery was absolutely fantastic.
We meet Ezra Beiler, a Amish man who lost her his wife an child at a very young age. He is unhappy living in the Amish community and there is almost an immediate spark between him and Elizabeth. Their budding romance and flirtation plays throughout the story. The romance ebbs and flows and sometimes collides with the intense drama.
This story is very well written but some parts were a bit predictable. I could tell from one of the girl's behavior an underlying cause quite early, but was totally surprised by the way the story peaked.
I am happy to see the author plans on a series with these characters because I truly want to know them better. I feel their story is just beginning. This story has set the series off to a fine start.
Detective Elizabeth Harris comes home from New York after her husband was murdered. She needs a quieter life to start over. But life at home isn't at all what she expected. A body is found in a barn in the heart of the Amish community. The young girl is "English", and her body had clearly been moved. Why would she be here were violence is condemned and life is "simple"? As the most experienced officer Elizabeth is assigned to the case, she thinks the killer is nearby while others believe it has to be an English outsider.
This is the type of story that I would expect to see on an episode of Criminal Minds. They definitely needed help coming up with a profile for the killer, but I don't know if even Shemar Moore's Derek Morgan could figure this one out.
Elizabeth Harris is a very strong, intelligent woman. She is not afraid to go anywhere or do anything to get justice for this girl and for a girl that had gone missing months ago. The disappearance of the first girl was never reported by her parents because she was Amish and everyone thought she had just run off. Well Elizabeth doesn't think that is the case. When the police handle the Amish with kid gloves she becomes very frustrated.
The author tells us before the story even begins that nothing like this has even happened in an Amish community but she sure writes a believable story. The characters come alive in the pages as does the town, the woods, the fields, and especially the river. The imagery was absolutely fantastic.
We meet Ezra Beiler, a Amish man who lost her his wife an child at a very young age. He is unhappy living in the Amish community and there is almost an immediate spark between him and Elizabeth. Their budding romance and flirtation plays throughout the story. The romance ebbs and flows and sometimes collides with the intense drama.
This story is very well written but some parts were a bit predictable. I could tell from one of the girl's behavior an underlying cause quite early, but was totally surprised by the way the story peaked.
I am happy to see the author plans on a series with these characters because I truly want to know them better. I feel their story is just beginning. This story has set the series off to a fine start.
Kingdom Come by Jane Jensen is An Elizabeth Harris Mystery set in Paradise, Pennsylvania (Lancaster County). Elizabeth Harris is a detective with Lancaster City Bureau of Police. She moved back to Paradise eight months ago after living in Manhattan for ten years (working on NYPD). Elizabeth's husband was murdered, and she needs to get away from the memories (and have a quieter life). Detective Lieutenant Mike Grady calls Elizabeth out to a homicide in an Amish barn. A young woman (scantily dressed) was killed in Amos Miller's barn (actually dumped in the barn) and Jacob Miller (age 11) found her when he came to do chores. Elizabeth and Mike partner up to solve the case. Elizabeth's boss (and Mike) believe that a non-Amish person committed the crime. Elizabeth is not so sure, but she has no concrete proof or a good lead. Then a second girl (Katie Yoder) who was missing turns up dead. Katie Yoder is an Amish teen who has been missing for a while. Are the two girl's deaths connected? Elizabeth sets out to find the killer within a tight knit community. One of the suspects, Ezra Beiler turns out to be very attractive and Elizabeth feels a connection with him. Will Elizabeth let her feelings get in the way of solving a case?
Kingdom Come is not what I expected. It starts off very slow and is hard to get into (it does get better). There is foul language (too much of it and it is not needed), lust, and sex. I felt that the romance between Elizabeth and Ezra developed too quickly and it seemed to go against Ezra's beliefs (it just did not feel right). The mystery in Kingdom Come was very easy to solve (child's play). I felt that the killer was so obvious. I kept hoping for a twist, but I did not get one. Kingdom Come needed some polishing which would have made it a better book. I give Kingdom Come 3 out of 5 stars (which means it was okay). It was a good first book in a series, and I hope the next one will be much better.
I received a complimentary copy of Kingdom Come from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kingdom Come is not what I expected. It starts off very slow and is hard to get into (it does get better). There is foul language (too much of it and it is not needed), lust, and sex. I felt that the romance between Elizabeth and Ezra developed too quickly and it seemed to go against Ezra's beliefs (it just did not feel right). The mystery in Kingdom Come was very easy to solve (child's play). I felt that the killer was so obvious. I kept hoping for a twist, but I did not get one. Kingdom Come needed some polishing which would have made it a better book. I give Kingdom Come 3 out of 5 stars (which means it was okay). It was a good first book in a series, and I hope the next one will be much better.
I received a complimentary copy of Kingdom Come from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
