Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Lamb to the Slaughter Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

Welcome to Unabridged Bookshelf's stop on the Lamb to the Slaughter Blog Tour! Today I have a review of Lamb to the Slaughter and there is a tour giveaway to enter. Also make sure to check out the whole tour and follow along for more chances to enter the tour giveaway by clicking the banner above or the schedule at the bottom at the post. 

About the Book

Title: Lamb to the Slaughter
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Series: Serenity's Plain Secrets #1
Publication Date: March 14, 2014
Genres: Adult, Mystery
Amazon Barnes and Noble
Lamb to the Slaughter is a story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely people in an Indiana Amish Community and the devastating results when a rebellious teenage girl is found shot to death in a corn field during the harvest.
Serenity Adams is the newly elected young sheriff in the country town of Blood Rock and besides dealing with the threatening behavior of her predecessor, she now has a dead Amish girl on her plate.  At first glance, the case seems obvious.  The poor girl was probably accidently shot during hunting season, but when the elders of the Amish community and even the girl’s parents react with uncaring subdued behavior, Serenity becomes suspicious.  As she delves deeper into the secretive community that she grew up beside, she discovers a gruesome crime from the past that may very well be related to the Amish girl’s shooting.
Serenity enlists the help of the handsome bad-boy building contractor, Daniel Bachman, who left the Amish when he was nineteen and has his own dark reasons to help the spunky sheriff solve the crime that the family and friends who shunned him are trying desperately to cover up.  Serenity’s persistence leads her to a stunning discovery that not only threatens to destroy her blossoming romance with Daniel, but may even take her life in the end.
*Lamb to the Slaughter is book one of Serenity’s Plain Secrets.

For a limited time, Lamb to the Slaughter is available for $2.99 from Amazon and Barnes & Noble so get your copy now! 

About the Author

A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.
    


My Review of Lamb to the Slaughter
Murder, secrets and a Sheriff determined to prove herself makes Lamb to the Slaughter a must read for any mystery fan. The key to any mystery novel is to keep the reader guessing until very end, especially in a whodunit type of mystery. Karen Ann Hopkins has delivered this element perfectly, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the different twists and turns throughout the novel. I also have to say that I also enjoyed the romantic elements of the story. Seriously, one of the best murder mystery novels I have read in a long time. 

Serenity Adams is a tough by the book cop who is trying to prove herself to Blood Rock, when Naomi a young Amish girl is found shot in a cornfield. While it looks like an open and shut case of accidental shooting, something just feels off for Sheriff Adams, and she know the Amish community is hiding something. Her tenacity to go after the truth even when everyone else is telling her to close the case and move on it the reason I love her as a character so much. 

The story is told in two parts as the mystery unfolds, one from Serenity and Daniel as they try to find out the truth behind Naomi’s death, and one from Naomi herself in the events leading up to her death. This before and after point of view switching really opens the readers eyes, but still manages  to leave the truth hidden until the very end. Also watching Naomi’s life unfold before the tragedy of her death made me want to know what happened more than anything else. 

Karen Ann Hopkins has delivered with Lamb to the Slaughter, and I am hoping for a lot more Serenity Adams mysteries in the future. I love the uniqueness Karen Ann Hopkins brings to the mystery genre, and I will DEFIANTLY be reading more from her in the future. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book, in exchange for an honest review**

We have a really exciting prize package for this tour, so make sure to follow along for more chances to win every day! What’s up for grabs:
• A $100 Amazon Gift Card
• An autographed set of Karen’s YA Temptation series
• A traditional Amish style hand stitched wall hanging/lap quilt with the lone star pattern in country colors

Please enter via the Rafflecopter form. Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule
Monday April 21 - Caffeinated Book Reviewer - Review 
Tuesday April 22 - Lose Time in Reading - Review 
Wednesday April 23 - Love Life Read - Review 
Thursday April 24 - A Book Addicts Bookshelf - Author Interview 
Friday April 25 - Curling Up with a Good Book - Guest Post 

Monday April 28 - Page Turners - Character Interview 
Tuesday April 29 - Andi's Book Reviews - Review 
Wednesday April 30 - Unabridged Bookshelf - Review 
Thursday May 1 - Evie Bookish - Guest Post 
Friday May 2 - Bookish Brunette - Excerpt 

Monday May 5 - Bewitched Bookworms - Review 
Tuesday May 6 - Blissful Book Reviews - Guest Post 
Wednesday May 7 - Bittersweet Enchantment - Interview 
Thursday May 8 - Chosen by You Book Club - Interview 
Friday May 9 - Christy Howell Books - Review 

Monday May 12 - Book Swarm - Review 
Tuesday May 13 - Literary Me - Interview 
Wednesday May 14 - Addicted Readers - Guest Post 
Thursday May 15 - Tien's Blurb - Review 
Friday May 16 - Jeanz Book Read N' Reviews - Review 

Monday May 19 - Bajgajka Loves Books and Giveaways - Guest Post 
Tuesday May 20 - Actin' Up with Books - Review 
Wednesday May 21 - Kimberly Faye Reads - Review 
Thursday May 22 - Reading Lark - Review 
Friday May 23 - Janiera Eldridge - Review 

Monday May 26 - I Read Indie - Review 
Tuesday May 27 - Glorious Books - Guest Post 
Wednesday May 28 - Little Miss Drama Queen - Review 
Thursday May 29 - Once Upon Twilight - Review 
Friday May 30 - It's a Book Thing - Review


Thank you for visiting Unabridged Bookshelf!

5 comments:

Rita Wray said...

Great review, I can't wait to read the book.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

Tiffany Holme said...

Thank you for being a part of this tour! Karen Ann Hopkins novels really intrigue me <3 Yur review has me thinking that I will love this one and I'm excited that it is told from Serenity and Daniel's POV :D

collenga said...

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

Christina Fiorelli said...

Christina R. in the rafflecopter

I LOVE that it's a twisty mystery and that the sheriff is a girl who knows the Amish!! The romance is supposed to be good too :)

Lovely review :)

Christina Fiorelli said...

Christina R. in the rafflecopter

I LOVE that she's by the book and that she follows her police instincts!!

Daniel sounds awesome and I'm glad we hear from him too :)

Lovely review :)

Thank you :)

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