Welcome to Unabridged Bookshelf's stop on the Whispers From the Dead Blog Tour! Today, I have a review of Whispers From the Dead and a tour-wide giveaway for you. Make sure to check out everything going on during this tour by clicking the banner above or the tour schedule posted below.
About the Book:
Title: Whispers From the Dead
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Series: Serenity's Plain Secrets #2
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
Genre: Adult, Mystery,
Some Amish communities aren't so cozy.
Whispers From The Dead is the powerful and thrilling sequel to Lamb to the Slaughter, in the Amish mystery series, Serenity’s Plain Secrets.
Sheriff Serenity Adams and Daniel Bachman are once again partnered up in a criminal investigation, when they travel to a northern Amish settlement that has been riddled by arsons for the past two decades. Serenity quickly discovers that there is much more going on than just barns being set on fire in the touristy community, and that the new group of Amish has their own secrets to hide. She begins to unravel an extensive criminal underworld that threatens to destroy everything that the simple people of Poplar Springs hold dear and once again puts her own life in jeopardy.
And even though Serenity tries desperately to avoid it, things begin heating up between her and Daniel, making her wonder if true love and happiness are really within her grasp.
Other Books in the Series:
Title: Lamb to the Slaughter
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Series: Serenity's Plain Secrets #1
Publication Date: March 14, 2014
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.
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 Whispers From the Dead
Whispers From the Dead far exceeded my expectations for the second book in the Serenity’s Plains Secrets series. I absolutely loved Lamb to the Slaughter, but Whispers From the Dead takes the action from the first book and ramps it up a few notches. Who knew mystery novels about Amish communities could keep a reader on their toes as much as this series does. Karen Ann Hopkins knows how to keep the suspense high and keep the blood pumping for more.
Do not let me forget to mention that my favorite parts had to do with Serenity and Daniel’s interactions and relationship developments. I have to say I have to been rooting for them to get together, and I liked seeing a little bit more of them. Serenity maybe hesitant to jump straight in, but I love the steam flirtation between these two. I cannot wait to see where their relationship goes in the next installment of this series.
The Amish community has always fascinated me, even without ever having the pleasure of visiting a town near a colony. I love how Karen Ann Hopkins takes care to show them in both an outsiders’ point of view, and from the viewpoint of the Amish. It really fascinates me and it gives the books in this series a real authenticity. I think the lack of connection with the English and their penchant to stick with their own community in these novels at least makes the mystery part more intense.
Karen Ann Hopkins has delivered again with Whispers From the Dead, and if the pattern continues the next book in the Serenity’s Plain Secrets series is going to be even better than first two. The best part about this book is it really stands on its own, but it is also made better by being part of a series. Whispers From the Dead is my favorite book so far this year, and I suspect it will continue to be one of my favorite books of all time.
**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book, in exchange for an honest review**
Tour Schedule
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Expected Publication: February 23, 2015
