By P. L. Gaus
“In this compact and tautly written mystery, the third in the series, Gaus portrays vividly the clash of traditional Amish values with the forces of land development and greed…. Gaus has structured his novel Dragnet style, relating events day-to-day, moment-to-moment, while the plot unfolds with deceptive simplicity from the initial gruesome accident.”
Publishers Weekly
“Gaus is a sensitive storyteller who matches his cadences to the measured pace of Amish life, catching the tensions among the village’s religious factions.”
New York Times Book Review
“Gaus … combines drama and bewilderment in just the right proportions.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Set among the Ohio Amish, this murder/mystery is more worldly than one would expect with such a backdrop…. How (Branden) unravels more than one mystery makes for interesting reading, particularly as he has to tread delicately between two parallel cultures.”
The Jerusalem Post
Written in the tradition of Tony Hillerman, in Clouds without Rain, P. L. Gaus once again provides compelling intrigue and insight into Amish culture and tradition alongside contemporary American life.
In the wake of a fatal accident involving an Amish buggy and an eighteen-wheeler, Professor Michael Branden, working with the Holmes County Sheriff’s Department, becomes suspicious about the true nature of the crash. His suspicions only grow when the trustee of the dead man’s estate disappears a few days later.
Faced with Amish teenagers in goat masks robbing buggies on dusty lanes, land swindles involving out-of-town developers, several mysterious deaths, and the disappearance of a bank official, Branden realizes that there is far more to the story than a buggy crash on a sleepy country road.
This new edition of Clouds without Rain features an exclusive interview with the author, reading group materials, and a detailed map and driving guide to Holmes County, Ohio with everything one needs to visit the iconic scenes depicted in the story.
P. L. Gaus is the author of seven books in the Amish-Country Mystery series. He lives in Wooster, Ohio, an area that is close to the world’s largest settlement of Amish and Mennonite people. Gaus lectures widely about the lifestyles, culture, and religion of the Amish.
Visit his website at P. L. Gaus
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Paperback
978-0-8214-1081-3
Retail price: $16.95,
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Release date: February 2020
203 pages
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5½ × 8½ in.
Rights: World
Hardcover
978-0-8214-1379-1
Retail price: $26.95,
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Release date: February 2001
203 pages
Rights: World
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978-0-8214-4062-9
Release date: February 2020
203 pages
Rights: World
“So many modern mystery novels feature crime fighters who seem every bit as sick in the head as the criminals they seek to put behind bars. Author P. L. Gaus’s mystery series set in Ohio’s Amish country features a college professor, not a tough private eye or a rogue cop, and a cast of Corn Belt criminals who are just as deadly as the big city variety.”
The Advocate
“Clouds Without Rain uses believable characters to tell a carefully detailed story in an unhurried fashion. Gaus' style is deliberate but never slow-moving and aptly fits the subject.”
Medina Gazette
Separate from the World
An Ohio Amish Mystery
By P. L. Gaus
Separate from the World is a story of a rift between two Amish factions, one that favors the use of medicine and that participates in a college study of genetic traits particular to the Amish community, and the other that rejects any outside influence.
A Prayer for the Night
An Ohio Amish Mystery
By P. L. Gaus
In A Prayer for the Night, P. L. Gaus deftly balances the pace and practices of Amish life in northern Ohio against the unfolding urgency of a hostage situation. The mystery gains from its exploration of the ever-widening chasm between the traditional life of the Amish people and their interaction with the outside world.
Cast a Blue Shadow
An Amish Country Mystery
By P. L. Gaus
A mute Mennonite girl with a troubled past. A wealthy benefactor found murdered in her home. In the wake of both events, Professor Michael Branden begins an investigation that threatens to tear Millersburg College apart.
Mystery · Ohio · Amish · Ohio and Regional
Blood of the Prodigal
An Amish Country Mystery
By P. L. Gaus
Mystery and foreboding lurk in a quiet Old Order Amish community when a young boy goes missing one early morning without a trace. With a strong distrust of law enforcement and the modern “English” ways, the bishop must put his faith in an unlikely partnership. Will he find the boy before it’s too late?
Mystery · Amish · Ohio · Ohio and Regional
