Five years ago, while William Rees was still recovering from his stint as a Revolutionary War soldier, his beloved wife died. Devastated, Rees left his son, David, in his sister’s care, fled his Maine farm, and struck out for a tough but emotionally empty life as a traveling weaver. Now, upon returning unexpectedly to his farm, Rees discovers that David has been treated like a serf for years and finally ran away to join a secluded religious sect—the Shakers.

Overwhelmed by guilt and hoping to reconcile with his son, Rees immediately follows David to the Shaker community. But when a young Shaker woman is brutally murdered shortly after Rees’s arrival, Rees finds himself launched into a complicated investigation where the bodies keep multiplying, a tangled web of family connections casts suspicion on everyone, and the beautiful woman on the edge of the Shaker community might be hiding troubling ties to the victims. It quickly becomes clear that in solving Sister Chastity’s murder, Rees may well expose some of the Shaker community’s darkest secrets, not to mention endanger his own life.

An atmospheric portrait of a compelling time in American history, A Simple Murder is an outstanding debut from Eleanor Kuhns, Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America’s 2011 First Crime Novel Competition Winner.

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AUTHOR BIO

ELEANOR KUHNS is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition. She lives in New York, received her master’s in Library Science from Columbia University, and is currently the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York. This is her first novel.

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READER REVIEW

Will Rees, a travelling weaver, has returned to his farm to check on his son David only to discover that he has run away to the local Shaker community. He finds David there, but also finds that one of the young women there has been murdered. As shocking as that would be anywhere, it's almost unbelievable among the peaceful Shakers. Because Will has a history of solving crimes, he is asked to stay within the community and find the murderer. He agrees, as it will give him much-needed time with his son. As he searches for the murderer, he finds a web of deceit that goes back through the past and threatens the serenity of the peaceful Shaker community.

After the fascination with the Amish over the past few years, this novel was a breath of fresh air. I have been interested in the Shakers since visiting one of their communities as a child, but it seems that they have been overlooked in the world of fiction. Ms. Kuhns has not only written an excellent mystery novel, but a very realistic, albeit fictional, portrayal of Shaker life. If her debut novel is any indication of her future work, I look forward to any and all of her future novels.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through Goodreads FirstReads Program <http://www.Goodreads.com > book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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music to read by

The Shakers

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