Amanda Flower

Amanda Flower: To Slip the Bonds of Earth

by

Series debut

To Slip the Bonds of Earth is the first book in what looks to be a wonderful series by Amanda Flower, author of the Emily Dickinson mysteries and many other series, featuring an amazing, real-life heroine, Katharine Wright, sister of the Wright Brothers.  Katharine was a remarkable woman, an intellectual, a suffragette, and the only college graduate among the Wright siblings.  Katharine was very close to her famous brothers, Wilbur and Orville, but while they were brilliant engineers, they never went to college.  Their father, a bishop, believed in educating daughters as well as sons, but Wilbur and Orville were largely self-taught, while Katharine graduated from Oberlin College, one of the few co-educational colleges at the time. read more

Amanda Flower: I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

by

Emily Dickinson #2

I hardly ever think the second book in a series is better than the first, but in this case, I do.  Amanda Flower introduced Emily Dickinson as a detective in the first audacious book. She detects with her maid, Willa Noble.  While the first book was mostly about Willa and her family, this one is more a melding of the two women’s lives, centering on a visit by Ralph Waldo Emerson to the home of Emily’s brother, Austin, and his new wife, Susan.

As the story opens Austin and Susan have just returned from their honeymoon, and Emily insists that Willa help them out for the week, preparing the house for Emerson’s arrival.  She blithely insists Willa can do her work at her house when she’s finished for the day at Austin’s.  One feature of this book, a bit more than the first, is Emily’s lack of awareness of the different life of a servant, and the constraints under which they function.  She’s constantly putting Willa into situations where no other maid would find herself and where Willa is supremely uncomfortable. This friction, mostly undiscerned by Emily herself, adds depth to the story. read more

Amanda Flower: Honeymoons Can be Hazardous

by

Amanda Flower’s Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous gives readers not only a suspenseful mystery, but also a unique look into Amish life, particularly how they live alongside and interact with the Englisch (what Amish refer those who are not of their faith), in the shared town of Harvest, Ohio. The town has always been relatively peaceful, but recently things have become unstable as there has been an increase in drug trafficking and use among both groups in the community. In a lovely display of camaraderie in the face of this new threat, everyone works together to fund and staff a community center where troubled individuals can go to get the help that they need. Everyone wants to protect the youth of their community, and to offer them education to help to avoid making desperate choices that could ruin, or even take, their lives. read more

Best of: History Mystery 2022

by

One reason I love historical mystery fiction so much is that the characters are operating without technology – they are using old fashioned deductive reasoning to solve their cases.  This year there was an incredible variety of wonderful work to choose from, embracing periods from just pre-WWII America in both the Southwest and in LA; to the East Coast in the 50’s; to Ohio in the 20’s; to Emily Dickinson and her maid investigating a crime close to home.  And of course there are some new installments of some always excellent series fiction, as well as two break outs with first in series books. read more

Amanda Flower: Because I Could Not Stop For Death

by

Amanda Flower’s charming historical mystery is set in the household of Emily Dickinson and her family around 1855.  The main character is not Emily herself (though she is a strong second) but the new maid in the Dickinson household, Willa Noble.  One of the more fascinating aspects of this novel is Flower’s simple ability to put the reader into a different mindset.  Willa, who has always been poor, is grateful for the work and for a roof over her head.  Her simple expectations are so different from the highly enlarged expectations of the early 21st century. read more

Best of: Cozies 2021

by

I read many books in a year, but I still can’t claim an encyclopedic reading of the cozies that were published in 2021.  These delicious morsels of storytelling are reason for joy, as the storytellers, even though they include murders, are in general optimistic.  You like the characters in these books, and would love to be friends with them.  These are my favorites this year.  For a really deep dive, check out Dru Ann Love’s blog, Dru’s Book Musings, which tackles everything in the cozy universe.  All of these titles are available on our website.  read more