It’s not really too early for Christmas mysteries. The Christmas books are released in September and October now because, let’s face it, most of us don’t read a lot during December. And, I wouldn’t miss Laura Bradford’s latest Amish Mystery, A Killer Carol. This is one of my favorite series. The characters are well-developed and realistic.

Claire Weatherly, owner of Heavenly Treasures, provided the idea for the first Christmas festival, “A Heavenly Night” in the town. While she’s nervous, hoping the event will work for the townspeople and visitors, she doesn’t anticipate the event that could ruin cheerful expectations. When an elderly Amish couple is found dead by a group of teen carolers, the first thought is they died together. However, Claire’s boyfriend, police detective Jakob Fisher, says they were murdered. And, as far as he knows, the last people to see them were a young couple, newlyweds Samuel and Ruth Yoder.

While Jakob investigates, Claire can’t believe Samuel and Ruth would kill anyone. She investigates herself, but Claire’s disbelief causes a rift between Jakob and Claire. She has a hard time accepting that his job forces him to follow the evidence, while she wants to follow her heart. Unfortunately, her heart tells her Jakob is wrong, and that he’s keeping secrets from her. The murder investigation may not be the entire reason Jakob is acting strange when he’s around her. It’s too bad Ruth is acting strange as well. Claire begins to doubt her heart when it comes to the people she’s grown to love.

The Amish Mysteries by Laura Bradford have always been about matters of the heart and community as much as they’ve been about murder investigations. The relationships between Claire and her beloved aunt, between Claire and her friends in the Amish community, are essential to the atmosphere in the story. Those relationships create an atmosphere of warmth, trust, and understanding. That doesn’t change in this latest story in the series.

However, Claire must examine her own heart, her feelings for Jakob, and her understanding of his job and responsibilities. This is going to sound strange. Reed Farrel Coleman recently wrote an article about Jesse Stone, the police chief featured in Coleman’s continuation of Robert B. Parker’s series. Coleman’s comments fit Jakob Fisher as well. “Jesse must weigh his actions carefully for as much as he might care for the people involved on either side of a case, he must also act in accordance with professional standards and requirements of his office.” In this particular case, when Claire’s friends are suspects in a murder, she has a hard time accepting Jakob as a professional with standards. It takes two other people to point out to her that Claire is not recognizing Jakob’s role.

There’s a depth to Laura Bradford’s characters that is sometimes lacking in other cozy mysteries. It’s this recognition of their own personal shortcomings that makes her characters come alive on the page. As a mystery reader, I found it easy to guess the killer in A Killer Carol. However, as a person who reads for character, I always appreciate the changes and realistic characters in Bradford’s books. A Killer Carol, the seventh in the series, reflects that growth.

Laura Bradford’s website is www.laurabradford.com

A Killer Carol by Laura Bradford. Berkley Prime Crime, 2019. ISBN 9781984805904 (paperback), 291p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.