Another fun Riley Spartz novel. I found this one intriguing because of the many details about the Amish community in Minnesota.

I enjoyed this book, but the beginning half was slow moving and it took a while for me to care about the plot or the characters. Some of the dialogue felt forced and unnatural, and the characters could have used a few more pages of development to help them come to life. There were several instances where I felt that the main character, Riley, made poor decisions that a smart journalist would not make. I did enjoy learning about Amish culture, but this story definitely does not reflect favorably upon their lifestyle.

What did I just read?!?!

To start, my bad for not knowing this was a series. Sure would be helpful if there was an indication for that on the library app.

2nd: this book was so very little about the premise, and so much more about all kinds of other shit.

3rd:

Spoiler

THEY DO NOT SAVE SARAH. Spoiler alert: she's dead before the book even starts.

4th: Who is like, "oh man, my boss is a creep, guess I'll just put up with it? LITERALLY NO ONE, NOT EVEN 10 YEARS AGO. And blackmailing him to get a gig? That makes you a creep too. I cannot believe MC (who's name I have already forgotten) would be like, "yeah, put up with that more so you get lots of videos and texts" GROSS.

5th: Maybe do some research before making a huge part of the book about a sanitation story: there are plenty of studies that show that gloves are actually more likely to be gross than properly washed hands are. Here is just one of a very large number of articles that dive deeper.

I hated this book.

Interesting insight to the Amish community. As this setting isn't frequently publicized and adds a bit more mystery - however, I felt this novel was predictable. The "bad guy" in plain site and the main character falls for the charm... this aspect was the typical Lifetime movie plot.

A solid one and a half stars--and a mental note to avoid this series, forever. In the summer, I like "lite" reading: mysteries, nanny diaries, chick lit, and thrillers. And, especially, series where I can read a long string, watching characters develop. But they have to be well-written.

This book read like the author's daily journal, if the author was a heroic, whip-smart journalist ready to take on all challenges. When I say it read like a daily log, I mean that the story wandered all over the place (as real life does), making it occasionally incomprehensible. First the bear, then the Amish, then a corn maze, then the old boyfriend, then grisly murders--and oh yeah, what about that soldier bravely serving his country in the middle east? Did he kill somebody? Throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, all couched in prosaic writing. Bleah.

The extra half star comes from a twist: Kramer makes the Amish the bad guys. That takes cajones. Not enough to save the book, however.

I do like that this mystery is set in Minnesota. Part of the story is set in an Amish community which is moderately interesting. Light summer read.

I’ve enjoyed listening to these books. I think they can be a bit verbose but I also enjoy learning about the ins and outs of the television news business.

TV Reporter Riley Spartz doesn't have to go hunting for news - it finds her. In Shunning Sarah, Spartz heads to southern Minnesota to cover a story about a boy who fell in a sinkhole. She ends up discovering much more than this and once again ends up as news herself!

I've read most of the books in this series and I liked this installment as much as the others. I enjoyed the insider's look inside the day-to-day life as a TV news reporter and the main story about the murder of a young Amish woman is interesting. The overall tone of the book is depressing, though, so while it's well-written and the characters are interesting, many of the events in the book were sad. Things are resolved by the conclusion of the book, but I wish the ending would have been a little more upbeat.

Another good mystery by Kramer. I actually didn't have the killer pegged in this one, and I do love a good Amish mystery (as I live in Amish country). I am a little annoyed with the on again, off again nature of Riley and Nick's relationship, as well as her string of jerky bosses. Otherwise, a very entertaining quick read!