The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen

 

"So many things will never be known. That's really the bitter truth of true crime writing. We can never know for sure what truly happened. Not all of it. Sure, forensic science and witness statements can give us an excellent idea of what transpired, but that's only part of the how. Not the why. Not the reasoning behind the act. Forensics can't tell what the perpetrator was thinking as he or she took someone's life."

     -Gregg Olsen, from the book

I do enjoy a true crime read from time to time. This one was good but not great. My rating is 3. It was a bit confusing when the author jumped from one place to another, interviewing multiple witnesses. To top it off he occasionally reverts to a story from a first book called Abandoned Prayers which also involved the Amish community.

In 1977 an Amish wife named Ida Stutzman was found dead near a fire at the family barn. Her husband Eli was never a suspect although there several reasons he should have been. Ida's brother Daniel asks Olsen to delve into what he feels was the murder of his sister. Between Ida's death and Olsen's recent investigation, Little Boy Blue is found dead in the snow and identified as Danny Stutzman, Eli and Ida's son. Did Eli murder him also?

Olsen shows more determination and patience than I could have mustered in solving a mystery 45+years old. In the process he uncovers a conspiracy of silence and some ugly secrets kept by a community known for its strict religious beliefs. He can't help but think that if only one person had spoken up at the right time, lives would have been saved. 

The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar

“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”

         --Vincent van Gogh
                                                     
This was the first book selected for our book club for 2024. I believe I would have enjoyed it more if I had not just read The Last Masterpiece involving art history and really more information than I wanted. This one at least focused on one particular artist. 

Protagonist Emsley Wilson is co-owner of an art auction house in Hollywood. Before her much adored and famous grandmother passes away, she gives Emsley a mysterious box containing a diary. It turns out the diary dates back to the 1800's and belonged to Johanna Bonger van Gogh, the sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh. The novel continues with two timelines, that of Emsley and Johanna. 

Emsley is going through some rough times and is inspired by the determination and perseverance shown by Johanna through her diary. Johanna had married Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother. When both brothers die tragically, leaving Johanna a widow with a young son, she is forced into survival mode. She runs a boarding house to make a living while working to keep a promise to Theo to reveal Vincent's art to the world. 

I just read an article from the New York Times titled "The Woman Who Made van Gogh." Between that and the novel I have learned a great deal about a woman I had never heard of. It is pretty surprising to me how unappreciated Vincent's art was until Johanna began her relentless project. 

I have visited Arles where Vincent lived and worked with Gauguin for a time. Now I would love to get back to Amsterdam to the Van Gogh Museum. Maybe soon...

I rated the book a 3. Will be interesting to hear from the Page Turners when we meet in a week. To be continued then....

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Page Turners had a stimulating discussion of the novel, in spite of the scarcity of good questions from the author. Some members found the beginning slow and the plot too predictable. All learned of an inspiring woman, Johanna, unknown to us before. I believe that, in itself, made the reading worthwhile. The book received an average rating of 3.4.

The Last Masterpiece by Laura Morelli

"Look, none of us, nobody, is going to live forever. But we're here for the things that will live forever. We're here for the idea of family, not just our own families. We're here for freedom, and not just our own. And these...musty old paintings as you call them, they're the living embodiment of that idea. They're not just for the Italians. They're for all of us."

                  -Josie, from the novel

Another novel of WWII but set in Italy. It involves two women in the midst of the war (1943) trying to save important Italian art from the destruction of the war. Eva Brunner is a photographer on the side of the Nazis, documenting the paintings and sculptures the Germans are trying to "save." American Josephine "Josie" Evans, a 5th Army WAC, becomes a stenographer who also documents Italian masterpieces in the effort to keep them safe.

Written by an art historian, there is much---maybe too much---vivid detail about the art being found, hidden, or looted. Much of it, I had never heard of. I have rated the novel a 3 because it just became tedious to me. I found myself just wanting to be done! 

Descriptions of Florence called the "jewel of the Renaissance," made me want to go back and explore the place that one character described this way: "the whole city is a work of art." I am going to include some pictures here. The Duomo of Florence, an amazing cathedral and a painting mentioned many times in the novel, Adam and Eve by Luis Cranach.

 

Traitor's Gate by Jeffrey Archer

 

"But they didn't have to hand over any money, which was all part of Faulkner's plan to make sure they ended up with the wrong picture. William had once told her that it's easy to be conned if you want to believe the conman."

                    -Beth Warwick's thoughts, from the novel

I really didn't like this novel at all. Perhaps because there were numerous characters or maybe I didn't realize this was #6 in a William Warwick series. Then again, I am not a Brit, so I don't really appreciate all the pomp and ceremony involved in the government surrounding the royal family. Of course, it didn't help that the story begins with the effort to retrieve an original painting that was surreptitiously replaced with a fake in a museum only to devolve into a second plot of revenge to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. I stayed confused through much of the book. Not sure why I finished it except that is what I do!

The part of the story I found entertaining was the Warwick kids working on a school project about an historical character named Colonel Blood who had stolen the Crown Jewels. Very ironic since their father, William of Scotland Yard, would soon be involved with such a heist.

I can't recommend this one. I've rated it a 2. So many mysteries and thrillers out there that MUST be better!

Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger

 

"It is a great web that the Creator spins, and within it, we are all connected. Dreams are sometimes the threads of that connection. In dreams, Ma'iingan [Wolf], I have seen you, too."

                -Henry Meloux, from the novel

The completion of this novel, #19 in the Cork O'Connor series, was bittersweet. I have LOVED them all and this, as far as I knew was the final installment. Then I saw a #20 mentioned and I was thrilled until I saw it wouldn't be released until August, 2024! Oh, the anticipation!

A woman named Dolores Morriseau comes to Henry Meloux, the Ojibwe healer, (and my favorite character to quote) for help with a marital problem. As it turns out, there are hired killers out to find her and it falls to Henry who is close to 100 years old to get her and his great-niece Rainy, also Cork's wife, and himself to a safe place. 

Of course, Cork immediately involves himself in the search along with the brother-in-law of Dolores. It is a difficult endeavor, especially with uncooperative weather. Cork's son, Steven, is assigned the task of finding out more about the husband of Dolores, who as it turned out, is the one the mercenaries actually seek. Steven is paired with the Morriseau sister-in-law in the search for information. (Could they be romantically involved in the next book?)

The format of the novel is interesting and unique to the series with the POVs alternating between Cork, Rainy, Steven and Wolf, the tracker for the "bad guys."

I give Fox Creek a 5 and I look forward to next August. In the meantime, there are two stand-alone novels of Krueger's I haven't read: The Levee and The Devil's Bed.

Back of the Yard by Meg Lelvis

 

"People say time marches on, but to me, time sneaks away, silently fading into memories you keep, and memories you wish you could erase."

                 -Betty O'Leary, from the novel

I always enjoy historical fiction and this one subtitled A Great Depression Family Saga involves a time period I have not read often. Main character Betty O'Leary is born in 1930 in Chicago, back of the stockyards, hence the title. She is the youngest in her Irish family and while Betty is a small child, the family experiences a tragic loss which will affect them all in the future, emotionally and mentally. Betty not only grieves the loss but blames herself for it and feels abandoned when she is sent to live with her aunt and uncle because her mother is incapacitated. So much angst for a young person!

I rated the book a 4 and I especially liked Betty's early years and her experiences with school and books. (That's the elementary school teacher in me!) I was rooting for her all along to find peace, hope and happiness in her life. 

I am personally acquainted with this author, and I will want to read more of her work.

The Barefoot Mailman by Theodore Pratt

 

"He [Steven] understood then that it wouldn't be many years before a regular railroad ran along here, all the way to Miami, just as Doc had predicted. Walking the beach would become a thing of the past. It gave him a queer feeling of life changing, turning over, and of good, familiar things passing."

                      -from the novel

This book was recommended and loaned by a friend who enjoys reading about Florida history. It is set in South Florida around the 1880's, before the "land boom." Main character Steven Pierton has taken on the role of mailman, delivering mail from Jupiter Lighthouse to Miami, walking barefoot the 100 miles along the beach. He has to watch out for outlaws called beachcombers, a negative meaning of a word I've only heard used positively. He occasionally had to escort others along his route, one who became a love interest and one he clashed with over multiple issues, a corrupt land speculator named Sylvanus Hurley. 

I enjoyed the first 2/3 or so of the book but the end got into political battles, turning violent, and I was left a bit confused. I will rate the book a 3; the writing is good, but the novel is far from the best historical fiction set in Florida!