Murder, Simply Stitched by Isabella Alan: Meet Petunia the Nubian Goat! (w/Review & Giveaway)

Don’t Under Estimate the Goat

By Petunia the Nubian Goat from Murder, Simply Stitched

Never underestimate a goat, and if the goat you are talking about is me, Petunia the Nubian Goat, I would put an exclamation point on that! I’m clever, curious, and maybe just a little bit mischievous. How can I not be? There are just so many interesting things in this world, and I want to know about every last one of them. My Amish human, Gideon Nissley, doesn’t understand that. Like a lot of Amish, Gideon is fine living his life in a simple way. He doesn’t have any interest in changing.

So it was a big surprise a few years back when he transformed his family farm into an Amish auction yard. I suspect that his wife Tabitha had a big say in that. Most of the animals got sold, but Gideon decided to keep me. I was thrilled! Every day of the auction there are new and interesting people, both Amish and English, coming onto the Nissley’s land.

Unfortunately, Gideon doesn’t want me to meet any of them. Instead he traps me in my pen on auction days. How unfair is that? Well, I don’t stay by and take it. I have my ways of escaping. None of which I will tell you. They are closely kept goat secrets, and I would never break the goat code.

On the most recent auction day, there was extra excitement because a woman died. From what I could gather from the humans, she choked on a fry pie. Gideon and Tabitha are very upset over it as you can imagine. They are afraid that it will have an impact on the auction...maybe even close it down. I hope not! I love the auction too and don’t want anything to happen to it.

To make matter worse, there is this English woman with wild blond curls—I think her name is Angie—snooping around the grounds, and she brought her little dog too. I better keep an eye on them both and find out what happened to the fry pie woman. A goat’s work is never done!

Isabella Alan is celebrating the release of Murder, Simply Stitched with a special giveaway!

Enter to Win an Amish Charm Bracelet from author Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower)! Click here to Enter!

Follow Isabella on Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Blurb: When Angela Braddock enters her quilts in an Amish auction, she never expects one of her neighbors to end up going, going, gone....
                     
Angie is finding her niche as the new owner of her late aunt’s Amish quilt shop, Running Stitch. But as the summer is winding down, so is business. To bolster support for the shop, Angie decides to sell her quilts in the Rolling Brook Amish Auction, including some of her aunt’s most prized works.

The quilts promise to be a hit—but the gavel comes down on the lively event when Angie stumbles upon the body of township trustee Wanda Hunt behind a canning shed. The cause of death: a poisoned blueberry fry pie from Rachel Miller’s bakery table. Now Angie’s closest friend is a murder suspect. With Angie taking the lead, she and the other women of her aunt’s quilting circle set out to patch together the clues and stop a killer set on shredding the simple peace of Rolling Brook.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows Review: Simply put, this is one of my favorite cozies of 2014 so far. Isabella Alan is such an incredibly talented author who had me turning the pages in suspense one minute and chuckling at her humor the next.

What Made Us Purr:

* Amish Auctions & Fry Pies: It's nearly Halloween and Angie has the opportunity to sell her quilts in the Rolling Brook Amish Auction. Her table is near that of her friends Aaron and Rachel Miller's bakery table, and she witnesses an argument between Rachel and township trustee Wanda Hunt over the pie factory that Aaron plans to open in Rolling Brook. When Wanda is found dead behind a canning shed still clutching the poisoned blueberry fry pie apparently given to her by Rachel, Angie finds her best friend the main suspect in a murder.

* The Animals: From page one Petunia the goat steals the show. Her antics cause nothing but trouble for Angie, yet you can't help but fall in love with her. Another huge fan of Petunia's is Angie's French bulldog Oliver, who is also kept busy in this book taking care of new kitten Dodger. It's a total love affair between these two and absolute cuteness overload! Oliver makes me want to rush right out and adopt a Frenchie!

Final Catcall: It seems like many of the mysteries I've read lately have so many characters, twists and turns that my head starts spinning, so I appreciated reading a book that flows seamlessly with characters I've grown to really care about. Angie herself is a young woman that I can see myself being friends with, a personable, funny animal lover with a passion for her new career. I've never contemplated taking part in a quilting circle, but this series makes me think I might like to give it a try!

The next book in the series, Murder, Served Simply, is going to be set at Christmas, and I can't wait to see how Angie's Amish friends celebrate the holidays!