THE PAST CAN CATCH UP TO YOUâ¦
Rachel Weaver Mason is finally going home to Deer Run, the Amish community she left behind so many years ago. Recently widowed, she wants desperately to create a haven for herself and her young daughter.
But the community, including Rachelâs family, is anything but welcoming. The only person happy to see her is her teenage brother, Benjamin, and heâs protecting a dark secret that endangers them all.
Determined to keep Benjamin safe from a suspected killer, Rachel has no choice but to turn to the one man she wanted to get as far away from as possible. Colin McDonald was her late husbandâs friend, and the man who came between them. Heâs never forgotten her and would do anything to keep her and her family safe.
Rachel doesnât know if she can trust Colin, or her growing feelings for him. But as they hunt for the killer, the tension between them builds and soon both their lives, and their hearts, are on the line.
Praise for Marta Perry
âPerry skillfully continues her chilling, deceptively charming romantic suspense series with a dark, puzzling mystery that features a sweet romance and a nice sprinkling of Amish culture.â
âLibrary Journal on Vanish in Plain Sight
âMarta Perry illuminates the differences between the Amish community and the larger society with an obvious care and respect for ways and beliefsâ¦. She weaves these differences into the story with a deft hand, drawing the reader into a suspenseful, continually moving plot.â
âFresh Fiction on Murder in Plain Sight
âLeahâs Choice, by Marta Perry, is a knowing and careful look into Amish culture and faith. A truly enjoyable reading experience.â
âAngela Hunt, New York Times bestselling author of Let Darkness Come
âLeahâs Choice is a story of grace and servitude as well as a story of difficult choices and heartbreaking realities. It touched my heart. I think the world of Amish fiction has found a new champion.â
âLenora Worth, author of Code of Honor
âMarta Perry delivers a strong story of tension, fear and trepidation. Season of Secrets (4.5 stars) is an excellent mystery thatâs certain to keep you in constant suspense. While love is a powerful entity in this story, danger is never too far behind.â
âRT Book Reviews, Top Pick
Dear Reader,
Thank you for choosing to read the first book in my new Amish suspense series, which is set in a fictional community in my own part of Pennsylvania. Iâm finding it a delicate balancing act but also great fun to combine the real places I know with my fictional community.
The Amish attitude toward nonviolence plays a large role in Home by Dark. Itâs sometimes difficult for people in the larger community to reconcile the very law-abiding nature of Amish life with the reluctance of the Amish to become involved with the law and its representatives. This attitude dates back to the earliest years of the Amish faith, when Amish were persecuted and killed by the law and government of the time. For the most part, an Amish person is more likely to forgive and/or ignore a crime against them by an outsider than to seek help from the police, and that attitude permeates the events of my story.
I hope youâll let me know how you felt about this story, and Iâd love to send you a signed bookmark or my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. You can write to me at Harlequin HQN, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279, email me at [email protected] or visit me on the web at www.martaperry.com.
Blessings,
Marta Perry
This story is dedicated to my grandson, Bjoern Jacob. And, as always, to Brian, with much love.
The gem cannot be polished without friction,
nor the person perfected without trials.
âAmish proverb
PROLOGUE
THE DESERTED BARN loomed ahead of them, broken beams jutting up toward the darkening sky like menacing fingers. Benjamin Weaver shivered, and the gas cans Will had made him carry clanked together.
Willâs head jerked around at the sound. âKeep it quiet.â His voice was a low mutter of Pennsylvania Dutch. âYou want to get us arrested?â
âTold you we shouldnâtâve brought him.â Joseph Stoltz frowned at him. Both the older boys wore Englisch clothes, and theyâd snickered at Benj for showing up dressed Amish.
All very well for them to put on jeans and T-shirts. They were both old enough to have started their rumspringa, and parents turned a blind eye to such clothes then. But he was only fourteen, and Daad would skin him if he found Benj in a getup like that. Daad had been upset enough lately with Benjâs oldest sister, Rachel, coming back to town and not being Amish anymore.
He shivered again, half with cold, half with fear of where this adventure was taking him. It grew chilly at night this early in June, especially out here on the wooded hillside. He hadnât thought to bring a jacket when heâd crawled out his window and slid down the roof of the woodshed. Heâd been too excited that Will and Joseph were letting him come along to think about that.