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    A Christmas Mourning: An Amish Mystery Short Story
    A Christmas Mourning: An Amish Mystery Short Story
    A Christmas Mourning: An Amish Mystery Short Story
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    A Christmas Mourning: An Amish Mystery Short Story

    By Laura Bradford

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    About this ebook

    Claire Weatherly has come to respect how the Amish of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, value tradition. But not all traditions are necessarily quaint. When a decades-old mystery threatens the well-being of local police detective Jakob Fisher, she’ll pit herself against a community rooted in the past so that he can get on with his future.

    When Claire decides to visit the one-room schoolhouse Jakob attended as a young Amish boy, she’s puzzled by his refusal to go along too. As Jakob tells his story, Claire is stunned and saddened by the heartbreaking tale of a childhood mistake that led to the mysterious disappearance of a precious family artifact—and signaled the first break between Jakob and his mother, made all the more painful now that he’s been shunned by the family and community he loves.

    Knowing there’s only one way to help heal the irreparable wound that continues to haunt Jakob, Claire sets off to follow the trail of the missing heirloom, never suspecting that it will lead her to Jakob’s oldest friend, a long-ago Christmas secret, and an enduring truth about family, love, and the power of forgiveness.

    Praise for the National Bestselling Amish Mysteries

    “The best cozy mystery debut I’ve read this year.” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben

    “Delightful . . . Well-portrayed characters and authentic Amish lore make this a memorable read.” —Publishers Weekly
    “A fascinating cozy that showcases the culture of the people.” —Gumshoe Review

    “Bradford’s characters are some of the best developed, most interesting ones I’ve come across in a cozy mystery.” —Lesa’s Book Critiques

    About the Author:

    Laura Bradford is the national bestselling author of the Amish Mysteries, the Jenkins & Burns Mysteries, and the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (written as Elizabeth Lynn Casey). A new cozy mystery series will be added to the mix in 2016 with the release of The Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries. Laura is a former Agatha nominee and the recipient of an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award in romance. In her free time, Laura enjoys making memories with her family, traveling, baking, and visiting the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo. For more information and all the latest book news, visit her website.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeyond the Page Publishing
    Release dateNov 13, 2015
    ISBN9781940846682
    A Christmas Mourning: An Amish Mystery Short Story
    Author

    Laura Bradford

    Laura Bradford has spent much of her life moving around. After stints in New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri, she's finally settled in a quiet suburb of New York City with her daughters. A graduate of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Laura worked as a newspaper reporter and freelance business writer before delving head first into her first love--fiction. Today, Laura writes both romance and mysteries.

    Read more from Laura Bradford

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    • 3/5
      Twenty-six years ago Jacob lost his mother's treasured spoon on the day of a school Christmas program. Although he went back to the schoolhouse when he realized he left it there, the spoon was gone. When Claire's planned visit to the schoolhouse arouses that painful memory, she determines to find the spoon. This simple short story leaves the reader with a happy feeling.

    Book preview

    A Christmas Mourning - Laura Bradford

    Cover

    A Christmas Mourning

    Claire Weatherly has come to respect how the Amish of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, value tradition. But not all traditions are necessarily quaint. When a decades-old mystery threatens the well-being of local police detective Jakob Fisher, she’ll pit herself against a community rooted in the past so that he can get on with his future.

    When Claire decides to visit the one-room schoolhouse Jakob attended as a young Amish boy, she’s puzzled by his refusal to go along too. As Jakob tells his story, Claire is stunned and saddened by the heartbreaking tale of a childhood mistake that led to the mysterious disappearance of a precious family artifact—and signaled the first break between Jakob and his mother, made all the more painful now that he’s been shunned by the family and community he loves.

    Knowing there’s only one way to help heal the irreparable wound that continues to haunt Jakob, Claire sets off to follow the trail of the missing heirloom, never suspecting that it will lead her to Jakob’s oldest friend, a long-ago Christmas secret, and an enduring truth about family, love, and the power of forgiveness.

    Title Page

    Copyright

    A Christmas Mourning

    Laura Bradford

    Copyright © 2015 by Laura Bradford

    Material excerpted from Plain as Day and Portrait of a Sister copyright © 2018 by Laura Bradford

    Cover design and illustration by Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs

    Published by Beyond the Page at Smashwords

    Beyond the Page Books

    are published by

    Beyond the Page Publishing

    www.beyondthepagepub.com

    ISBN: 978-1-940846-68-2

    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher.

    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

    The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

    Contents

    A Christmas Mourning

    Excerpt from Plain as Day

    Excerpt from Portrait of a Sister

    The Amish Mystery Series

    Books by Laura Bradford

    About the Author

    A Christmas Mourning

    I’m pretty sure that smile could power a few Amish homes all on its own.

    Claire Weatherly stilled her finger atop the rim of her iced tea glass and gazed across the table at the man seated on the other side. Do you know how long it’s been since Aunt Diane and I have had an entire day together?

    What? You don’t count helping her in the kitchen at the inn as time together? Jakob Fisher leaned back in his chair, his dimpled smile on full display. So do you have specific plans yet?

    Pushing her glass to the side, she hiked her elbow onto the table and rested her chin inside her palm. We’re going to do a little shopping in the morning, have lunch at Taste of Heavenly, and tour the one-room Amish schoolhouse out on Oak Tree Lane.

    You haven’t been there yet? he asked.

    Surprisingly, no. It just never seemed to work out. She felt her chin bob in time with her quick shrug. I mean, I know it’s a replica, but I’ve wanted to go inside it ever since I moved here.

    It’s not a replica, Claire. It’s where I attended school until I was nine and a half.

    She leaned forward, intrigued. Wait. You went to that actual school when you were little? Seriously?

    Yes. He rose to his feet and wandered across the tiny kitchen to the window that overlooked Lighted Way. Even remaining at the table, she knew his view was of the quaint shops and restaurants that lined the cobblestoned link between the Amish and English sects of Heavenly, Pennsylvania. During the day, horse-pulled buggies traveled the road alongside cars and delivery trucks. At night though, any sign of Jakob’s former Amish brethren was virtually nil, with the plain folk—as they were often called—safely tucked away in their homes, enjoying a bit of family time before retiring for the night. The town purchased the building from the district and my dat and the other fathers built a new one for us to attend.

    For a moment, she stayed where she was, her vantage point making it easy to soak up everything she could about Jakob Fisher. The outside parts were easy—sandy blond hair, amber-flecked hazel eyes, wide, muscular chest, broad shoulders, and the extra six inches he had on her own five-foot-six frame. But as attractive as his exterior was, it was the small-town detective’s interior that truly made her weak in the knees when they were together.

    "To

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