Lethal Licorice: 05/17/25

Lethal Licorice by Amanda Flower and Rebecca Mitchell (Narrator) (2018) is the second book in the Amish Candy Shop mystery series. Bailey King, now living in Harvest, Ohio, to help her grandmother run Swissman's Sweets is participating in the annual Amish Confectionary Competition. Although she is using the same traditional techniques, as an Englischer, she's not exactly welcome and a few participants have lodged complaints.

Before the first day is even over, Bailey has other concerns besides her recipes: the pig, Jethro, is missing and her most ardent opponent is dead, her body tucked inside the church organ. Charlotte Weaver, a young Amish woman who has been learning to play the Englischer church's organ, is the prime suspect.

As a mystery, there's not a lot here. It's a puzzle more than a full on mystery. I had the two big pieces figured out early in the book, namely: where is Jethro and who killed Josephine Weaver. Understanding how spiteful people can be and having a good mental map of the landscape where the competition is being held. The author provides all the information you need to figure things out well before Bailey.

My one disappointment with Bailey is how inconsistent she is in her understanding of Amish culture despite her grandparents and all the time she has spent in Harvest. I understand the usefulness of having Bailey as an Englischer in that she's someone the reader can relate to. I also understand her not being able to come up with Deutsch phrases as it's not a language she uses regularly but I bet she would have at least a listening understanding of it from spending so much time there.

The third book in the series is Premeditated Peppermint (2018).

Four stars

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