The Bookworm Sez by Terri Schlichenmeyer 

Whiskers of the Lion by P.L. Gaus c.2015, Plume $15/$17 Canada 256 pages Don’t look now, but your fangs are showing. And that’s probably a good thing. You don’t want anyone to take advantage of you, or think you’re a pushover. Sometimes, you need to unleash your inner beast. But be careful – as in the new mystery Whiskers of the Lion by P.L. Gaus, murder could come roaring in. It had been a long summer. Ever since April, when Fannie Helmuth walked away from protective custody, Sheriff Bruce Robertson had forced his staff into overtime, looking for the Amish girl who’d somehow gotten herself involved with drug smuggling. Fannie was set to testify against the drug ring’s leader and Robertson knew the gang was looking for Fannie, too. Surely, in the four months since she disappeared, Fannie was dead. Definitely, Howie Dent was. Detective Stan Armbruster had found Howie’s corpse tied to a post in an abandoned house. Howie wasn’t Amish, but he was Fannie’s friend and he’d helped her escape from Holmes County that April day. Robinson’s deputies had tracked them to Memphis, where the trail went cold. According to medical examiner Missy Taggert, Howie’d been tortured before he died. Fannie Helmuth was tired of running, but Howie said it was best that they move around. She liked it in Michigan; her fiancé, Reuben, was there and she felt at home in the Amish community where they’d landed. Still, Howie said they needed to leave soon, and he’d headed home to pick up his car so they could. Howie said to trust nobody, but Fannie was sure she could talk with her friend, Jodie Tapp. Jodie, too, had been fooled into gang involvement. She knew what Fannie was going through. Back in Holmes County, Sheriff Bruce Robertson was falling apart. Even his staff saw his obsession with Fannie Helmuth’s disappearance was taking over his life: where she was, if she was alive, seemed to be the only thing on his mind. And that may have been true, because Robertson couldn’t get over the notion he was missing a very important clue … I struggle with what to say about this book because I liked it. I really did, but Whiskers of the Lion certainly had its rough spots. As the latest in a series, this mystery novel continues where the last one left off: drugs have come to Holmes County, Ohio, and along with it, murder. That makes for a unique twist to an old story, and author P.L. Gaus – who lives in Amish country – uses that home-field advantage to lend authenticity to his tales. And that would make for a completely enjoyable story with a cast of nicely-defined characters, if it wasn’t for the overabundance of filler. Detailed driving directions, an annoying propensity for name repetition and a thin thread of dream mire this book like wet clay. In the end, this novel is a winner for current fans, but new readers are better off starting with an earlier book. If you’re new to the series, Whiskers of the Lion goes down with a mewl. Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. Readers with questions or comments may write to Terri in care of this publication.