Harmless as Doves by P.L. Gaus
c.2011, Ohio University Press
$24.95
193 pages

Sometimes, people can surprise you.

You like to think you’re a good judge of character – you can spot a shyster a mile away and you know a potential friend when you see one – but, you hate to admit, you’ve been wrong before. It’s a surprise when shady characters become unlikely allies, and trusted pals become untrustworthy.

So upon what can you base your first impressions? For the people in Holmes County, Ohio, their way of life explains a lot. That’s because many of them are pacifistic Amish, but in the new book Harmless as Doves by P.L. Gaus, it appears that one of them just committed murder.

Bishop Leon Shetler needed a vacation. The sun wasn’t even up on that October morning when he slipped on his clothes and headed out to milk his cow, his mind wandering to Florida.

Down near Sarasota, there was an Amish community along the beach. Bishop had heard about blue skies and sand, and though he knew such dreams were foolishness, they were warm comfort on a cool day.

But as the Bishop went about his chores, he was suddenly startled by young Crist Burkholder, who stood panting in the Bishop’s barn. Then Crist said something that chilled the Bishop even further: “I just killed Glenn Spiegle.”
Not long before, Glenn Spiegle came to the Bishop, asking to learn Amish ways because, he said, he was looking for peace. Spiegle had been in prison, was struggling with remorse and the Amish community welcomed him.

But not everyone liked him. Spiegle had confronted Crist Burkholder earlier that October morning to tell the young man that Spiegle needed to marry Vesta Miller, that his life depended on it. Spiegle had been keeping company with Vesta’s father, Jacob, and an arranged marriage seemed imminent, although Vesta loved Burkholder.

Angry about the whole thing, Burkholder punched Spiegle as hard as he could.  Spiegle went down – and never got up again.

But was a peaceful Amish man like Burkholder capable of killing?  Why was Jacob Miller suddenly fleeing to Florida? And why was Darba Winter, who saw Burkholder run from her barn, going quietly insane?

Why do authors seem to think that loading a book with characters is a good thing? Harmless as Doves is a fine mystery. Author P.L. Gaus knows how to string his readers along with plot twists and the kind of surprises that make whodunit fans wring their hands and cackle with glee.

But you’ll need a pen and paper for note-taking as you’re reading, because this book has well over two dozen characters to remember, and at least one of them is known by two different names. Not only does this clutter the story, but it also adds to the confusion inherent in a mystery novel. I liked this book, but it needed a smaller cast.

So, should you read it? I think so, if you can keep in mind that Harmless as Doves is overly populous. Remembering that will help ensure the only surprise you’ll get is in the mystery itself.

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. Readers with questions or comments may write to Terri in care of this publication.