The author was born in Lancaster, PA. "The characters in these mysteries might look like ordinary small-town folk, but some of them harbor an appalling capacity for greed, lust, and revenge-unsavory motivations that lead to a fascinating variety of crimes. These intriguing tales of detection are also thoughtful character studies of American rural life. They represent the best work by award-winning author John F. Suter, who entertained readers of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine for decades." [from Amazon.com]
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations, music ; 23 cm
Summary
"For hundreds of years Candle Love Feast has been a much loved part of the Moravian Christmas celebration. This love feast is a simple and beautiful service held on Christams Eve in honor of the Birthday of the baby Jesus. Candle Love Feast is held especially for children on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and even the babies are welcome." [dust jacket]
"Manny Tremaine didn't want to live in the country at all, and certainly not in the Amish community in Pennsylvania where his mother and stepfather had settled...Manny did get a garden, and he grew such an amazing number of beans that he was glad to accept the neighbors' help in selling them. ...Only after he has worked hard and faced danger with the Glicks does Manny realize that if he is to be treated as a grown up he must act like one. In the process, he discovers that both of his wishes have come true - a garden of his own and a wonderful new friend." [dust jacket]
Despite her father's objections, a young Amish girl secretly looks forward to attending public school where she makes a best friend and gains a new perspective on her family's way of life.
"A boy had to ride sometimes, or he would burst in pieces! Twelve-year-old Dirk, a son of the plain people, dearly loved his family and would not have traded shoes with any city boy. But, still, the ways of his people were so -this way exactly and no other way! It was hard to want to ride a horse so badly he 'could taste it,' and to have to forego the pleasure because 'a horse is to work.'" [book jacket]
"This is the story of Frances Slocum, who at the age of five, was abducted by Indians. It didn't take this little girl long to adapt to the ways of the Indian. By the time she was an adult, as Maconaquah, she thought, spoke and looked like the true indian she had become.This is the story of her life and the efforts of her natural family to find and be reunited with her. Sixty years after her disappearance she was reunited with her family." [from the dust jacket]
