Cast a Blue Shadow (Ohio Amish Mystery Series #3) » (1)

P. L. Gaus is a chemistry professor at The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. He also teaches a course in alternative cultures. He is the co-author of Basic Inorganic Chemistry, a best-selling college textbook. Gaus is the author of an Ohio University Press series of mysteries set among the Old Order Amish sects in Holmes County, Ohio. His first novel, Blood of the Prodigal: An Ohio Amish Mystery, published in 1999, received favorable reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, ForeWord Magazine, and Kirkus Reviews. It was also a selection of The Mystery Guild Book Club. His second book, Broken English: An Ohio Amish Mystery, published in 2000, and his third, Clouds Without Rain: An Ohio Amish Mystery, published in 2001, received similar rave treatment in the news media.The New York Times Book Review said of Clouds Without Rain: “Gaus is a sensitive storyteller who matches his cadences to the measured pace of Amish life, catching the tensions among the village’s religious factions.” In 1971, Gaus received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He has a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He has published 22 articles in professional chemistry journals. He also is a certified firearms instructor. P.L. Gaus was born March 26, 1949, in Athens, Ohio. He has lived in Ohio for most of his life. Today he lives in Wooster with his wife, Madonna.

In Cast a Blue Shadow, his fourth Ohio Amish Mystery, P. L. Gaus continues to explore the thresholds of culture and faith among the Amish sects and their English neighbors of northern Ohio. Through interwoven plots, Gaus portrays these ways of life at odds with one another despite their seeming harmony. Coupling those clashes with the petty and desperate scufflings of academic politics, Gaus spins a suspenseful tale of power, pride, and tested faith.

Publishers Weekly

In Gaus's fourth thoughtful Amish mystery (after 2001's Clouds Without Rain), a blizzard tears into northern Ohio, devastating Millersburg College and the lives of many of the students and locals. Among the casualties is fabulously wealthy business executive Juliet Favor, patron of the college, who's discovered dead in her bedroom. The next morning Mennonite student Martha Lehman curls up in a fetal position outside her psychiatrist's office. Since she was involved with Juliet's son, she becomes the prime suspect in what proves to be a murder case. Professor Michael Branden and Sheriff Bruce Robertson must find the killer no matter who it may be. The true victim, however, is Martha, whose troubled past has cost her dearly and, as a Mennonite student in a secular environment, is doubly isolated. The psychiatric element works well here-Martha's not a nut case but a young woman in almost unbearable pain. How she will reconcile her past and find a place in society is part of the puzzle to be solved. The author portrays the conflicts among the various Amish sects whose varying degrees of strictness in some instances cause them to shun each other. Eschewing any academic pedantry, Gaus manages to expertly enlighten as well as entertain. (Nov.) FYI: The author teaches chemistry and alternative cultures at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.