Sins of a Shaker Summer

Sister Rose Callahan #3

by Deborah Woodworth

Rose Callahan, newly appointed eldress of the community of Believers at the Kentucky Shaker viliage of North Homage, confesses to a nagging resentment toward Andrew, sent by the lead ministry in Mount Lebanon to act as trustee. She knows little about the man, except that he's taken charge of the Medicinal Herb Garden, over which Rose previously had control, and he's been expanding the tiny industry and experimenting with new medicinal herbs. Now two little girls have suddenly become deathly ill, and Rose's attention turns to the herb garden. Suspecting that the girls may have taken a notion to nibble on pretty but poisonous plants, she fears their hallowed land may have accidentally been turned into a killing ground. But as Rose investigates, mysterious death invades the gentle oasis of their spiritual world, and some chilling secrets come to light...secrets that bring Rose closer to a truth that even a nonviolent Believer might kill to keep.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 30, 2014

About the author

Deborah Woodworth spent her childhood in southern Ohio near the abandoned sites of several Shaker villages. Before turning to writing, she earned her Ph.D. in Sociology of Religion and spent a decade conducting research and teaching. She lives in New Brighton, Minnesota, near the Twin Cities.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira]

North Homage Shaker village in Kentucky has received an influx of Shakers from the he Lead Ministry in Mount Lebanon, N.Y. Brother Andrew Clark, a pharmacist in his previous life, is replacing Sister Rose Callahan as trustee now that she’s the new eldress. Three men who share Brother Andrew’s interest in medicinal herbs accompany him, along with two Shaker sisters and two children. But Sister Rose realizes that something isn’t quite right with the newcomers. When two little girls nearly die from what appears to be a poisoning, Sister Rose is determined to find out what secrets the Shakers have brought from the East, with the help of her perky friend, former Shaker Gennie Malone.

Sins of a Summer Shaker proves the best of author Deborah Woodworth’s books so far. I stayed up into the wee hours with this suspenseful page-turner set in this fictional Northern Kentucky Shaker village in 1937. I never suspected the culprit until it was revealed. So a great series that gets better and better!

Note: By 1937, North Homage, once home to 400 Believers, had dwindled to thirty-something. In real life, the last Shaker village in Kentucky, located near Bowling Green, closed in 1922. (I’ve been to the Shaker village at Pleasant Hill, near Lexington, which closed in 1910, several times, and I highly recommend visiting.)

[Cathy Cole]

Deborah Woodworth's historical series featuring Sister Rose Callahan is one that I've enjoyed from the first book, Death of a Winter Shaker. One of my cherished memories is of visiting Pleasant Hill, a Shaker community in Kentucky when I was sixteen. I found the history of the Shakers and their accomplishments fascinating, and I still do. The second Sister Rose Callahan starts walking the streets and paths of her community, I am immediately transported to Pleasant Hill.

Woodworth's research is impeccable, and she weaves it all seamlessly into her story. There's no feeling that you've been thrown into history class and are about to face a pop quiz.

The mystery in Sins of a Shaker Summer is a good one. Readers are quickly drawn to the new group of Believers who arrived from another community. They're secretive, don't talk much, and they seem to be conducting strange experiments in the medicinal herb shop, which is one of the many ways the Believers earn money. But what exactly is going on, and which one of the newcomers is responsible? This takes some work to figure out.

But no matter how strong the mystery is or how wonderful the sense of place and time is, the story isn't going to shine unless the characters do. The characters shine in this book. Sister Rose is a conscientious, compassionate woman who wants everything in her community to run well and for everyone to be healthy and happy. She also is a first-rate investigator. Brother Wilhelm, the other person in charge is a rabid fundamentalist. He wants everything like it was in the Good Old Days, and he believes Rose is too modern and should be thrown out of the community. Wilhelm wants to ignore the outside world even though the Shakers must rely on non-Believers to buy their goods and for converts to their faith.

There are also other dynamics among the characters. Newcomer Sister Patience is causing concern and divisiveness with her visions and pronouncements, and it's up to Sister Rose to find out if the woman is a true visionary or a fraud. And... looming over the entire community is the outside world. Everyone is suffering through the Depression, and when any little thing goes wrong, there must be someone to blame. For those living outside the Shaker community, the best scapegoats are always the Believers. They're weird. They believe in celibacy. Their religious services sometimes look like a circus sideshow. Yes, the Believers are very easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, and it's this attitude that brings a very real sense of menace to Sins of a Shaker Summer and the other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that will transport you to another time and place, one with a strong mystery and even stronger characters, I recommend Deborah Woodworth's Sister Rose Callahan series. It's been one of my "go-to" series from the very first book.

[Priscilla Herrington]

Sister Rose has had to give up the duties of Trustee in order to fully perform the leadership of Eldress; it's hard to see someone else take over the office she had run so well for so long. But Rose doesn't have a lot of time to brood; there are dissensions within the new group of Shakers who have come to North Homage, and of course, there's the matter of murder to be dealt with.

[Laurie D'ghent]

Interesting

[June Hiza]

Biography of James Williams in Burma and his relationship with elephants

[Lj]

This series is just good mystery writing - equal to Dame Agatha.

[Ann]

This was a very good mystery as well as an insight into a religion that has all but disappeared. Sister Rose Callahan is the elderess in a small Shaker community in Kentucky. Two young children in the community become ill after eating some kind of plant and the sister tries to find out who would purposefully make them sick. Murder happens shortly after she begins her investigation. The Shaker community is very small but the members seem to be hiding many secrets. The plot is well written and the bits of history of the religion made the book very interesting.

[Jan Z]

I like Sister Rose and how she remains practical and calm in an emergency and how she acknowledges her disappointments in her situation but carries on. I wish Wilhelm would achieve a little growth and grace, but, alas, no.
Several new Shakers have transferred from the east to build the medicinal herb business. Nearly all of the book and mystery is set within the Shaker village with little of Grady and the World. I thought the mystery was good.

[Suzanne]

3.5 stars! I really like this series.

[Gloria Mccracken]

A decent story, but I'm not so fond of characters that are either too good or too bad to be true-to-life.

[Kay]

Good mystery that takes place at a Shaker village in Kentucky.