A Prayer for the Night — (2006)

An Ohio Amish Mystery

By P. L. Gaus

“Gaus usually writes quiet novels, but this one is harsher than his others, full of suspense, the immediacy of a hostage situation, and in-depth Amish funeral rites.”

Library Journal

“An engaging twist in this novel is that, unlike most mystery writers, Gaus spends relatively little time on the motives and personality of the chief ‘villain.’ Instead, he focuses on the reactions of the direct and indirect victims of the crime—the kids, their parents and extended family, and their developing view of the way the world should work…. (C)learly defined characters and a vivid sense of place.”

ForeWord Magazine

“Amish teenagers run wild during Rumschpringe, their time of testing in the outside ‘English’ world, in Gaus’s absorbing fifth entry in this powerful series.... Detailed Amish funeral and wedding rites conclude an otherwise taut tale, offering fascinating insights into this closed society’s struggle to maintain traditions amid a rapidly changing world.”

Publishers Weekly

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Amid a whirlwind of drugs, sex, and other temptations of the “English” world, a group of Amish teenagers on their Rumschpringe test the limits of their parents' religion to the breaking point. The murder of one and the abduction of another challenge Professor Michael Branden as he confronts the communal fear that the young people can never be brought home safely.

Along with Holmes County Sheriff Bruce Robertson and Pastor Cal Troyer, Professor Branden works against the clock to find a murderer and a kidnapper, and to break a drug ring operating in the county, determined, wherever the trail may lead him, to restore the shattered community. In his desperate search, Branden struggles with the reluctance of the Amish to trust the law to help them find the answers to their problems.

In A Prayer for the Night, his fifth Ohio Amish Mystery, P. L. Gaus deftly balances the pace and practices of Amish life in northern Ohio against the unfolding urgency of a hostage situation. As Gaus has proven before, the mystery gains from its exploration of the ever-widening chasm between the traditional life of the Amish people and their interaction with the outside world.