As he goes about his milking chores on a cold October morning Bishop Leon Shetler daydreams of escaping the Ohio winter and taking a bus to the Pinecraft Amish community in Florida for a vacation His reverie is suddenly interrupted when young Crist Burkholder enters the barn head down hat in hand to make a confession ldquoI just killed Glenn SpieglerdquoldquoAn Amish murdererrdquo Sheriff Robertson asks when he arrives on the scene ldquoWho will believe thatrdquo But Burkholder is adamant about his guilt fueled by the passion of his love for Vesta Miller the young woman both he and Spiegle so desperately wanted to marryNo sooner does the sheriff start his investigation than he learns of two more murders in the Pinecraft community and a startling connection is made Therersquos no way around itmdashProfessor Mike Branden will have to put his research trip on hold and along with detective Ricky Niell travel south to investigate There they discover the disturbing truth about Spieglersquos conversion to the Amish faith and the reason for the long-smoldering hatred that has reached into the secluded pastoral valleys of Holmes CountyIn Harmless as Doves P L Gaus takes the action to Florida in one of the most exciting mysteries in the series This is Gaus at his best.
