Widow Elizabeth Elliot lives a simple life in the bustling town of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As Clerk of the Quaker Meeting, she takes care of the daily business of running the Meeting and leads the congregation in prayerful meditation. She also serves as a moral authority. So when murder strikes at the heart of the nonviolent Quaker community, Elizabeth becomes a delightfully unconventional sleuth. Hope and Sheldon Laughton, a young Quaker couple, refuse to pay war taxes. The IRS plans to repossess the Laughton house due to their debts, so Elizabeth goes to the house to offer moral support. She is horrified to discover Hope murdered, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. The crime threatens to tear the community apart when suspicion falls upon a number of Quakers. Could the killer be Otto, a young Quaker and dear friend of the Laughtons, who also happened to have had a not-so-secret crush on Hope? Or could it be Sheldon himself, due to unseen strains in their marriage? Even Elizabeth is a suspect, and she is forced to spend a night in jail! Determined to discover the identity of the murderer, Elizabeth combines her quiet wisdom with perseverance as she makes her way to a shocking, disturbing discovery.
Elizabeth Elliot is a widow and Clerk of the local Quaker meeting, handling congregational daily activities and acting as leader for the community. On one day she heads for the house of a couple who are about to be evicted because their house was siezed by the IRS due to non-payment of taxes, taxes they refused to pay because they believed that it was against their principles to pay for war. What she finds when she gets there is Hope Laughton in a pool of her own blood. In order to clear herself Elizabeth has to get involved in the investigation.
It's a very interesting read, exploring a lot of details about the lives and beliefs of Quakers and it made me think a lot about where my taxes go. Thankfully the Irish Army are largely engaged in peacekeeping around the world and no war.
It's a quiet book that has a gentle look at the way a community copes with disaster. I do want to look for more by this author!
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26 November, 2008:
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