"His Guilt" by Shelley Shepard Gray

Mark Fisher has returned home to Hart County, determined to put the past behind him. Two years ago, after being wrongly accused of assault, he left the Amish community, though never forgot his home. When the one person who had helped him through his rough times asks for help, Mark returns. But it is pretty Waneta Cain who makes him want to stay…

Neeta is one of the few people in Hart County who doesn’t believe Mark is guilty of hurting anyone. However, his worldliness and tough exterior do make her uneasy. As she begins to see the real man behind all the gossip and prejudice, she wonders if he is the man for her.

Just when Mark starts to believe a new life is possible, a close friend of Neeta’s is attacked. Once again, everyone in the community seems to believe he is guilty. But what hurts most is Neeta’s sudden wariness around him. When another woman is hurt, a woman who is close to both Neeta and himself, Mark fears he knows the real culprit. And time is running out. Will Mark be able to find him before Neeta becomes his next victim?

Gray pulled out all the stops with His Guilt! I enjoyed the way that Gray created a realistic situation in today’s society and set it in an Amish community. This setting certainly added to the emotional drama and personal complications for the main characters, but it provided the perfect opportunity to explore interpersonal relationships between Amish and English.

Gray used those relationships to delve into themes of gossip, forgiveness, and the way that we care for those in need around us. The characters grew throughout the story, in character and in depth, until they felt like friends long before I turned the last page.

The Amish may be resist violence, but His Guilt is no peaceful story. With brutal beatings, attempted rapes, unofficial shunning, and emotional and verbal abuse, this is not your typical Amish read. Much like the real world, Amish and English mingle throughout the pages, interacting in a typical small town and sharing news and concerns. That real life aspect, which is missing in so many Amish novels, brings His Guilt to life. The story becomes a thrilling tale of suspense and attraction, and how often can you say that about an Amish story?

If you enjoy reading Amish fiction but are ready for a deep, edgy story, give His Guilt a try.

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.