P.L Gaus books in order

In Holmes County, Ohio—home to the largest Amish and Mennonite settlements in the world—mystery and foreboding lurk in the quiet Old Order Amish community led by Bishop Eli Miller.The illusion of peace is shattered one early morning when a young Amish boy goes missing—abducted from his home and from Bishop Miller’s care. 

At first, the bishop suspects the child’s father, who was exiled from the Old Order ten years ago, but a murder soon casts doubt on the bishop’s theory. With a strong distrust of law enforcement and the modern “English” ways, the bishop must put his faith in an unlikely partnership with Professor Michael Branden before it’s too late.

With the help of the peaceful pastor Cal Troyer and the reckless Sheriff Bruce Robertson, Branden plunges headlong into the closed culture to unravel the mystery of the missing child and uncover truths many would prefer to leave undisturbed.

In the wooded Amish hill country, a professor at a small college, a local pastor, and the county sheriff are the only ones among the mainstream, or "English," who possess the instincts and skills to work the cases that impact all county residents, no matter their code of conduct or religious creed.

David Hawkins came to the quiet town of Millersburg to escape his demons and unexpectedly found salvation in Amish life-until his English daughter is brutally murdered.

In the wooded Amish hill country, a professor at a small college, a local pastor, and the county sheriff are the only ones among the mainstream, or "English," who possess the instincts and skills to work the cases that impact all county residents, no matter their code of conduct or religious creed.

A fatal accident involving and Amish buggy and an eighteen-wheeler sets Professor Michael Branden on a quest to uncover the links between the crash and a spate of disturbing events.

After an early winter blizzard in Holmes County, Ohio, a wealthy socialite is found murdered in her mansion. That same morning, a troubled student, Martha Lehman, turns up at her psychiatrist’s office, bloody and unable to speak.

Professor Michael Branden and Sheriff Bruce Robertson begin an investigation that threatens to tear Millersburg College apart. Mute for many years as a child, Martha is once again unable (or unwilling) to speak. As Branden wrestles with the murder of the college’s leading benefactor, the real story of Martha Lehman begins to emerge—born Amish, converted to Mennonite, and drawn to the “English” world for the worst of reasons.

Three young friends disappear while traveling on their Amish rite of passage, Rumschpringe, or wild days. In a race against the clock, the sheriff must find a murderer and break a ruthless drug ring operating within the heart of Ohio's Amish Country.

Enos Erb, an Amish man, claims that his brother,-benny,-a dwarf like himself- has been murdered. Upon investigation, links to a controversial genetics study examining the effects of inbreeding within the Amish community are uncovered-a study in which both Enos and benny had participated.

The chill of autumn is just settling into Holmes County, Ohio, when Bishop Leon Shetler is startled out of his morning reverie by the words, “I just killed Glenn Spiegle.” No one—least of all Sherriff Bruce Robertson—believes that Crist Burkholder could actually be a murderer. But the young Amish man is adamant that he killed his romantic rival in order to win Vesta Miller. 

So when Robertson’s investigation reveals two potentially related murders in Florida’s Pinecraft Amish community, Professor Mike Branden and detective Ricky Niell head south to unravel the connection between the dead man and a far-flung Amish outpost on the shores of Sarasota Bay

Ruth Zook returns home to Holmes County, Ohio, carrying a heavy suitcase and a heavier heart. Coerced into becoming a drug mule, Ruth retaliates by destroying her illicit burden and pays for it with her life. 

When Fannie Helmuth confesses that she was similarly coerced, Sheriff Bruce Robertson realizes that the drug dealers’ operation reaches all the way to Florida’s Pinecraft Amish community. He immediately moves the investigation South, where more innocent lives are in jeopardy.

Sheriff Bruce Robertson is charged with finding a young Amish woman on the run from a murderous drug ring so she can testify in federal court. Wrestling with a recurring childhood nightmare of a deadly lion, the Holmes County sheriff finds himself torn between allegiance to the legal system he upholds and the beliefs of the people he is sworn to protect.

First Death - an accident or a homicide? Second Death - a murder or a suicide? Events unfold quickly on a single Monday, the first day of classes for Professor Michael Branden's new semester. 

The tragedies envelope a Schwartzentruber sect, the most conservative of all Amish peoples, and Branden and Sheriff Bruce Robertson must wrestle with cultural and religious barriers in order to investigate. 

To make matters worse, a mother of seven Schwartzentruber children has apparently left with her youngest daughter Esther, in order to escape her dangerously depressed husband. Has she really left six children behind?

Amish bishop Small Henry Rupp has the burden on his heart that the people of his congregation in Holmes County, Ohio, have become too complacent with English attitudes and culture, and he is especially worried about the corrosive impact that tourism and commerce are having on the religious separatism that his congregation is supposed to maintain. 

His desire is to eradicate all modern influences in the lives of his people, and the solution that he is devising will surprise everyone, Amish and English alike.

The problem is, one of his parishioners has now been murdered, and her husband is lying in the hospital in a coma, keeping devastating secrets from his bishop, apparently in unrepentant fashion.