When Secrets Strike

Perry’s entertaining second House of Secrets romantic mystery (after Where Secrets Sleep) is set in the largely Amish community of Laurel Ridge, Penn. Sarah Bitler is a single businesswoman, partnering with Allison Standish (the previous book’s heroine) to run a quilt shop. The love of her life, Aaron King, married someone else and is now a widower with two daughters, and she assumes she’s lost any chance of gaining his affection. They’re brought closer together by a series of arsons that seem to be targeting local farms, which also puts Aaron’s life at risk, as he’s a volunteer firefighter. As the investigations continue, with subplots involving a shady real estate deal and an aging widow, the stakes rise. Perry weaves a deft tale, taking a solid traditional cozy mystery plot and melding it nicely with a largely chaste romance. The spatterings of Amish culture and German phrases (“that makes gut sense,” “was ist letz”) are either explained contextually or explicitly, and they serve the story well. Agent: Danielle Egan-Miller, Browne and Miller Literary Associates. (Nov.)