Simple Secrets: Can Love Overcome Evil in the Mennonite Town of Harmony, Kansas?

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Overview

Can graphic designer Gracie Temple have it all: the big city life and a job at a successful advertising firm? Just when she feels life coming together she receives an unknown uncle’s inheritance in a quiet Kansas Mennonite community. The house comes with a dark legacy and a cast of interesting neighbors, including farmer Sam Goodrich. Can Gracie shake off the dust of this town or will its secret charms pull her in to stay?

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More About This Book

Overview

Can graphic designer Gracie Temple have it all: the big city life and a job at a successful advertising firm? Just when she feels life coming together she receives an unknown uncle’s inheritance in a quiet Kansas Mennonite community. The house comes with a dark legacy and a cast of interesting neighbors, including farmer Sam Goodrich. Can Gracie shake off the dust of this town or will its secret charms pull her in to stay?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Cozy mystery author Mehl (In the Dead of Winter) offers fans a new tale turning on the age-old collision of ultraconservative religion and contemporary grace-driven faith. Gracie Temple (city girl) and Sam Goodrich (smalltown fruit farmer) find themselves thrown together after Gracie inherits her deceased uncle's home in a Mennonite community. From the get-go, Gracie has some negative vibes about the whole situation since her uncle shunned her parents years earlier, when they left the community. Still, Gracie travels to her inheritance and soon discovers a cryptic letter from her uncle making a claim that leaves Gracie's mind and heart spinning. In the days that follow, Gracie and Sam become close allies in the search for truth, and this alliance comes with no little cost. As Gracie notes, all around are friendly, nice people—one of whom is a killer. Mehl's dialogue reads smoothly enough throughout, but even this vital narrative element isn't enough to overcome the all-too-predictable story line. (June)
Coffee Time Romance

Nancy Mehl pieces together an unpretentious mystery. This is a pleasant story where the setting almost becomes a main character. Her descriptions bring the small town to life, and I found myself wanting to visit and get a taste of the simple life. Sam is a strong, very likable hero, whom you cannot help but be a little sweet on. Watching Gracie fall for the town and its people, especially her next door neighbor, is so realistic it is like witnessing your friend falling in love. The mystery had balance of tension and levity without being too easy or hard to solve. Overall, I found this to be a delightful suspense story with just the right amount of romance.

— Venus Cahill

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781602605121
  • Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 6/1/2010
  • Pages: 320
  • Sales rank: 719,979
  • Series: The Harmony Series
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Nancy Mehl lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband, Norman, and her son, Danny. She’s authored nine books and is currently at work on her newest series. All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something for your spirit as well as your soul.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
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Sort by: Showing all of 9 Customer Reviews

  • Posted October 31, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    The Truth Will Set You Free

    "Too many people are looking for a place where they feel comfortable. But life is not just about comfort. It is about being in a place where you are needed."

    When Grace learns from her father that an uncle she never met has left her his property in the small Mennonite town of Harmony, Kansas, she is definitely put out of her comfort zone. Born and raised a city girl, Grace travels to Harmony with the goal in mind to get in and get out. She wants to sell the property and return to her job as a graphic designer in the city.

    Harmony has other plans for her.

    After finding a letter written to her my her late uncle, Grace is unsure how she can sell the property without hurting her family. With the help of neighbor Sam, Grace begins to unravel secrets that have been hidden for over thirty years in this small town.

    Perhaps sometimes things are best left hidden.

    The second book I have read of Mehl's has only left me wanting more. I am eager to read her next work.

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  • Posted August 15, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Simple Secrets

    Simple Secrets is a very well written christian mystery that takes place in Harmony Kansas a small Mennonite community.
    When Gracie Temple inherits her uncles property in Harmony she is sort of surprised. She had never met this uncle, when her family left the Mennonite community years before her uncle decided to stay and never contacted anyone in the family again.
    Gracie decides she will take a quick trip to dispose of the house and collect some family heirlooms, but once she arrives she finds a letter left to her by her uncle that discloses the murder of a man named Jacob Glick, and her uncle Ben believed that Gracie's dad murdered this man, so to hide the murder Ben buried the man on his property and then spent the rest of his life keeping a secret to protect his brother.
    Gracie is sure that her dad is in no way responsible for the murder, but who is ? Can she trust her new found friend Sam Goodrich to help her figure out who the real murderer is?
    The author throws out several suspects for us to choose from, but this is no easy mystery to solve, I thought I had it right but was surprised at the end.
    This is a very fast paced read full of mystery, suspense, romance and also a glance at the Mennonite community. The author keeps you guessing right up till the end trying to figure out who the murderer actually is.
    I loved my visit to Harmony and look forward to reading the next book in this great Mennonite series titled Simple Deceit due out 12/10.

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  • Posted July 26, 2010

    A city girl and a country boy unite to solve a long buried crime in the Mennonite town of Harmony, Kansas. I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the characters believable and easy to connect with.

    Gracie Temple is a graphics designer in Wichita. Her father calls and gives her the news that his brother Benjamin, whom she has never met, has died and left Gracie his estate. She makes plans to go to Harmony and see what she has inherited. Her initial reaction is to sell the house right away. But she decides to take a week or so to look things over and make up her mind.

    When she rolls into Harmony she decides to look around a bit before going to Benjamin's house. The town she sees is not the town her father had described. There are shops all up and down the street, people everywhere, some dressed in the traditional Mennonite fashion she was familiar with, and others dressed "normally". She gets a lot of stares but she figures it's because she is the stranger in town.

    After getting settled in and meeting a couple of her neighbors she finds a letter that her uncle left her. He tells her something in that letter that changes everything! Who was Jacob Glick and why is his body buried on her property? Who is the real killer? Why does everyone in town act so strange when she mentions the name of Jacob Glick? Can she even trust her closest friend in Harmony, Sam Goodrich? Gracie and Sam follow clues and do some digging to try and find the answers.

    As I read this book, I was drawn into the town and into the lives of the people of Harmony. I could smell the fried chicken that Sam's aunt, Sweetie Goodrich, was cooking. I could see the rooms of Sweetie and Sam's house as Gracie was given a tour. Ms. Mehl did a wonderful job in writing the book! I don't think anyone who reads it will be disappointed. I had a hard time putting it down!

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  • Posted July 9, 2010

    Charming New Mystery Series

    If you enjoy Amish fiction, I'm sure you'll like Nancy Mehl's new book, SIMPLE SECRETS, out now from Barbour Books. SIMPLE SECRETS is the first of a series combining mystery, romance, and suspense, set in the fictional small Mennonite town of Harmony. The town itself becomes a character in the story, and you'll find yourself wanting to settle in for a visit...a place populated by nice, friendly people, one of whom happens to be a killer. SIMPLE SECRETS is a charming read with a likeable heroine who resolves a family secret, solves the mystery, and finds love.

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  • Posted June 28, 2010

    First in Harmony series is terrific romantic suspense

    Simple Secrets by Nancy Mehl is the first book in the Harmony series about a mostly Mennonite community in Kansas. Gracie Temple grew up disliking her family's hometown because of the Ban on her parents for their marriage against the bishop's wishes. When her uncle Ben dies, whom she's never met, and leaves her his home, she's forced to go to Harmony to deal with the home. A letter from Ben tells her of a thirty year old murder and secret that she must get to the bottom of if she is ever to return to her life as a graphic designer in Wichita, but after meeting Sam Goodrich, Gracie isn't so sure that Wichita is where she wants to be. Mehl puts an interesting spin on the extremely popular Amish or bonnet fiction genre. Gracie is an outsider with a prejudice against Mennonites, and the community has plenty of secrets to hide. The reader comes to understand the differences between Mennonite groups as Gracie meets her neighbors and the townsfolk. There's a couple of strong messages: people are individuals regardless of the groups they belong to and sometimes the past must be dealt with before the future can be lived. I hope in future volumes Mehl finds companions for lonely Sarah and bitter Sweetie, but the town of Harmony will provide plenty of compelling romances for quite some time.

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  • Posted June 27, 2010

    Cozy romantic

    I was raised on cozy mysteries. My mother had them on her bookshelf and brought them home from the library in a basket. Nancy Mehl won my heart with her series, Ivy Towers Mysteries. I picked up this book eagerly and was not disappointed. A hot cup of tea, rain pouring outside, and a cozy--that's life.

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  • Posted June 22, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Simple Secrets is Romantic Suspense at its best

    Gracie Temple's estranged uncle left her his farm and hopes she will be able to succeed where he could not. But someone wants Gracie to leave Harmony and go back where she came from.

    What are they afraid she will uncover? And can she solve the mystery without endangering more of her family?

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  • Posted June 7, 2010

    Delightful, Inspirational mystery/romance!

    SIMPLE SECRETS by Nancy Mehl is a Inspirational romance/mystery set in modern day Harmony, Kansas. It is the first in The Harmony Series which is fictional town in Kansas, it is about the secrets of this small Mennonite town. It has mystery, romance, secrets, forgiveness, family and the old quote "the truth will set you free". It is well written with depth and detail,fast paced and a page turner. This small Mennonite town is warm, caring, has a truckload of secrets, but this would be a wonderful town to live in, grow up in and raise a family. The characters are also warm, caring and will pull you into the story and feel their heartbreak, their joys, their triumphs and hurt. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy Mennonite stories, which is simpler to the Amish ways but not as strict. This book was received for review and details can be found at My Book Addiction and More and Barbour Publishing.

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  • Posted May 28, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    A Mennonite mystery!

    When Gracie Temple gets a phone call from her father saying that her Uncle Ben has passed away and has left his house and belongings to her, she sets out as soon as she can. Her Uncle lived in a small Mennonite community in Harmony, Kansas and Gracie has never even met him. She arrives with the intention to get things sorted rather quickly, but soon discovers there may be a greater plan at work. A letter addressed to her from her late Uncle causes her to stay and solve a decades old mystery. She meets the handsome Sam Goodrich, who instantly volunteers his assistance. Together they discover sinister things going on in Harmony, including a former corrupt Bishop, a thief, an evil man, and possibly an attraction to each other.

    I liked that the way the mystery unfolded over the course of the plot. There were no slow points, and since there were clues in just about every chapter, the reveal wasn't left for a huge climax at the end. I thought Sam was quite the romantic guy! Gracie is a fish out of water for most of the book, a feeling that many readers will be able to identify with. I enjoyed being there with her as she saw the Mennonite people as something other than her back woods country assumptions. It seemed we met more modern Mennonites than the more conservative "old ways" ones. Nancy Mehl adds a ton of little details on their way of life - especially when it comes to the cooking - my mouth was watering the whole time! With a last shout out the beautiful cover, this series is sure to be a hit with the Amish and Mennonite readers.

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