Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Secret in the Sampler: A Plain Truth Mystery by Abigail B. Hartwell! Today we are featuring a review of the first book in this cozy mystery series. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews, and more! The Secret in the Sampler is the first novel in The Plain Truth Mysteries, a gentle Amish-adjacent cozy mystery series about old objects, hidden histories, rural grudges, and the truths people leave behind on paper and cloth.There is also a Giveaway for a digital copy of The Secret in the Sampler: A Plain Truth Mystery by Abigail B. Hartwell. ENTER HERE! 

The Secret in the Sampler: A Plain Truth Mystery
Amish Adjacent Cozy Mystery with Slow-Burn Romance
1st in Series
Setting – Ohio
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plain Truth Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 31, 2026
Print length ‏ : ‎ 358 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GX372D82
Paperback Coming Soon!

About the Book:

What would you do if the family heirloom hidden in your aunt’s estate could expose a stolen inheritance—and make you the next person someone needs to be silenced?

Two years after losing her husband, Nora Bell returns to the quiet Ohio Amish-country town of Briar Creek to settle her late aunt’s estate. She expects dusty type drawers, unpaid bills, and enough sympathy casseroles to survive a minor siege. Reopening The Bell & Quill, Aunt Lenora’s old letterpress and stationery shop, is supposed to be a temporary project—not the beginning of an entirely new life.

Then Nora discovers an antique hand-stitched sampler concealed inside a cedar trunk.

Its mismatched initials, reversed border, and nearly invisible name suggest that the sampler is more than a family keepsake. It may be the only surviving record of a child erased from Briar Creek’s history—and an inheritance quietly stolen decades ago.

Before Nora can uncover what her aunt knew, a local estate appraiser is found dead. He had been asking questions about the sampler, searching for a missing auction ledger, and meeting privately with someone determined to keep an old land transfer from being examined too closely.

Now Nora is following a trail of altered records, old letters, disputed property, and carefully guarded family secrets. Her unexpected ally is Eli Yoder, a reserved Amish widower and auction clerk who knows Briar Creek’s family histories almost as well as he knows when people are refusing to tell the truth.

Eli’s dry humor and steady presence make him useful. The grief he recognizes in Nora makes him dangerous in an entirely different way.

As suspicion spreads through the Amish farms, antique shops, auction houses, and polished tourist businesses surrounding Briar Creek, Nora realizes the sampler does not simply reveal what happened in the past. It threatens someone’s money, reputation, and future.

And the person who killed to keep its secret hidden may already know Nora has begun to unravel the pattern.

My Review:

What a lovely start to a cozy mystery series! Make sure you give yourself time to start this story properly, as I needed a bit of time to sink into the quiet but mysterious story. Once I gave myself permission to sit quietly and the dialogue started to flow, I was immersed into the story. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, especially Nora and Eli. Each is well developed and plays off each other nicely. And we all need a friend like Maeve, baked goods and all! The story takes place over a few weeks and the clues carefully build – I do love that it all started with a sampler. This first entry also does a nice job leading up to future entries – seven in total! If you’re a fan of more character driven mysteries that also have an excellent sense of place, be sure to check this out. 

About the Author:

Abigail B. Hartwell writes gentle Amish-adjacent cozy mysteries rooted in the small towns and wooded backroads of east-central Ohio. Though she is not Amish, she lives near Amish communities and draws inspiration from the region’s quiet rhythms, close-knit families, old stories, and rural traditions. She shares a modest home on five wooded acres with her long-haul truck driver husband. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren. When she is not writing, Abigail enjoys church activities, family time, and the peaceful beauty of the Ohio countryside.

Author Links: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon 

Purchase Links: Amazon Book  Amazon Series 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

• August 18 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea –  SPOTLIGHT
• August 18 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
• August 19 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
• August 19 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• August 20 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
• August 20 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
• August 21 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
• August 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
• August 22 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
• August 22 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
• August 23 – Sarcastically Yours, Jen – SPOTLIGHT
• August 23 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
• August 24 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
• August 25 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
• August 26 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
• August 27 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
• August 28 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
• August 28 – Book HookUp – REVIEW
• August 29 – Romance Novel Giveaways – SPOTLIGHT

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