Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
Dangerous Amish Showdown and Snowbound Amish Survival by Mary Alford are suspenseful action-packed mysteries involving Amish characters. Love, dedication to family, trust, and faith are prevalent themes in both books. Danger, thrill rides, and romance will leave readers on the edge of their seats.
Snowbound Amish Survival begins with an intense scene after armed men burst into a house. They are looking for Amish midwife Hope Christner who is tending to her best friend, Naomi, because of her numerous miscarriages. After realizing that Naomi’s husband has been shot, Hope and her friend barely escape the bad men and must contend with the weather, barely making it to Hunter Shetler’s home. He is her ex-fiancé who Hope broke up with after their fathers’ family feud. But after the bad men arrive at Hunter’s house all three escape into the woods. Now they must stay two steps ahead of the men determined to find and kill them, while facing barriers at every turn.
Dangerous Amish Showdown also begins with a shooting scene. US Marshal Mason Shelter, his partner Erik Timmons, and a precocious six-year-old named Samantha under their care are running for their lives. The little girl is a member of the witness protection program after seeing the murder of her parents. The bad guys are after her since she can identify Lucian Bartelli, a drug kingpin as the killer. His people are doing everything possible to find Mason’s young witness and silence her permanently. Running from them leads Mason, his partner, and Samantha to West Kootenai, the Amish community of his youth and the place that he fled thirteen years earlier. Specifically, he flees to the home of his childhood friend, Willa Lambright. Both Willa and her mother Beth agree to keep all safe, while risking their lives as all face overwhelming odds.
Both books have vivid scenes where readers feel they are on the journey with the hero and heroine. There is a non-stop roller coaster ride of danger.
Elise Cooper: Can you tell us a little about the series?
Mary Alford: There are five books in the series. These are the third and fourth books. I like that it is set in a very remote community in Montana. The West Kootena community does exist, but the town of Eagle’s Nest is fictional. There are five brothers that have had issues come up in their lives including some that lost their wives. There is a lot of conflict and tension. I want to build and build the suspense where it looks like the bad guy might win until the last stand-off. They end up falling in love after meeting the right heroine.
EC: How did you blend danger with the Amish?
MA: The Amish are very simple and very “pure.” As we learned there can be bad things that happen in an Amish community. There are bad influences that can cause danger. I want to put the Amish characters into circumstances where they do have to deal with danger and situations that they are not used to. In this innocent and simple setting, after peril comes, it disrupts everything. Although the Amish are pacifists, if the community is put in danger, they would do anything to support their loved ones. Family and loved ones would go beyond faith, doing what they must do to help those they love.
EC: In both books you found weapons other than guns?
MA: Yes. I wanted to use other instruments as weapons beyond guns. I used fires as a weapon, seeing it as a living thing. They happen and spread quickly. I also used cars that attempt to ram someone off the road.
EC: Weather also played a role in the plot?
MA: Yes. In Dangerous Amish Survival the fog helped to hide the hero and heroine. In Snowbound Amish Survival it was the snow, the cold, and the visibility. I think it increased the suspense. It helps to add to the atmosphere.
EC: In Snowbound Amish Survival how would you describe the heroine Hope?
MA: She is a mid-wife that gives her a purpose in life. Hope is very strong, yet heart-broken because of the father family feud. She can stand on her own two feet. Hope is loyal, stubborn, headstrong, determined, caring, and optimistic. She is not meek and mild like most Amish women.
EC: How would you describe Hunter?
MA: Supportive, loyal, and caring. He is strong emotionally, a hard worker, protective, and generous.
EC: How would you describe the relationship?
MA: Both are young, in their mid-twenties. They both have a perception of being betrayed by the other. As the story progresses, they come to realize they are still in love. In the beginning Hunter was resentful and angry that she sided with her dad over him.
EC: What about Huntington’s Disease that was in the book, Dangerous Amish Showdownl?
MA: In researching I knew I wanted to have it in the story. It can be hereditary, and it does not skip generations. I hope this makes a little bit of an awareness. It affects the brain, motor skills, and thinking process. It is a serious degenerative disease that I gave Willa’s mother, Beth.
EC: How would you describe Willa?
MA: She is very strong and a caregiver for her mother. Willa is considerate, kind, and loves animals. She has gentle strength and a tender heart.
EC: How would you describe Mason?
MA: He left the faith when he was younger. He had issues he had to resolve including his friend Chandler’s death and the fact the girl he thought he was in love with chose his brother, Eli. Mason became a US Marshal but was haunted by his past. He is strong, protective, a fixer, and courageous.
EC: How about the relationship?
MA: Willa and Mason were friends and grew up together. He never saw how close he and Willa were when they were younger. After seeing her again all his feelings about Willa come to the surface. There were barriers in the relationship including Mason leaving the Amish faith, Willa thought he loved her sister, not her, and Willa was afraid she would get Huntington Disease.
EC: Role of the little girl Samantha?
MA: She is a six-year-old girl who saw her parents murdered. She lives in fear, terrified, and brave, but a sweet girl. She becomes attached to Mason, Willa, and Beth who try to protect her and show Samantha love. She brought Mason and Willa together. There are little moments when readers see her personality come out, especially when she interacts with Golden Boy, Willa, and Beth’s Golden Retriever.
EC: What about your next book?
MA: I just signed a four-book contract. I will be writing Fletcher and Ethan Connors’s stories. Probably they will come out mid-summer next year. I will explain the military angle in Ethan’s story because that is so important to who he is. I will be writing a new book, Among The Innocence coming out this June. It is an Amish story, but the main characters are not Amish. A murder happened ten years earlier and now haunts the heroine.
EC: THANK YOU!!
