Deborah Woodworth's historical series featuring Sister Rose Callahan is one that I've enjoyed from the first book, Death of a Winter Shaker. One of my cherished memories is of visiting Pleasant Hill, a Shaker community in Kentucky when I was sixteen. I found the history of the Shakers and their accomplishments fascinating, and I still do. The second Sister Rose Callahan starts walking the streets and paths of her community, I am immediately transported to Pleasant Hill.

Woodworth's research is impeccable, and she weaves it all seamlessly into her story. There's no feeling that you've been thrown into history class and are about to face a pop quiz.

The mystery in Sins of a Shaker Summer is a good one. Readers are quickly drawn to the new group of Believers who arrived from another community. They're secretive, don't talk much, and they seem to be conducting strange experiments in the medicinal herb shop, which is one of the many ways the Believers earn money. But what exactly is going on, and which one of the newcomers is responsible? This takes some work to figure out.

But no matter how strong the mystery is or how wonderful the sense of place and time is, the story isn't going to shine unless the characters do. The characters shine in this book. Sister Rose is a conscientious, compassionate woman who wants everything in her community to run well and for everyone to be healthy and happy. She also is a first-rate investigator. Brother Wilhelm, the other person in charge is a rabid fundamentalist. He wants everything like it was in the Good Old Days, and he believes Rose is too modern and should be thrown out of the community. Wilhelm wants to ignore the outside world even though the Shakers must rely on non-Believers to buy their goods and for converts to their faith.

There are also other dynamics among the characters. Newcomer Sister Patience is causing concern and divisiveness with her visions and pronouncements, and it's up to Sister Rose to find out if the woman is a true visionary or a fraud. And... looming over the entire community is the outside world. Everyone is suffering through the Depression, and when any little thing goes wrong, there must be someone to blame. For those living outside the Shaker community, the best scapegoats are always the Believers. They're weird. They believe in celibacy. Their religious services sometimes look like a circus sideshow. Yes, the Believers are very easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, and it's this attitude that brings a very real sense of menace to Sins of a Shaker Summer and the other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that will transport you to another time and place, one with a strong mystery and even stronger characters, I recommend Deborah Woodworth's Sister Rose Callahan series. It's been one of my "go-to" series from the very first book. ( )

Something isn't right in the North Homage Shaker community, and it seems to have something to do with the Medicinal Herb Garden and the recently transferred Shakers from a sister community. The new residents in North Homage mainly keep to themselves. What secrets do they harbor? And did one of those secrets eventually lead to death? Sister Rose Callahan's recent appointment as eldress doesn't stop her from pursuing her own investigation, just as she did when she was the community's trustee.

This is another enjoyable installment in a Depression-era cozy series set in a Kentucky Shaker community. While the mystery is a bit slow to develop, the characters and setting will sustain most readers' interest until the suspense starts to build. The medicinal herb aspect of the plot should appeal to cozy readers with an interest in gardening. While I enjoyed spending time with characters I had come to know through the first two books in the series, there's nothing about the plot that would require reading the previous books first. Recommended for historical cozy fans. ( )