Separate from the World

It's final exam time and spring commencement time at Millersburg College. Professor Michael Brandon feels burnout when it comes to grading and debates retirement. An Amish dwarf comes to his office to ask him to investigate the death of his brother which was ruled accidental but can only be murder. During his visit, a young woman falls from the college's bell tower. Professor Brandon recognizes her as one of his students. The young man with her is also one of his students. Did she jump or was she pushed? The seemingly unrelated threads merge together for a suspenseful conclusion. The perpetrator in the Amish case, worsening as more adversity strikes the Erb family, is clever, leaving little evidence other than a psychological profile. show more This is a strong installment in the series. I listened to the audio version read by George Newbern who always does a great job with this series. show less

If you switched Agatha Christie over a century and placed her in the middle of Amish country you would have “Separate from the World”, it is that type of a cozy.
Here you have Professor Michael Branden, teacher at a small town college and a native of the area, who has been best friends with the local sheriff, Bruce Robertson, since grade school. Along with another grade school buddy, Caleb Troyer, the local pastor, the trio becomes this group of investigators in a series of books that Gaus gives us, solving mysteries that involve the complexity of the Amish.
In “Separate from the World”, we meet the Erb family, and it’s descendants, that through apparent cross breeding with the families, has developed an unusual number of show more dwarf’s in the gene pool. The study of the genetics, blood studies and inbreeding becomes a study subject for a number of the students at neighboring at Millersburg College, and surprisingly the Erb family provides them with family history until the split in the Amish way of life is discovered and the elder forbids any further discussion with the students.
At the same time an apparent suicide of a female student opens an investigation into improprieties from another professor which opens the lead for Gaus to link her death with the controversial genetics study into the Erb family. He leads us a circuitous route, unraveling clues until the very last moment, leading to a very satisfying ending. show less

If you switched Agatha Christie over a century and placed her in the middle of Amish country you would have “Separate from the World”, it is that type of a cozy.
Here you have Professor Michael Branden, teacher at a small town college and a native of the area, who has been best friends with the local sheriff, Bruce Robertson, since grade school. Along with another grade school buddy, Caleb Troyer, the local pastor, the trio becomes this group of investigators in a series of books that Gaus gives us, solving mysteries that involve the complexity of the Amish.
In “Separate from the World”, we meet the Erb family, and it’s descendants, that through apparent cross breeding with the families, has developed an unusual number of show more dwarf’s in the gene pool. The study of the genetics, blood studies and inbreeding becomes a study subject for a number of the students at neighboring at Millersburg College, and surprisingly the Erb family provides them with family history until the split in the Amish way of life is discovered and the elder forbids any further discussion with the students.
At the same time an apparent suicide of a female student opens an investigation into improprieties from another professor which opens the lead for Gaus to link her death with the controversial genetics study into the Erb family. He leads us a circuitous route, unraveling clues until the very last moment, leading to a very satisfying ending. show less

If you switched Agatha Christie over a century and placed her in the middle of Amish country you would have “Separate from the World”, it is that type of a cozy.
Here you have Professor Michael Branden, teacher at a small town college and a native of the area, who has been best friends with the local sheriff, Bruce Robertson, since grade school. Along with another grade school buddy, Caleb Troyer, the local pastor, the trio becomes this group of investigators in a series of books that Gaus gives us, solving mysteries that involve the complexity of the Amish.
In “Separate from the World”, we meet the Erb family, and it’s descendants, that through apparent cross breeding with the families, has developed an unusual number of show more dwarf’s in the gene pool. The study of the genetics, blood studies and inbreeding becomes a study subject for a number of the students at neighboring at Millersburg College, and surprisingly the Erb family provides them with family history until the split in the Amish way of life is discovered and the elder forbids any further discussion with the students.
At the same time an apparent suicide of a female student opens an investigation into improprieties from another professor which opens the lead for Gaus to link her death with the controversial genetics study into the Erb family. He leads us a circuitous route, unraveling clues until the very last moment, leading to a very satisfying ending. show less

An Amish dwarf, college girl, professor is killed by student sociopath student.