‘Three Can Keep A Secret’ by Judy Clemens
Published by Poisoned Pen Press. ISBN: 1-59058-305-1

Three Can Keep A Secret - a Hell's Angels Motto - is  the second book written by Judy Clemens with Stella Crown as the main character.  Judy Clemens was born into the Mennonite faith and Stella her creation has sympathies with them and many friends of the Menninite persuasion,  including one she employs to help her run her dairy farm in Pennysylvania.  I knew nothing about the Mennonites,  who are a religious sect dating from 1536.  They have a fundamental acceptance of the Bible as well as, for the purposes of this book,  belief in peace including non-resistance in the face of violence,  belief in family life and chastity,  avoidance of all swearing in speech and a commitment to telling the truth.

Stella has lost both her parents and has struggled to keep their farm going with the help of a long-time friend and employee,  Hank.  Now he too has died as the result of a serious accident,  and Stella is recovering from a motor-bike accident experienced five weeks previously.  So she is looking for help on the farm when she employs Lucy,  a Mennonite widow, with an eight year old daughter,  Tess.  Lucy's husband had died eighteen months previously after having been paralysed as the result of a fall downstairs.  Many complications arise from  employing Lucy,  who is obviously experienced in farming and looking after cows.  There is serious interference from her in-laws,  spiteful accusations against her in the form of graffiti,  visits from the American equivalent of Social  Services,  suggestions of murder  and in addition to these  a tornado which wrecks Lucy's accommodation and other farm buildings.  Complications also arise from Stella's love of motor-bikes and the existence of separate gangs of bikers with their weird dress,  identifying tattoos and violent loyalties.  One of them,  Lenny,  is also living through  a secret haunting him from he past which he refuses to share with anyone and which changes his behaviour,  almost overnight,  from jovial to hostile.

In the end,  all is resolved by Lucy organising a family fun fest one Saturday night to which everyone is invited.  Lucy explains it bt saying,  "I'm going to do this the Mennonite way.  I'm going to kill them with kindness."  And it works.  So, perhaps this is more a family mystery story than a crime thriller.  Altogether,  I think this makes an enjoyable,  rather than a heart-stopping  read.

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Rosemary Brown