OMG! The best true crime I’ve read in a long time. Thirty years after ABANDONED PRAYERS introduced us to Eli Stutzman, Gregg Olsen revisits the case of Ida, pregnant wife to Eli and mother of young son, Danny in THE AMISH WIFE. I could NOT put this book down. It was fascinating and I can’t wait to read the first one to see how this whole story began.

Contacted by a family member of Ida after old letters and papers are found, Gregg Olsen returns to Ohio to dig deeper into the life of Eli, the death of both IDA and her son, Danny, (aka Little Boy Blue) and the secrets and half truths creating a wall of silence around convicted serial killer, Eli Stutzman. Are people staying tight-lipped out of fear of retribution by Eli or is the Amish underworld at play here?

As always with Gregg Olsen, the research and interviews are so delicate but telling in their broad timelines. It is only after careful consideration and the proverbial bulletin board with the push pins and red string that the full story comes into view. How did this guy get a chance to get out of prison? I just don’t get it. Nevertheless, this was a great reminder of why Olsen is a master of true crime. I LOVED it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book! The information presented was interesting and I found myself wanting to know more. I’d recommend this book to others.

2.5/5 Stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the eARC of The Amish Wife by Gregg Olsen for an honest review.

This was not my type of book. I picked this book because of the cover and title. I felt like it wasn't much of a mystery but just an explanation of what had happened. This ebook was dragging for me and I found myself skimming through the chapter pretty quickly just to get it off my Kindle and onto something else. This is definitely a book for people who like to read the collection of facts - also, there were so many names I got confused and really lost interest.

When I read Gregg Olsen’s novel The Hive, I said “I’m not sure whether Gregg Olsen is inconsistent, or I am, but it sort of seems like I don’t know what to expect when I pick up one of his books. There have been some excellent ones in the true crime genre (If You Tell) but I have found the fiction titles (mostly in series) to be uneven…often I just don’t care for the protagonist. So, it may be me that is uneven? “ Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, I had the opportunity to read and review Olsen’s The Amish Wife in. exchange for my honest review.

The book is true crime, one of my favorite genres. Described as a sequel to 2007’s Answered Prayers, I admit I had a hard time with it. It tells the story of the death of Ida Stutzman, whose husband Eli claimed she died in a fire in the barn. Eli subsequently took their son Danny, left the faith, and moved away from the Ohio community where they. had lived. Ida’s death was ruled as from natural causes, and Eli wasn’t a suspect, but weird deaths after Ida’s seemed more than suspicious.

In Colorado, Eli had affairs with several gay men, and was a prime suspect in several deaths, including those of two of his former lovers. Then, his roommate was found shot dead and his son Danny’s death was “inconclusive,” despite his being found frozen to death in a field. Eli was convicted of the roommate’s murder and of abandoning Danny. Sentenced to 40 years in prison, Eli committed suicide after being paroled in 2005.

The book is filled with facts, details, and revelations about many people and incidents. I found it creepy as hell and confess it isn’t one of my favorite of Gregg Olsen’s…but sometimes his books are so good, I know I will continue to seek them out. Four stars.

This is a well researched and well written book that I would recommend! Going into to this book, I wasn't very familiar with this case but it's written in a way that is easy to understand and kept my interest. I would recommend this to those who like true crime books. Special Thank You to Gregg Olsen, Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book from Gregg Olsen. I did love it because I do love true crime. The way it wrote the book I felt like I was with him looking for evidence on how Ida died. Gregg did a great job investigating all the information on the crime.

I was excited to get a copy of this book but it was really hard for me to get into. There seemed to be a lot of unnecessary information and build up to find out what happened to Ida. I will need to go back and read Abandoned Prayers since this is a follow up to that; maybe that will help me understand all the "new" information.

Thank you netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC.

So I will preface that this does not read anything like a "story" but more like a documentary of an author investigating a crime...which fits because that's exactly what The Amish Wife is.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it pulled me in and made me feel like I was riding along through Ohio Amish country in search of the truth of what really happened to Ida.

Are there things that are repetitive yes, are there a lot of names to try to keep straight - also yes. But when you think of what Gregg is doing here and probably want any detective would do for a thorough investigation then you would get this exact book. We go over the evidence continuously to keep the info fresh, and to not get confused.

If your expectations of this book are a standard beginning, middle, and end, this ain't it. If you're looking to be side by side with an author while he investigates a crazy interesting true crime story - you've hit the jackpot.

Also, big props to Robbin!! You have an amazing job, and I am very jealous!

A death in the Amish community. A young mother dies after going to investigate a fire in the barn. The father is now the caretaker of their young son. This story is a twisted true crime story of murder, cover-ups, and lies. The facts about the Amish and Mennonite communities accurately brought the reader into the close-knit communities. The description of the investigation was fascinating. However, I felt that the story, while interesting, was bogged down with so many details, and it moved slowly. True crime fans will enjoy this story.

Gregg Olsen never lets a true crime fan down. Thank you to NetGalley and Gregg Olsen for allowing me to grab this one before it hit the shelves, a book that keeps you gripped upon it until the very end.

This was amazing to read to watch how Gregg when over all the information again and speak with the Amish community. It was good that someone had given Ida and voice and Danny. This book really gave an insight into the Amish world and how they view the 'English'.

One of my favorite writers! Thank you so much for letting me access this ARC even if it is published when I asked of it. Tbh, this is a little bit underwhelming after reading if you tell. It is good but not as good as If You Tell. Still a good read!

Gregg Olsen is well known for his true crime stories that will fascinate the reader more than any fictional thriller can. His impressive back library includes so many true crime stories that an Olsen binge would take more than a month. He is also the author of a couple of fictional series that are great reads too. But his true crime books are always a must buy/read for me.

THE AMISH WIFE is the second book Olsen has written centered around the complicated life and crimes of Eli Stutzman. The crimes in this book actually predate the crimes he will commit in the mid to late 1980s, documented in Olsen's 2007 publication, ABANDONED PRAYERS. Amish communities enjoy a reputation for living a slower, peaceful life style that leaves the evil and turmoil of the "english" outside the community's boundaries. But Olsen will dig for the truth in the death of a young wife and mother only to learn that her husband, Eli Stutzman, was not the man the community expected him to be. No one asked the right questions of the right people so he was never suspected of murder, allowing him to continue the horrendous behavior that would lead to his son's death and more. ABANDONED PRAYERS picks up the story as the child's body is discovered. One man with no conscience who would ultimately result in some of the worst crimes to be committed against the Amish people in Ohio. An excellent read.

When you tell me that you have a true crime book involving the Amish, I don't even have to think about it. I'm in. And I will enjoy every second of what I'm reading.

The Amish wife is basically a 2nd book of sorts. The story begins in Abandoned Prayers (which has been on my list to read but haven't yet) with Eli and Danny and Ida. Here in the Amish Wife we are focusing on Eli and Ida.

Let me tell you, it is a soap opera come to life. I was invested from the start and couldn't put it down.

One thing I love about this book is the way it's written. This is not a dry piece of non-fiction you barely get through, it's a story you don't want to stop reading.

My only issue, and not at all the fault of the author, is the quotes from so many of the people interviewed. Some of them it was just hard to follow their train of thought which may be an Amish thing since their first language is usually Deutsch. But I appreciate the direct quotes even when I struggled to sometimes follow along.

This one wasn't for me. It was slower moving, and I just didn't connect to it. I found myself skimming rather than taking in the book, but it was well written. Thank you Net Galley for the preview!

I enjoyed the writing style of this murder investigation. The plot was too slow moving for me. I felt that I needed to have read Abandoned Prayers prior to reading this.

The Amish Wife by Gregg Olsen is a true crime book about a mysterious death & cover-up in the Amish community in the 1970’s. The story was well written, but it did move a bit slow.

Years ago, Gregg reported on the death of “Little Boy Blue.” This death rocked the Amish community as it was centered around Danny, whose father Eli started Amish, left the religion, and then came back. When Eli came back to the Amish, he married Ida and they had a child, Danny. The family lived on an Amish farm within the community. We learn a lot about the workings of the Amish - they don’t like speaking ill of others (especially those in the community), they aren’t often treated appropriately by the police, and as part of the religion, they don’t have Driver’s Licenses (or cars) or carry any type of Insurance (whatever happens is as God wills it).

Eli has since committed suicide and Gregg is back on the case because Ida’s death had never sat right with him (cause of death being a heart attack from smoke inhalation). This story gives an interesting insight into the community and a man “from the outside” driven to find the pieces necessary to put what really happened to Ida together.

The Amish Wife
Written by Gregg Olsen

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ebook ARC of The Amish Wife by Gregg Olsen in exchange for an honest review.

The #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen solves a murder among the Amish and reveals the conspiracy to keep it a secret in a heartbreaking and horrifying true-crime story.
In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner’s report: natural causes. Ida’s husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed.
What really happened to Ida? The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli’s shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli’s subsequent cross-country journey of death—including that of his own son—have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman?
The questions haunted Gregg Olsen and Ida’s brother Daniel Gingerich for decades. At Daniel’s urging, Olsen now returns to Amish Country and to Eli’s crimes first exposed in Olsen’s Abandoned Prayers, one of which has remained a mystery until now. With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth—about Ida’s murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for forty-five years.

I did not finish this book as I found it boring and really hard to get into. I have heard a lot of good things about the authors boojs, but havent actually read any of them.
I give this book a rating of 1 star ⭐️

#TheAmishWife #NetGalley

While I am thankful for @netgalley for giving me an ARC to this book, I did not finish it. This book is the story of Gregg Olsen and his search prove the guilt of an Amish man. If you are interested and how to go about collecting research, this is the book for you!