Even in a religious culture where secrets are kept within the community, no one could have hidden the violent murder of Amish housewife and mother Barbara Weaver. And once the secrets were out, there was no doubt as to who had perpetrated the crime.

Eli Weaver was on a fishing trip when he got word that his wife had been shot. His pretense to innocence about the death quickly dissolved when police fortuitously got hold of his cell phone, a device that many Amish refuse to own. But Eli used his phone a lot, to contact women who knew him as "Amish Stud." He had left his Amish family in Ohio several times after Barbara caught him in sexual liaisons with various "English" (non-Amish) women. She was in counseling by mail with an Amish advisor, complaining of her husband's abuse and coldness --- coldness that extended to his neglect of his children, who knew their father only from his rare, short stays at home. But given the rigid "ordnung" that guides all Amish behavior, Barbara did not feel she could divorce Eli, nominally still the head of the household by Biblical decree despite his iniquities.

"The authors had remarkable cooperation from many of Eli's former girlfriends as they worked through the facts of the case."

Barbara was found in her bed by her young children in the early morning of a June day in 2009, her chest covered in blood, her eyes closed and her flesh cold. Eli was not in the house. One of the older children ran for help. It was soon deduced that the death had been caused by a direct, close shotgun blast. As evidence mounted, focus turned first to the husband, and then from Eli to his most recent lover, Barb Raber, with whom he had mercilessly plotted to get rid of his spouse in order to enjoy sexual attention from Barb --- and others. The plot's outlines were baldly discussed through texts in which Eli shamelessly manipulated and directed Barb's participation, and she willingly acquiesced. He had spoken to many women about helping him kill his wife, in a serious way --- but only Barb took the bait. It was she, evidence suggests, who pulled the trigger.

Bestselling New York Times writers Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris, known for their investigative nonfiction, tell the story of Barbara Weaver's tragic demise as part of a larger landscape: the culture of silence among the Amish and Mennonite communities that makes them cover for wrong-doers among them rather than have their religiocentric way of life interfered with by prying outsiders. Raised speaking an archaic Germanic language, eschewing modern conveniences and generally remaining within tight-knit enclaves all their lives, the Amish are perceived by some as far too shut off, depriving their children of opportunities in the wider world, and by others as a romantic Christian sect rejecting the obvious evils of modern technology. Confronted with a violent crime, the taking of an innocent life, one of only a handful in the history of the "plain people," the Ohio Amish were stymied.

The authors had remarkable cooperation from many of Eli's former girlfriends as they worked through the facts of the case. Many of these women could have been as culpable as Barb Raber, but they had fewer insecurities, perhaps greater-self respect, and were able to escape from Eli's evil charisma. Olsen and Morris, who have laid out the evidence sparingly, keeping the reader focused on small, almost hourly events, acknowledge that spousal abuse and the murder of family members is a far more pervasive issue than this anomalous case depicts. But importantly, they note, since the trials and sentencing in the Ohio case (both Eli and Barb are serving lengthy terms for aggravated murder), there has been a greater recognition among the old order religions that in cases of abuse, divorce, generally held to be antiscriptural, could be an acceptable option. In this case, divorce could have saved a life.