The Amish Wife - by Gregg Olsen

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Olsen has a gift for taking mountains of paperwork and interview material and weaving them into a cohesive narrative that is often difficult to put down, especially for die-hard true-crime fans. Because he frames the book as a step-by-step process of discovery, readers will feel like they're right there with him as he's knocking on doors and spinning out on the Midwestern ice. An engaging, well-researched historical excavation..." --Kirkus Reviews

"The details of the case are gripping enough, but Olsen elevates them with sturdy prose, meticulous research, and admirable journalistic tenacity. This addendum to a once-settled story lands as much more than a footnote." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The story is riveting...Folks interested in that peek behind the curtain will love this." --Booklist

"While Olsen's extensive written character analysis is built with avid descriptors of human characteristics and quirks, fed by a black oddball sense of humor, his work is also imbued with great compassion--for human foibles, human loves and losses, and even for those who take human life...The Amish Wife is an absorbing and praiseworthy contribution to the understanding of murder." --Splash Magazines