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Hanneke Bauer Mystery #2
The Solace of Stars: A Hanneke Bauer Mystery
Four months after her turbulent arrival, Pomeranian immigrant Hanneke Bauer is still struggling to feel at home on the Wisconsin farm she inherited from her husband. She does savor a growing friendship with tinsmith Karoline Ketzler, but that solace vanishes when Karoline’s daughter Jacobine finds her father dead from a vicious attack.
When the deputy sheriff’s suspicions fall on Karoline, Hanneke employs her own talents to investigate the crime. The search reveals dangerous cultural rifts and astonishing family secrets. Hanneke’s tenacity and intellect help edge her closer to the truth…but will her efforts provoke the killer to strike again?
When the deputy sheriff’s suspicions fall on Karoline, Hanneke employs her own talents to investigate the crime. The search reveals dangerous cultural rifts and astonishing family secrets. Hanneke’s tenacity and intellect help edge her closer to the truth…but will her efforts provoke the killer to strike again?
287 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2023
6 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Ernst
57 books383 followersI grew up in Maryland, in a house full of books! Both of my parents were avid readers, thank goodness. Before we traveled to a new area, my librarian-mom used to bring home historical novels set in that place. It was a great way to get excited about history.
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing was my hobby, so during those two decades I just kept practicing, reading, writing some more. What a thrill to finally hold my first book in my hand! Still, I write because I enjoy the process (at least most of the time).
For years I wrote while working at other day jobs. I spent 12 years working at a huge historic site, which was a perfect spot for someone interested in historical fiction. I also developed and scripted instructional videos for public television. Finally, though, it got to be too much to juggle. I now write full-time, and consider myself enormously fortunate to do something I love.
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing was my hobby, so during those two decades I just kept practicing, reading, writing some more. What a thrill to finally hold my first book in my hand! Still, I write because I enjoy the process (at least most of the time).
For years I wrote while working at other day jobs. I spent 12 years working at a huge historic site, which was a perfect spot for someone interested in historical fiction. I also developed and scripted instructional videos for public television. Finally, though, it got to be too much to juggle. I now write full-time, and consider myself enormously fortunate to do something I love.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 8, 2023
Hanneke Bauer survived her first few months alone on her late husband's farm. She has help from some friendly Ho-Chunk people and her neighbors. She secretly assisted in the Underground Railroad carrying on Fridolin's work. Her nearest neighbor and friend, Frau Karoline Ketzler, is not so lucky. A tinsmith by trade, faces vitriol from a male tinsmith who doesn't appreciate competition from a WOMAN. Her husband, August, was injured in a farming accident and can't work. He also drinks too much. Hanneke tries to help shield Karoline's teenage daughter Jacobine from the worst of her father's anger by inviting the girl over to learn to knit. Unfortunately, Jacobine discovers her father stabbed to death in his own farm yard and her memories of what she may have seen have fled. Even worse, Deputy Barrow suspects Karoline murdered her husband after he hit her. Hanneke knows her friend is not a murderer and is determined to find out who did this. Of course she has to go around Deputy Barrow to do so! Then Karoline goes missing and other mysterious accidents occur. Hanneke doesn't think there's a coincidence. Did the killer return, determined to remove the Ketzlers? Hanneke won't stop until she finds her friend AND the murderer!
If you love Kathleen Ernst's American Girl books as much as I do, you will like the Hanneke Bauer mysteries. The plot was a little slow to begin with but picked up and then I couldn't put it down. I eventually figured out who the murderer was. I thought I guessed why but it sounded kind of lame. What I guessed WAS lame but wasn't the motive for murder. The motive was a little weak. I was hoping for something bigger as in the first book. There's so much history packed in this novel. There are details about the Pomeranian community and farm life in the 1850s. Kathleen Ernst has always excelled at those details having worked at Old World Wisconsin! She's skilled at working that information into the plot. What didn't always work for me were the descriptions of people and the similes. They did very much read like a children's book.
In 1855 there were more and more immigrants arriving in America every day, especially those fleeing revolutions in Germany (not yet one country) and famine in Ireland. This gave rise to the Know Nothing party, the MAGA Republicans of the antebellum era, who participate in some KKK-like behavior. The story foreshadows the coming Civil War and Indian Wars as tensions over immigration, indigenous rights and slavery are about to boil over. That's very sad.
However, first and foremost, this is a story about women and how they survived in this strange new land, away from towns living on farms. They did so by forming communities of women. What I really liked in this story is how the women look after each other and support one another. When someone is sick, first they send for Hanneke with her herbal remedies, before the doctor (expensive) had to be called in. When tragedy strikes or help is needed, Hanneke and the other women support each other with visiting, sewing, cooking, and in Hanneke's case, sleuthing. The men assist with the farm chores but largely this community is women supporting other women. That's such a nice idea and one I don't see anymore. We should bring that back instead of fighting and competing on reality TV. There's some sexism but also women doing things men normally did, like running their own businesses! Karoline is based on a friend of the author's, Kitty Latané, a modern traditional tinsmsith, who has done research into tinsmithing in that era
Hanneke is a very American Girl heroine. In the first book we saw how she doesn't take NO for an answer. She still doesn't. She's intelligent and needs an outlet for her exceptional mind. Lacking her husband to talk to, she makes a nuisance of herself with Deputy Barlow. He's a bit tough but he is kind and loving towards his ill wife. He also admits he's too busy tracking down horse thieves to really investigate August's murder. Hanneke can't let justice go undone and since she's in a position to talk to other immigrants, they trust her and will talk to her in ways they won't with the law, she can find out who killed August and save her friend. When another unexplained death occurs in the community, Hanneke suspects murder and again won't take no for an answer! I like how gutsy she is and even though sometimes she does crazy things I would never do, she is tenacious enough to get the job done. She also works hard on her farm, helps her friend Angela at the hotel in town and is kind and motherly towards Jacobine.
Karoline Ketzler is another strong female character. She has a skilled trade and sounds very talented. She has run afoul of Wulff, a male tinsmith, who operates miles away. It sounds like he is not as talented and creative as Karoline. He makes utilitarian objects for whoever will pay. Karoline sounds like an artist who enjoys the creative outlet as well as the money she makes for her tinware. I want the heart shape cutters! I bet she makes the cute animal cookie cutters we have from my mom's family. Karoline loves her husband August and claims he's a good man. Isn't that what classic abuse victims always say? It's so sad. I understand he feels emasculated and frustrated by his inability to work. He sounds like he was once a loving husband and father but now is reduced to angry, unhappy alcoholic. The story never explains whether he was given alcohol to dull the pain or if he started drinking because he was unhappy. He's stuck waiting to die unable to help his family. That could make him a tragic figure but witnesses spotted him in another neighborhood with a woman! Was August having an affair? Who was the man he was arguing with at cards? What is the mysterious Catholic medal Hanneke finds in his clothes? Is there a connection? Was he seeing an Irish Catholic woman on the side? That would certainly be a motive for murder, especially for his long suffering wife.
Jacobine is 15 and on the cusp of womanhood but still in that confused teenage drama queen phase. Jacobine witnessed her father being murdered but her brain hasn't processed what she saw. Is she safe or will the murderer come after her too? Jacobine is shy, insecure but sometimes stubborn. Hanneke senses the girl is lying to her or perhaps lying by omission! What is Jacobine hiding? Is she having a clandestine romance with the young druggists clerk in town? Her mother is wishing for a match so it shouldn't have to be clandestine. I wonder if she is participating on the underground railroad and like Fridolin, August was killed because of it? Too much of the same thing though so I don't think so but Jacobine is up to something.
Jacobine is too young to marry, thank goodness, but at 16 she will be expected to marry a man her parents choose. Hey now! This is the time period of Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, etc.! Jacobine's mother has a job! I think Jacobine is too young to marry. She's still learning womanly skills like knitting and sewing and also how to act like an adult. I hope she will hold off on marriage for a few years, maybe apprentice to her mother and learn a trade. They can go into business together. They'll need the income now August is gone.
I think Caspar Wulff killed August and used one of Karoline's pieces to frame her. That man is nasty. He's angry, arrogant and fears losing business to the obviously more talented Karoline. He stole one of her pieces and August was stabbed. Plus Hanneke uncovers some information about him that shows his character and he makes her feel uncomfortable. On one hand I want to say yes he's taking orders from anyone who will pay him, that's business. On the other, I want to say, he should be well known enough and unique enough NOT to have to accept every customer who comes around. His finances need investigating before Hanneke can make a judgement either way. Perhaps he needs the money or is worried about industrialization and competition from new immigrants like Karoline? Or worse - more women! Wulff is my top choice for villain, even though he's the most obvious.
Other characters include Hans and Elizabeth Goetsch, farmers and respected elders in the Pomeranian community. They're friendly, helpful and good neighbors but I don't like them very much. They refuse to have the Ho-Chunk family work for them. They're prejudiced and accurate for their time and place much like Caroline Ingalls and her neighbors. It's really Hanneke who is too modern. Still, I don't like them because they don't even try to get to know this mother and son as individuals. I do feel sad they lost their only child and are all alone but they have their community of fellow Pomeranian immigrants to be their family. They aren't the only characters prejudiced against the natives. One educated man, Manfred, fully believes in negative stereotypes. I do suspect that Indian rights was the motive for murder. NOT that the Ho-Chunk man, William, is the killer, but that perhaps the motive for murder was political again. Here we are almost 170 years later and the same old political issues are still going strong. If people TODAY are nasty and threatening each other, what might they have done in the 1850s midwest?
William Bluewing, Ho-Chunk scholar and farmhand, is a hard worker. He's trying to learn German and English to communicate with the settlers. He desires an education and knows he needs one foot in both worlds if his people are to survive. The U.S. government is trying to push them off their ancestral land and if William can negotiate and talk to the settlers in their own language (not just English or German but legalese) I think it could help. Or he hopes it will. He's wise beyond his years and also devoted to his mother and their traditional way of life. Annie, his mother, is smart enough to understand she has to let her son go or they won't survive. Both Bluewings are good people and provide a look at what life was like for Wisconsin's indigenous people at this time, before they were removed from their land.
I like Clara Steckleberg, Hanneke's closest neighbor. She's intelligent, like Hanneke and practical. When tragedy strikes she doesn't sit around weeping, she has to be doing something. She's also very kind and neighborly, helping Hanneke comfort Jacobine and Karoline. Clara's husband, Charles, is very sweet and helpful to the women. He was a scholar with big dreams back in the old country but seems to have adjusted to farm life well. Clara's mother, Oma Pearl, is the grandmother of the community. She's responsible for loving and trying to help Jacobine recover from her trauma. I like the sound of her and was hoping to get to know her better.
Emmi Bock, only a very minor character, is a successful businesswoman. Widowed awhile back, she now runs the candy store in town! She's wise enough to be wary of men coming courting and to confer with Hanneke about her suspicions. I hope the two can become good friends. Angela is in this book too. As Hanneke's closet friend and another businesswoman, these women illustrate how women could and did participate in public life. Angela is strong, brave and determined. I liked her in the first book and I still like her now. She helps other women who are outcasts like herself.
Gottlieb Nass is a young clerk at a drugstore in town. He's expected to be going places and is a suitable suitor for Jacobine. Why do teens think forbidden love is the best love? He seems willing to court her but fearful of Hanneke. Did he argue with August? August and Jacobine had a special bond. She was a Papa's girl and perhaps Papa didn't approve of her suitor or a clandestine romance? Gottlieb doesn't seem like the type to get angry and stab someone but you never know. Maybe he has a father who doesn't approve of his son having a drunkard for a potential future father-in-law.
I've been a huge fan of Kathleen Ernst's historical fiction since I was a teen and this novel is no exception. I really like Hanneke and hope to read more about her again in the future.
If you love Kathleen Ernst's American Girl books as much as I do, you will like the Hanneke Bauer mysteries. The plot was a little slow to begin with but picked up and then I couldn't put it down. I eventually figured out who the murderer was. I thought I guessed why but it sounded kind of lame. What I guessed WAS lame but wasn't the motive for murder. The motive was a little weak. I was hoping for something bigger as in the first book. There's so much history packed in this novel. There are details about the Pomeranian community and farm life in the 1850s. Kathleen Ernst has always excelled at those details having worked at Old World Wisconsin! She's skilled at working that information into the plot. What didn't always work for me were the descriptions of people and the similes. They did very much read like a children's book.
In 1855 there were more and more immigrants arriving in America every day, especially those fleeing revolutions in Germany (not yet one country) and famine in Ireland. This gave rise to the Know Nothing party, the MAGA Republicans of the antebellum era, who participate in some KKK-like behavior. The story foreshadows the coming Civil War and Indian Wars as tensions over immigration, indigenous rights and slavery are about to boil over. That's very sad.
However, first and foremost, this is a story about women and how they survived in this strange new land, away from towns living on farms. They did so by forming communities of women. What I really liked in this story is how the women look after each other and support one another. When someone is sick, first they send for Hanneke with her herbal remedies, before the doctor (expensive) had to be called in. When tragedy strikes or help is needed, Hanneke and the other women support each other with visiting, sewing, cooking, and in Hanneke's case, sleuthing. The men assist with the farm chores but largely this community is women supporting other women. That's such a nice idea and one I don't see anymore. We should bring that back instead of fighting and competing on reality TV. There's some sexism but also women doing things men normally did, like running their own businesses! Karoline is based on a friend of the author's, Kitty Latané, a modern traditional tinsmsith, who has done research into tinsmithing in that era
Hanneke is a very American Girl heroine. In the first book we saw how she doesn't take NO for an answer. She still doesn't. She's intelligent and needs an outlet for her exceptional mind. Lacking her husband to talk to, she makes a nuisance of herself with Deputy Barlow. He's a bit tough but he is kind and loving towards his ill wife. He also admits he's too busy tracking down horse thieves to really investigate August's murder. Hanneke can't let justice go undone and since she's in a position to talk to other immigrants, they trust her and will talk to her in ways they won't with the law, she can find out who killed August and save her friend. When another unexplained death occurs in the community, Hanneke suspects murder and again won't take no for an answer! I like how gutsy she is and even though sometimes she does crazy things I would never do, she is tenacious enough to get the job done. She also works hard on her farm, helps her friend Angela at the hotel in town and is kind and motherly towards Jacobine.
Karoline Ketzler is another strong female character. She has a skilled trade and sounds very talented. She has run afoul of Wulff, a male tinsmith, who operates miles away. It sounds like he is not as talented and creative as Karoline. He makes utilitarian objects for whoever will pay. Karoline sounds like an artist who enjoys the creative outlet as well as the money she makes for her tinware. I want the heart shape cutters! I bet she makes the cute animal cookie cutters we have from my mom's family. Karoline loves her husband August and claims he's a good man. Isn't that what classic abuse victims always say? It's so sad. I understand he feels emasculated and frustrated by his inability to work. He sounds like he was once a loving husband and father but now is reduced to angry, unhappy alcoholic. The story never explains whether he was given alcohol to dull the pain or if he started drinking because he was unhappy. He's stuck waiting to die unable to help his family. That could make him a tragic figure but witnesses spotted him in another neighborhood with a woman! Was August having an affair? Who was the man he was arguing with at cards? What is the mysterious Catholic medal Hanneke finds in his clothes? Is there a connection? Was he seeing an Irish Catholic woman on the side? That would certainly be a motive for murder, especially for his long suffering wife.
Jacobine is 15 and on the cusp of womanhood but still in that confused teenage drama queen phase. Jacobine witnessed her father being murdered but her brain hasn't processed what she saw. Is she safe or will the murderer come after her too? Jacobine is shy, insecure but sometimes stubborn. Hanneke senses the girl is lying to her or perhaps lying by omission! What is Jacobine hiding? Is she having a clandestine romance with the young druggists clerk in town? Her mother is wishing for a match so it shouldn't have to be clandestine. I wonder if she is participating on the underground railroad and like Fridolin, August was killed because of it? Too much of the same thing though so I don't think so but Jacobine is up to something.
Jacobine is too young to marry, thank goodness, but at 16 she will be expected to marry a man her parents choose. Hey now! This is the time period of Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, etc.! Jacobine's mother has a job! I think Jacobine is too young to marry. She's still learning womanly skills like knitting and sewing and also how to act like an adult. I hope she will hold off on marriage for a few years, maybe apprentice to her mother and learn a trade. They can go into business together. They'll need the income now August is gone.
I think Caspar Wulff killed August and used one of Karoline's pieces to frame her. That man is nasty. He's angry, arrogant and fears losing business to the obviously more talented Karoline. He stole one of her pieces and August was stabbed. Plus Hanneke uncovers some information about him that shows his character and he makes her feel uncomfortable. On one hand I want to say yes he's taking orders from anyone who will pay him, that's business. On the other, I want to say, he should be well known enough and unique enough NOT to have to accept every customer who comes around. His finances need investigating before Hanneke can make a judgement either way. Perhaps he needs the money or is worried about industrialization and competition from new immigrants like Karoline? Or worse - more women! Wulff is my top choice for villain, even though he's the most obvious.
Other characters include Hans and Elizabeth Goetsch, farmers and respected elders in the Pomeranian community. They're friendly, helpful and good neighbors but I don't like them very much. They refuse to have the Ho-Chunk family work for them. They're prejudiced and accurate for their time and place much like Caroline Ingalls and her neighbors. It's really Hanneke who is too modern. Still, I don't like them because they don't even try to get to know this mother and son as individuals. I do feel sad they lost their only child and are all alone but they have their community of fellow Pomeranian immigrants to be their family. They aren't the only characters prejudiced against the natives. One educated man, Manfred, fully believes in negative stereotypes. I do suspect that Indian rights was the motive for murder. NOT that the Ho-Chunk man, William, is the killer, but that perhaps the motive for murder was political again. Here we are almost 170 years later and the same old political issues are still going strong. If people TODAY are nasty and threatening each other, what might they have done in the 1850s midwest?
William Bluewing, Ho-Chunk scholar and farmhand, is a hard worker. He's trying to learn German and English to communicate with the settlers. He desires an education and knows he needs one foot in both worlds if his people are to survive. The U.S. government is trying to push them off their ancestral land and if William can negotiate and talk to the settlers in their own language (not just English or German but legalese) I think it could help. Or he hopes it will. He's wise beyond his years and also devoted to his mother and their traditional way of life. Annie, his mother, is smart enough to understand she has to let her son go or they won't survive. Both Bluewings are good people and provide a look at what life was like for Wisconsin's indigenous people at this time, before they were removed from their land.
I like Clara Steckleberg, Hanneke's closest neighbor. She's intelligent, like Hanneke and practical. When tragedy strikes she doesn't sit around weeping, she has to be doing something. She's also very kind and neighborly, helping Hanneke comfort Jacobine and Karoline. Clara's husband, Charles, is very sweet and helpful to the women. He was a scholar with big dreams back in the old country but seems to have adjusted to farm life well. Clara's mother, Oma Pearl, is the grandmother of the community. She's responsible for loving and trying to help Jacobine recover from her trauma. I like the sound of her and was hoping to get to know her better.
Emmi Bock, only a very minor character, is a successful businesswoman. Widowed awhile back, she now runs the candy store in town! She's wise enough to be wary of men coming courting and to confer with Hanneke about her suspicions. I hope the two can become good friends. Angela is in this book too. As Hanneke's closet friend and another businesswoman, these women illustrate how women could and did participate in public life. Angela is strong, brave and determined. I liked her in the first book and I still like her now. She helps other women who are outcasts like herself.
Gottlieb Nass is a young clerk at a drugstore in town. He's expected to be going places and is a suitable suitor for Jacobine. Why do teens think forbidden love is the best love? He seems willing to court her but fearful of Hanneke. Did he argue with August? August and Jacobine had a special bond. She was a Papa's girl and perhaps Papa didn't approve of her suitor or a clandestine romance? Gottlieb doesn't seem like the type to get angry and stab someone but you never know. Maybe he has a father who doesn't approve of his son having a drunkard for a potential future father-in-law.
I've been a huge fan of Kathleen Ernst's historical fiction since I was a teen and this novel is no exception. I really like Hanneke and hope to read more about her again in the future.
August 12, 2023
Dollycas's Thoughts
Pomeranian immigrant Hanneke Bauer arrived in the Watertown area four months ago to find that her husband had died. Without any other options, she moved to the farm she had now inherited trying to make a life for herself. She has made a few friends and she is able to sell some of the knitted items she makes or use them for barter to help her survive. It is rare to see her without her needles clicking and a new project being made.
One of her friends is tinsmith Karoline Ketzler. She has also gotten close to Karoline's daughter Jacobine. When Jacobine finds her father dead, clearly murdered, she comes to Hanneke for help. Soon the deputy sheriff decides Karoline is responsible for her husband's death. It doesn't help that Karoline has gone missing. Hanneke decides she must find the real killer to bring Karoline home and reunite her with her daughter. Trying to question anyone that may know anything soon puts both Jacobine and Hanneke in danger and another person dies. Can Hanneke break through all the secrets and lies or will she become the killer's next victim?
____
Again, Kathleen Ernst takes us back in time to a vital and dangerous time in Wisconsin history. Slaves are still traveling through Wisconsin to find freedom and more and more immigrants from Germany and Ireland are coming to the area while the Native Americans are trying to keep their place. Some are willing to help the immigrants like a family Hanneke has become quite close to.
Hanneke Bauer is such a strong and courageous woman. She is on her own in a new world and she is the fighter she has to be. She is growing her own food, has livestock to care for, and she puts her life on the line to help others. Her friends are also strong women, Angela runs the Red Cockerel tavern and Karoline is a tinsmith that works hard to sell her wares to provide for her family. Truthfully the story is filled with strong women. They had to be strong to live back in that time.
But for some men and women, this life was too hard and they had issues, struggles, and vices and the author shows that too. The victim was dealing with a lot but something he was doing right before his death surprised me. It also shined a spotlight on another strong woman doing good things during this time.
The mystery of August Ketzler's death was very complex. Hanneke put herself in danger in an effort to help Karoline and Jacobine. I was captivated by her efforts and worried for her the whole book. A second death really twisted the story up and I still wasn't sure whodunit. In fact, I was caught unaware as the ending started to play out and continued to be surprised until the end as were most of the characters in the book. The gathering in the last chapter was so important to the community.
I love the connection Hanneke feels with her husband Fridolin and the solace she finds in the stars. She is starting to find her place more and more at her Safe Haven Farm.
I really enjoy the way Ms. Ernst includes real people and true events in her fictional stories. This time my knowledge perked right up when I recognized a name and knew exactly who she was. All those elementary school field trips must have sunk in. There were real other names from history mentioned but I was not as familiar with those as I probably should be.
The Solace of Stars was a compelling read written by a wonderful storyteller. I am very excited for the next book in this series. A frigid Wisconsin winter perhaps? Whatever this author has in store for Hanneke Bauer, I am all in for the next part of her story.
Pomeranian immigrant Hanneke Bauer arrived in the Watertown area four months ago to find that her husband had died. Without any other options, she moved to the farm she had now inherited trying to make a life for herself. She has made a few friends and she is able to sell some of the knitted items she makes or use them for barter to help her survive. It is rare to see her without her needles clicking and a new project being made.
One of her friends is tinsmith Karoline Ketzler. She has also gotten close to Karoline's daughter Jacobine. When Jacobine finds her father dead, clearly murdered, she comes to Hanneke for help. Soon the deputy sheriff decides Karoline is responsible for her husband's death. It doesn't help that Karoline has gone missing. Hanneke decides she must find the real killer to bring Karoline home and reunite her with her daughter. Trying to question anyone that may know anything soon puts both Jacobine and Hanneke in danger and another person dies. Can Hanneke break through all the secrets and lies or will she become the killer's next victim?
____
Again, Kathleen Ernst takes us back in time to a vital and dangerous time in Wisconsin history. Slaves are still traveling through Wisconsin to find freedom and more and more immigrants from Germany and Ireland are coming to the area while the Native Americans are trying to keep their place. Some are willing to help the immigrants like a family Hanneke has become quite close to.
Hanneke Bauer is such a strong and courageous woman. She is on her own in a new world and she is the fighter she has to be. She is growing her own food, has livestock to care for, and she puts her life on the line to help others. Her friends are also strong women, Angela runs the Red Cockerel tavern and Karoline is a tinsmith that works hard to sell her wares to provide for her family. Truthfully the story is filled with strong women. They had to be strong to live back in that time.
But for some men and women, this life was too hard and they had issues, struggles, and vices and the author shows that too. The victim was dealing with a lot but something he was doing right before his death surprised me. It also shined a spotlight on another strong woman doing good things during this time.
The mystery of August Ketzler's death was very complex. Hanneke put herself in danger in an effort to help Karoline and Jacobine. I was captivated by her efforts and worried for her the whole book. A second death really twisted the story up and I still wasn't sure whodunit. In fact, I was caught unaware as the ending started to play out and continued to be surprised until the end as were most of the characters in the book. The gathering in the last chapter was so important to the community.
I love the connection Hanneke feels with her husband Fridolin and the solace she finds in the stars. She is starting to find her place more and more at her Safe Haven Farm.
I really enjoy the way Ms. Ernst includes real people and true events in her fictional stories. This time my knowledge perked right up when I recognized a name and knew exactly who she was. All those elementary school field trips must have sunk in. There were real other names from history mentioned but I was not as familiar with those as I probably should be.
The Solace of Stars was a compelling read written by a wonderful storyteller. I am very excited for the next book in this series. A frigid Wisconsin winter perhaps? Whatever this author has in store for Hanneke Bauer, I am all in for the next part of her story.
June 8, 2025
What a lovely book! I love all of the history that Ernst was able to include - know-nothings, immigration, religion, relations with Native Americans.... Definitely worth the read and contemplating so many things.
Read
May 2, 2025In the previous book in this series, our heroine Hanneke had immigrated from Germany (technically Pomerania, since it was before the unification of Germany, and Germany didn’t exist yet) to join her husband in Wisconsin. She found him dead, and herself unwelcome in the town. In that book she solves her husband’s murder and inherits his farm.
In this, the second book, Hanneke is settling in. She raises sheep on the farm, processes the wool into yarn, and has a business selling her knitted socks and shawls. She has also made friends.
Among those friends are August and Karoline Ketzler, and their fifteen year old daughter Jacobine. Karoline is a tinsmith, and sells cookie cutters and candle sconces in the market. August has suffered a farm accident that deprived him of the use of his right arm, and he has taken to drink. And he is a mean drunk, famous all over town for fighting in the streets. Karoline struggles to support him and helping, believing the good man he once was is still in there somewhere.
Then August is found stabbed to death. Who had a grudge against him? Only everyone he had picked a fight with, which was a lot of people. Naturally, it is suspected that his abused wife Karoline might have retaliated, but she swears she didn’t do it.
Karoline sinks into depression, then disappears. Daughter Jacobine suffers some suspicious accidents (or perhaps not accidents?) and moves in with Hanneke for safekeeping, but it soon appears that no one is safe anywhere.
Hanneke will help Deputy John Barlow to solve the murder. In the process, their contentious relationship will evolve into a grudging respect.
Also in the process we will learn lots of history without it feeling like we are learning history: not just political and social movements, but what people ate and how they dressed, and how they celebrated, and how they treated their animals for disease.
I have recently given thought to the fact that historical novels are my favorite genre to read, and yet I often find it hard to find historical novels that satisfy. What is it I have been searching for? I finally decided I was chasing the high that I felt reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a child, a world that sucked me in, and seemed as real to me as the one I really lived in.
I think Kathleen Ernst’s books do the same. They are like Little House books for adults. They include all the parts the Little House books left out: the difficulties of fending off poverty, the violence attached to prejudice, and political and social unrest. But they also include the heartwarming parts: neighbors helping neighbors, the profound satisfaction when hard work leads to a job well done, and the great possibilities for freedom in this new land, despite the hardships.
This book has all that, plus ends with a most surprising love story.
In this, the second book, Hanneke is settling in. She raises sheep on the farm, processes the wool into yarn, and has a business selling her knitted socks and shawls. She has also made friends.
Among those friends are August and Karoline Ketzler, and their fifteen year old daughter Jacobine. Karoline is a tinsmith, and sells cookie cutters and candle sconces in the market. August has suffered a farm accident that deprived him of the use of his right arm, and he has taken to drink. And he is a mean drunk, famous all over town for fighting in the streets. Karoline struggles to support him and helping, believing the good man he once was is still in there somewhere.
Then August is found stabbed to death. Who had a grudge against him? Only everyone he had picked a fight with, which was a lot of people. Naturally, it is suspected that his abused wife Karoline might have retaliated, but she swears she didn’t do it.
Karoline sinks into depression, then disappears. Daughter Jacobine suffers some suspicious accidents (or perhaps not accidents?) and moves in with Hanneke for safekeeping, but it soon appears that no one is safe anywhere.
Hanneke will help Deputy John Barlow to solve the murder. In the process, their contentious relationship will evolve into a grudging respect.
Also in the process we will learn lots of history without it feeling like we are learning history: not just political and social movements, but what people ate and how they dressed, and how they celebrated, and how they treated their animals for disease.
I have recently given thought to the fact that historical novels are my favorite genre to read, and yet I often find it hard to find historical novels that satisfy. What is it I have been searching for? I finally decided I was chasing the high that I felt reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a child, a world that sucked me in, and seemed as real to me as the one I really lived in.
I think Kathleen Ernst’s books do the same. They are like Little House books for adults. They include all the parts the Little House books left out: the difficulties of fending off poverty, the violence attached to prejudice, and political and social unrest. But they also include the heartwarming parts: neighbors helping neighbors, the profound satisfaction when hard work leads to a job well done, and the great possibilities for freedom in this new land, despite the hardships.
This book has all that, plus ends with a most surprising love story.
March 27, 2024
Touching historical story with a great cast of characters and a volatile, Midwest setting in the 1800s with issues concerning accepting (or not) the influx of German, Irish, and other immigrants as well as accepting (or not) Native peoples. A heart-wrenching murder mystery intrigues all the way through. The harsh way of life is also revealed for both men and women. Glad I live now! This is the second book in this series but can stand alone. Kathleen Ernst is expert at weaving historical facts into a plot and her characterizations. This book includes a couple of real people in history as well. A highly recommended book and series.
August 17, 2024
The author creates an impressive portrait of life in a mid-19th century Wisconsin immigrant community. Hanneke Bauer’s husband died in a previous book, but she is determined to sustain the farm he bequeathed her. However, she suffers another loss when one of her neighbors is murdered. Hanneke finds calm and centering in knitting. In the midst of loss, she is comforted by the sight of the stars in the night sky. I found this perspective quite poignant since it is a source of solace generally unavailable to 21st century city-dwellers.
April 21, 2024
Set in 1850s Wisconsin, in a predominately Pomeranian community, though both German and Irish Catholics also live there, along with remnants of the once indigenous native tribes. When a neighbor is brutally murdered, Hanneke once again involves herself in helping to solve the mystery, for the sake of the new widow, and her teenage daughter. This book provides a fascinating look at a different time and place amidst a clash of cultures. Recommended.
October 3, 2023
Amateur sleuth in 1855 Wisconsin.
When Hanneke Bauer’s neighbor is murdered, she can’t resist gathering information. Sometimes her actions bring her into conflict with the local deputy, but she’s determined to find the truth. Keeping the fifteen-year-old daughter, and possible witness, safe becomes a full-time endeavor after an elderly woman is poisoned, and the new widow disappears.
Set among the German immigrant population of Watertown, WI, the twists and turns of this story makes me watchful for the next Hanneke Bauer mystery.
When Hanneke Bauer’s neighbor is murdered, she can’t resist gathering information. Sometimes her actions bring her into conflict with the local deputy, but she’s determined to find the truth. Keeping the fifteen-year-old daughter, and possible witness, safe becomes a full-time endeavor after an elderly woman is poisoned, and the new widow disappears.
Set among the German immigrant population of Watertown, WI, the twists and turns of this story makes me watchful for the next Hanneke Bauer mystery.
April 21, 2024
Another clever mystery in the Hanneke Bauer series. My ancestors are from Watertown and lived there in this exact time period. I love learning about their lives and they were much different than what I thought. Kathleen Ernst’s website has a wealth of information and pictures on which she based her story. She is writing a 3rd book and I can’t wait to read it!
October 1, 2023
New mystery series by Wisconsin author Kathleen Ernst. Set in Watertown in mid-1800's. Very informative about immigrant lives at the time.
August 8, 2024
really enjoying the Hanneke Bauer series
October 20, 2025
Enjoyed this book, second in the series. Now on to book three.
September 17, 2025
I love how thoroughly researched and historically intentional these books are, without feeling bogged down by lengthy explanations of the historical context. They are set in Wisconsin, which I also appreciate and enjoy. There's one more book in this series, and I am looking forward to reading it!
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