"A Gathering of Secrets" by Linda Castillo

A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo is a murder mystery that is extremely sad.  Right from the Prologue, this book blew me away!  It is downright gruesome at times with some suspense.  The Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder gets herself into a couple dicey situations in this book.  When she discovers what a slime bag the 18-yr-old Amish boy really was, it becomes a struggle for her to hunt down his killer.

This book had some surprises but I came close to figuring out who the murderer was.  I thought the plot was interesting and kept my attention throughout the book.  I finished this one in just two days.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Gerard's review (3.5 stars):
In A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo, a teen-age boy is found burned to death in his own barn.  Foul play is suspected.  It is up to Kate to find out who did this and why.  This book is pretty much the same as her other books with it set in the Amish community, her in danger while trying to solve the case, and some of her personal life.  The names and incidents change, but pretty much follows the same pattern.  I thought it was okay.

Teaser from page 6:  Meet me in the barn at midnight.  I'll make it worth your while.

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"Her Last Breath" by Linda Castillo (Updated)

Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo is gripping from the start, beginning with an Amish buggy hit-and- run accident that is fatal for the father and two of his three small children. Kate Burkholder, Chief of police, discovers that the hit-and-run “accident” was not an accident after all, but intentional! The widow was her best childhood friend. This is such a sad story with a surprise ending.

This book had my attention right from the start and held it all the way through. Kate Burkholder really needs to work on her hand-to-hand combat though! Anyhow, this is a good mystery and also had a bit of romance as well as some suspense. It had three storylines: the main murder mystery, Kate’s past catching up to her and the romance between Kate and Tomasetti with action near the end with a surprise twist.
(Karen's review 1/13/18, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 4:  Around him, the buggy exploded into a hundred pieces.  Paul thought he heard a child's cry and then the ground rushed up and slammed into him.

Gerard's review 1/23/18:
Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo starts off with a hit and run buggy accident in Amish country.  However, when the police investigate, there is more to it than it looks.  There is good stuff here.  I never knew how this was going to turn out!  The pace of the book is quick and the characters true to life.  (5 stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Down a Dark Road" by Linda Castillo--An Amish Murder Mystery We Both Liked

In Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo, Joseph King is spending life in prison for a horrible crime he committed, but escaped and is on the run. Chief Kate Burkholder is on it! She was a close childhood friend of Joseph. Could he really have done this? Will Kate let her feelings get in the way of doing her job? I thought this book was very good! The characters were well developed and the situations were true to life. Don’t miss this one! (Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Karen's review:
Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo is about a cop, Katie Burkholder, who finds herself in a hostage situation with a childhood Amish friend who was convicted of murdering his wife and escaped from jail. She has a hard time believing he is guilty and agrees to look into his case even though it is outside her jurisdiction. She finds some disturbing things that make her more determined to investigate to discover the truth for herself which puts her in great danger.

This is a very good book that got my interest right from the start and kept it all the way to the end. It has action, some tender scenes, and suspense. The theme throughout is to seek the truth and fight for justice no matter what. If you like a good mystery that is not boring with ties to the Amish community, you should read this one! (5 stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Gone Missing" by Linda Castillo is an Amish Thriller

Gone Missing by Linda Castillo is about a police investigation involving several missing Amish teens.  The cops don’t know if they just left on their own or if foul play was involved.  Some disappearances are cold cases but some are recently and they wonder if they are all related.  Talking to the victims’ families is tough because of the Amish’s general reluctance to trust anyone outside their own community.  Kate Burkholder, having grown up Amish, the chief of police for a small Amish community is called in on the case as a consultant and is excited about working again with a State Agent, John Tomasetti, who she really hit it off with. 

This book focuses on parent-teen relationships and is an interesting read because it not only gives some insight into the Amish, but is told from Kate’s perspective and includes both her job as a cop and her personal life as a woman.  The last 67 pages are full of suspense and action that made me keep turning the pages.  The ending is very unsettling and quite shocking!  This book has some foul language but it is much less than some of her other books I’ve read and was easy to overlook.  This is a good mystery!
(Karen's review)

 

Other books I liked by Linda Castillo:  Sworn to Silence (gruesome), Pray for Silence (very good) and Breaking Silence (thrilling)

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"Breaking Silence" by Linda Castillo

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo is her third book that has Kate as the lead cop trying to solve a crime against the Amish.  This book is a page-turner.  I thought I finally nailed who the killer was only to find out I was wrong, as usual.  The ending is really good; didn't see it coming at all!  This book is well worth reading.  I give this 1 1/2 wow rating!
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo left me stunned! If you like a good murder mystery and stories about the Amish, this one combines the two very well. The former Amish Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, has her work cut out for her as she tries to track down the perpetrators of a string of hate crimes in the Amish community where no one wants to answer her questions. The biggest puzzle is when what appears to be an accident causing three deaths that result in four orphaned kids turns out to be murder. I could feel her emotions as she worked to get the boys out of the manure pit and chased down the criminal through his place of employment. I also enjoyed the subplot of her personal relationship with Agent Tomasetti as they worked together on the case.

I liked that the story is told from Kate’s point of view as she goes about trying to solve the crimes while trying to keep her personal feelings in check. I was shocked by the ending which kept me reviewing in my mind what happened to try to make sense of it all. This is a very interesting read that I highly recommend.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Other books we read and liked by Linda Castillo: Sworn To Silence & Pray For Silence

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"Pray For Silence" by Linda Castillo

Pray For Silence by Linda Castillo is a thriller set in Amish country, the second in a series of three books. Kate Burkholder is the Chief of police who left the Amish community. When she is confronted with a mass murder of a whole Amish family, the Planks, she not only seeks justice but also revenge when she discovers the torture Mary, one of the teen girls suffered. The low life scum bags in this book are repulsive, hideous, vile and nauseating! Kate feels a real connection with Mary as she reads her journal.


Pray For Silence contains crimes of murder, rape, pornography and has quite a bit of foul language. The crime investigation was fascinating and once Kate realizes there is more than one predator on the loose, suspense builds quickly. If you can hang on through the disgusting crimes, the ending is very good. I enjoyed the subplot of romance between Kate and Special Agent Tomasetti who unofficially helped her with the case. I felt good that I had the murderer pegged fairly early on in this one. 
(Karen's review)

UPDATED 8/28/10:
Gerard loves this series too!  Pray For Silence is as good as Sworn To Silence, her first book about Kate Burkholder, Chief of police in Amish country.  I could not figure out the killer ahead.  This is a real page turner!  You better believe I am going to read the next book she writes!  Super job, Linda!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Sworn to Silence" by Linda Castillo

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Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo is a gruesome thriller mystery about a woman with Amish background  Chief of police of Painters Mills, Ohio finally getting to the bottom of the rape/murders that have been going on for years by a serial killer with a little romance thrown in.  It has an unusual twist that I didn’t expect and the book builds tension along the way enticing me to stay up late to finish it.  The story line was super but because of the language and the horrific details of the torture that took place, I gave it four stars instead of five.  If you like murder mysteries and don‘t mind gory details, I recommend this one!
--Karen's review 7/25/09)

"A Real Page Turner--You Will Never guess" (50 plus stars)
I really enjoyed Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo a lot.  The story flows and you never get bored with it.  The last 60 pages or so I dare you to stop and put it down!  You will not be able to!!  I look forward to her next book.
(Gerard's review 729/09)

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