A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Content: Strong language, A gruesome death 


 
When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first, it looks like an accident, but when the body of eighteen-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside—burned alive—Kate suspects murder. Who would want a well-liked, hardworking young Amish man dead?

I'm now caught up on this series, with the exception of book 11 which I've got an advanced copy of. For the most part I'm still enjoying this series, but I still have the same complaints as usual. It would be nice if the books in this series would not all follow the same formula. Can we have one where Kate doesn't get ambushed alone somewhere? It happened twice in this book, and for me it has gotten old. One part seemed rather random and it didn't really make sense to me that this person would have lured Kate out somewhere and started shooting at her. And the way Kate parks in front of the truck with its headlights blinding her so she can't see clearly into it wasn't a very smart thing to do. Circling around and parking behind the truck would have been much smarter. It just seems like as a police chief it would have occurred to her to do that. Yet again in this book Kate has to tell us how good she is at her job. I think the author really wants us to believe that, but she isn't showing it. Those things aside I thought the mystery was pretty good. It did keep me guessing for quite a while.

This book had another gruesome death in it. I found it hard to read about someone burning alive. I don't really recommend this series if you are squeamish about things like that. What I continue to like the most about this series is the relationship between Kate and Tomasetti, and the little details about their life together at home. There isn't a lot of that, but it adds a nice touch to the series. I also enjoy continuing to learn more about the Amish community. This time around we have characters that are part of the Beachy Amish sect, that actually drive cars and use more modern day conveniences.