My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Content: Strong language, a gruesome murder, off page sex, sexual assaults are talked about with disturbing details shared
On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of
Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man
who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a
dirt road. Aden Karn was just twenty years old, well liked, and from an
upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a
young man whose life was just beginning?
The more Kate gets to
know his devastated family and the people—both English and Amish—who
loved him, the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn
was funny and hardworking and looking forward to marrying his sweet
fiancé, Emily. All the while, Kate’s own wedding day to Tomasetti draws
near...
But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear
whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young
man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumors are a cruel campaign to
blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an
unspeakable secret no one will broach.
The case spirals out of
control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story
that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the
awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the
terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places.
Linda Castillo knows how to pull a reader into a story. No matter how I end up feeling about one of her books, I can always count on being engrossed in it right from the beginning. This series has a formula that I've come to expect. There's always a murder in the very beginning, whether it just happened or is a scene from the past, and some unlucky person always happens upon the dead body. This time around, the murder was pretty gruesome, which is something that occurs in this series quite often. One thing that made it so gruesome was that it was told from the victims perspective.
This one did keep me guessing for a while. Although I suspected the murderer pretty early on, I decided that I was probably wrong, and that it was just too obvious of a choice. Needless to say, I went on to suspect several people before I found out, it indeed was this person. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't something a bit more clever, but I still enjoyed this book. I think the thing I enjoyed the most was Kate and Tomasetti finally making it official.
Kate did her usual thing of putting herself in danger instead of waiting for backup, which drives me crazy, but I've come to expect it. It's another part of the formula this series follows. I do wonder why there always has to be a showdown in every mystery novel. Why can't a person just be arrested at the end sometimes? I know people want to read the "edge of the seat" danger, but we all know how it's going to end up.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.
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