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starlightandcoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence
shellbell31's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
audiobookingwithleah's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
彡 the vibes 彡
- Kate Burkholder Series #2
- mystery thriller
- Amish culture
- dark, gritty, & layered
The murders depicted in this book are not for the faint of heart. They are graphic, to a sickening extent. I believe this is done to make a significant impact, and it does... but it might be too much for some. We also see a continuation of the budding romance between Kate and John. I'm uncertain about the vibes John was giving off; I didn’t really like him in this book. However, I’m sure this is a way to extend their love story over several books.
- The narration by Kathleen McInerney was absolutely fantastic. She can narrate several characters really well.
- Ratings score ⬗ 7.51/10
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
5.0
More deaths (7 with the crime-scene spread over 3 places), torture, rape (again), more blood, and faults by Kate.
If you can stand it, a great read, but everything is worse than in the first book.
Most I said there can be applied here as well, so I will not repeat it.
A few nice twists, some romance, no sex (well off-the-pages).
One minor quibble: for me it took them too long to identify some scruff-marks in the barn-crime-scene.
That was obvious for me from the get-go.
Otherwise hard and gruesome page-turner.
If you can stand it, a great read, but everything is worse than in the first book.
Most I said there can be applied here as well, so I will not repeat it.
A few nice twists, some romance, no sex (well off-the-pages).
One minor quibble: for me it took them too long to identify some scruff-marks in the barn-crime-scene.
That was obvious for me from the get-go.
Otherwise hard and gruesome page-turner.
stephheartsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
amanderz58's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
rachel_patrick's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
3.5***
From the book jacket: The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life—until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English—and each other—but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.
My reactions
This is book two in the Kate Burkholder series, set in an Ohio county with significant Amish population. The differences between the Amish and the “English” make it difficult for the police, though Kate’s background does at least give her fluency in the particular German dialect spoken by the Amish.
She’s assisted in this case by state agent John Tomasetti. There’s a complicated relationship between these two, and both are suffering from past trauma and loss. This case brings many of their worst nightmares into the forefront and tests both their professional and personal relationships.
Kate also has several good, experienced, and highly competent cops on her team. I particularly loved the description of Officer Roland “Pickles” Shumaker: Wearing his trademark trench coat and pointy-toed cowboy boots, he looks like he’s just stepped off the set of some nuevo spaghetti western. He’s seventy-four years old, acts like he’s twenty-tow, and doesn’t look a day over eighty.
I love murder mysteries that feature strong female leads, and I look forward to reading more of this series.
But I feel I should offer a bit of a trigger warning: I enjoy reading about the investigation, including the gruesome details of the murders and the forensic clues that help lead to solving the crime. Castillo does a great job of giving fans of the genre such as me what we like about murder mysteries. But … this is a very violent crime with some very disturbing discoveries about the victims and the perpetrators. Descriptions of the crimes include
From the book jacket: The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life—until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English—and each other—but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.
My reactions
This is book two in the Kate Burkholder series, set in an Ohio county with significant Amish population. The differences between the Amish and the “English” make it difficult for the police, though Kate’s background does at least give her fluency in the particular German dialect spoken by the Amish.
She’s assisted in this case by state agent John Tomasetti. There’s a complicated relationship between these two, and both are suffering from past trauma and loss. This case brings many of their worst nightmares into the forefront and tests both their professional and personal relationships.
Kate also has several good, experienced, and highly competent cops on her team. I particularly loved the description of Officer Roland “Pickles” Shumaker: Wearing his trademark trench coat and pointy-toed cowboy boots, he looks like he’s just stepped off the set of some nuevo spaghetti western. He’s seventy-four years old, acts like he’s twenty-tow, and doesn’t look a day over eighty.
I love murder mysteries that feature strong female leads, and I look forward to reading more of this series.
But I feel I should offer a bit of a trigger warning: I enjoy reading about the investigation, including the gruesome details of the murders and the forensic clues that help lead to solving the crime. Castillo does a great job of giving fans of the genre such as me what we like about murder mysteries. But … this is a very violent crime with some very disturbing discoveries about the victims and the perpetrators. Descriptions of the crimes include