In the 13th "Kate Burkholder" mystery from Castillo (after Outsider), the badly beaten body of a woman is discovered in a local motel. Police chief Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate the heinous crime and is shocked to discover that she knows the victim, Rachel Schwartz, who grew up in the same Amish community as Kate. Kate remembers her as a free-spirited child who at 18 was ousted from the community. Kate also knows that she must solve this unsettling case and bring Rachel's killer to justice. Castillo gifts readers with a precise, clean narrative, expressing raw genuine emotions and incorporating a bit of the Amish Pennsylvania Dutch lan- guage for a more realistic feel. Her stable of returning cop characters are the real stars in this series installment, including Kate, her significant other Ohio BCI agent John Tomasetti, and the entire Painters Mill police force, who go above and beyond to solve this disturbing case. VERDICT This intense, suspenseful whodunit is full of twists and turns, red herrings, and an OMG ending, with a realistic mix of English and Amish cultures. Fans of this series, realistic crime drama, and multicultural or Amish literature will find this mystery unputdownable.
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