The quiet Amish town of Painter's Mill, Ohio is turned
upside-down when a newly arrived family is brutally
murdered. The tragedy is magnified by the discovery that
one of the children, teenaged Mary, was involved with an
outsider. Could that association be what has led to her
death and the death of her entire family?
In PRAY FOR SILENCE, the second book in the Kate Burkholder
series, author Linda Castillo once again takes her readers
into the heart of the Amish society in a thrilling mystery
that captures the end of a sense of innocence as a
community struggles to understand the invasion to their
private world.
Police Chief Kate Burkholder has 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.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Identification
agent John Tomasetti arrives on the scene to assist. He
and Kate have worked together before on a previous case
during which they began a relationship fraught with sexual
tension and stress. They soon realize the disturbing
details of this puzzling case will test both their
fortitude and their emotional limits and force them both to
face demons from their own troubled pasts.
PRAY FOR SILENCE is a fast-paced, well-executed novel that
is full of twists and turns that will leave the reader
breathless from chapter to chapter. There is a good deal of
violent description involved in the beginning that is a bit
gruesome, but is relevant to convey the senseless crime
that the main characters are out to solve. Castillo does a
good job of blending the peaceable aspects of the Amish way
with the more rough and tumble outlook of the "English,"
the outsiders to the religious order.
One family. One horrific murder. An entire town under suspicion…
The Planks moved from Lancaster County Pennsylvania to the
small Amish community of Painters Mill, hoping to resume the
comforts of the Plain Life in Ohio. Less than one year
later, the family of seven is found dead—slaughtered on
their own 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 their
“English” neighbors—and each other. When the diary belonging
to the rebellious teenager Mary Plank turns up, Kate is
surprised to find not only a kindred spirit but a murder
suspect: the charismatic stranger who stole Mary’s heart.
Then there’s Mary’s brother, Aaron. Shunned by his family
and the rest of the Amish community, could he have returned
to seek revenge? Now it’s up to Kate to search for some dark
truths about the Planks—and confront long-buried secrets of
her own. As Kate’s obsession with the case grows so does her
resolve to bring the killer to justice—even if it means
putting herself into the line of fire . . .