I read SWORN TO SILENCE , the
first book in the Kate Burkholder series some years ago and loved it. After reading it, I did get
several of the books in the series and planned to read them. I still plan
to read them, even more so after finishing A GATHERING OF SECRETS, book ten in the series.
A GATHERING OF SECRETS starts
off really strong! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't stop
reading the book. Chief of police Kate Burkholder gets called out to a
fire on an Amish farm The oldest son in the family is missing only to be
found burned alive in the remains of the barn. Who would want to kill
Daniel Gingerich? Daniel was a young man, well liked in the Amish
community. As Kate starts to dig deeper into Daniel's life is she noticing
that this young man that so many speak so well of seemed to have a
darker side. But how to get to the truth when everyone is keeping
silent?
Kate Burkholder is an interesting character, born Amish, but an event in
her youth changed the direction in her life and now she is the chief of
the police. She still has family among the Amish, but her life and their
lives are very different. The Amish life is one aspect of the book that
intrigues me very much. Living side by side, Kate as a police chief is
convenient because she speaks their language and knows their way of
life. Still, she is an outsider because she no longer lives like the Amish.
The case is engrossing and sad, and I breezed through the book since I
just couldn't stop reading. I wanted to know the truth about the secrets
people who knew Daniel were hiding from Kate. A GATHERING OF SECRETS is a fabulous novel and
can without a doubt be read as a stand-alone. Just be warned that you
may end up wanting to read the previous nine books quite badly.
A deadly fire exposes the dark side of Amish life in A
Gathering of Secrets, a harrowing new thriller in the
New York Times bestselling series by Linda Castillo.
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? Kate delves
into the investigation only to find herself stonewalled by
the community to which she once belonged. Is their silence a
result of the Amish tenet of separation? Or is this peaceful
and deeply religious community conspiring to hide a truth no
one wants to talk about? Kate doubles down only to discover
a plethora of secrets and a chilling series of crimes that
shatters everything she thought she knew about her Amish
roots—and herself.
As Kate wades through a sea of suspects, she’s confronted by
her own violent past and an unthinkable possibility.