Chief of Police Kate Burkholder’s world is never an easy one, but her next case will bring chaos to herself, her husband of a few months John Tomasetti and the very job she loves. As an agent for the Ohio Bureau of Investigation Tomasetti and the BCI are called into a case of THE BURNING. But, in the Amish world, one doesn’t always get the truth, or secrets easily told and that can lead to the wrong conclusions.
An excommunicated Amish man is found burned at the stake. Milan Swanz was nothing but trouble and finally, the community did the only thing they could do – they excommunicated him. This means that no one was supposed to have dealings with him, though there were times that he was hired to do odd jobs. But someone or maybe several people dealt a fatal blow. So many secrets that must come out for the truth to be pulled from it. Chief Kate must find answers – if the powers that be will let her do her job. Unfortunately, egos and politics can cause trouble when all hands are needed to get to the truth.
THE BURNING brings fans of Linda Castillo back into Chief Burkholder’s Amish/English world. THE BURNING picks up shortly after Kate and Tomasetti’s marriage which happily takes place in book number seven “An Evil Heart.” Readers get to see them working together, fighting to keep the truth from being twisted and keep each other alive.
As sometimes happens the victim in this case was not a likeable man, but Kate is determined to see justice prevail. There are several problems that crop up. The usual silence that is common with the Amish, especially in their dealing with those they call “English”. This is something Kate is very good at working around due to her past and the respect that she has spent many years building. However, even that isn’t always a good thing and when she doesn’t get the full truth, her career is put in jeopardy along with an innocent person being arrested. (Remember when earlier I mentioned politics and egos that get in the way – this is it.)
I have to admit that the catching of the bad guys had my heart in my throat as I speed-read the pages as quickly as I could to get to the arrests. Later in the conclusion of THE BURNING, we get to witness some well-earned apologies from those who were in the wrong plus a lighter, or maybe a more emotionally charged, moment between the newly married couple as they look toward their future plans.
THE BURNING is a well-written, entertaining, sometimes frustrating (but in a good way as readers and fans root for Kate) but mostly an exciting escape into a world that does finally see good beat out evil.
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates a gruesome murder that reveals a little-known chapter of early Amish history in this next riveting installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.
Newlywed Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is awakened by an urgent midnight call summoning her to a suspicious fire in the woods. When she arrives at the scene, she discovers a charred body. According to the coroner, the deceased, an Amish man named Milan Swanz, was chained to a stake and burned alive. It is an appalling and eerily symbolic crime against an upstanding husband and father.
Kate knows all too well that the Amish prefer to handle their problems without interference from the outside world, and no one will speak about the murdered man. From what she’s able to piece together, Swanz led a deeply troubled life and had recently been excommunicated. But if that’s the case, why are the Amish so reluctant to talk about him? Are they protecting the memory of one of their own? Or are they afraid of something they dare not share?
When her own brother is implicated in the case, Kate finds herself not only at odds with the Amish, the world of which she was once a part, but also the English community and her counterparts in law enforcement. The investigation takes a violent turn when Kate’s life is threatened by a mysterious stranger.
To uncover the truth about the death of Milan Swanz, Kate must dive deep into the Anabaptist culture, peering into all the dark corners of its history, only to uncover a secret legacy that shatters everything she thought she knew about the Amish themselves—and her own roots.
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