Breaking Silence - Linda Castillo

Here's another great series that I'd heard good things about from my patrons but hadn't yet had a chance to read. I just finished Breaking Silence, the lastest release in Linda Castillo's Kate Burkholder series. And yes, they were right! I'll be adding Castillo to my list of must read authors.

Castillo has created a unique character in Kate Burkholder. She is the chief of police in the town of Painters Mill - a town that also shares close proximity with a large Amish community. Kate herself was raised in the community but left 14 years ago. She has an understanding of both communities and it serves her invaluably in her work.

In Breaking Silence, the Amish seem to be the target of a number of hate crimes - sheep are being killed, buggies run off the road and more. But when an Amish couple, the parents of four children are found overcome by fumes in their barn, it looks like the crimes have escalated to a new level --murder.

I enjoyed Kate as a character - her personal conflicts between the community she was raised in and the world she now lives in provide a great secondary story line. As does the tension filled relationship she has with State Agent John Tomasetti. I found the descriptions of the Amish community informative and wondered about Castillo's research into this people and their society. The plot moves along quickly and the ending has a great twist.

Read an excerpt of Breaking Silence.  You can find Linda Castillo on Facebook. Breaking Silence is also available as an audio book. The reader is Kathleen McInerny - she's got a very expressive voice that really works for this book. Listen to an excerpt here.

Although this is the third book in the series, you don't need to have read the first two to enjoy this latest offering. A fourth book is in the works -I'll be picking it up for sure.

Fans of Tami Hoag and Iris Johansen would enjoy this author.


Breaking Silence - Book Trailer from Emily Greaser on Vimeo.