Monday, May 9, 2011

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

Kate Burkholder is the chief of police and is having a hard time apprehending the person responsible for the recent hate crimes against the Amish. The Amish don't want the English interfering in matters, so they are no help in Kate gathering information.

When Kate receives a phone call in the middle of the night about the Slabaugh family in trouble, she rushes to the farm but she is too late. Three people are dead in the bottom of a manure pit, the methane gas killing them. But an autopsy reveals that one of them suffered blunt force trauma prior to the drop in the pit.

Are the two crimes related? Kate isn't sure, but state agent John Tomasetti, and Kate's lover, is called in to help with the hate crimes. Together, the two of them try to put the pieces of the investigations together. The Slabaughs left four children, and Kate is heartsick that the only relative they have left is an ex-communicated uncle. The Amish prefer to take care of their own.

When the hate crimes heat up and Kate's investigation leads her to one of the children, she doesn't feel she can do her job properly anymore. She is too close to these kids and it brings back memories of her own Amish childhood. But she is a very determined woman to bring justice and just when she believes they have the bad guys, another incident sends them back to the drawing board.

Breaking Silence is a compelling, can't-put-down thriller that I devoured! Castillo has outdone herself. The plot twists and turns with superb cleverness, making this reader guess over and over who the bad guy was. The characters are well-developed and the writing is seamless. It was nice to see Kate and John's relationship move into the next step, and the ending was stunning. I look forward to the next in this series!

3 comments:

  1. Great review, Wendy! Is this part of a series or a stand-alone?

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  2. Hi Julie - thanks for the kind words. This is the third book in the series. They are super good!!

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  3. I really enjoyed the first book so I look forward to reading this one.

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The old grey donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.

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