Castillo's first effort held the reader's attention. I previously read a Christmas installment from later in the series which had a cozier feel than this first installment. Gaus' Amish mysteries at the moment, I want to continue reading this one to see how Kate develops. The book lacks the calmness other Amish Country crime novels, probably as much due to the nature of the crime as anything. The book combines the police procedural with the thriller. The charismatic sheriff knows how to play the press. When the second victim's body is discovered, Kate asks for assistance from the local sheriff's office. When city officials ask for help from Columbus, they send a detective with a prescription drug problem to aid the investigation. Kate Burkholder, chief of police for Painter's Mill, fails to call for outside help at first, reminded of something that happened sixteen years ago during her life as an Amish teenager. Read moreĪ serial killer murders women in a gruesome manner leaving Roman numerals carved upon their chests. *BONUS CONTENT: This edition of Sworn to Silence includes a new introduction from the author and a discussion guide. But to do so, she must betray both her family and her Amish past-and expose a dark secret that could destroy her. Kate vows to stop the killer before he strikes again. She’s certain she’s come to terms with her past-until the first body is discovered in a snowy field.

Her Amish roots and big city law enforcement background make her the perfect candidate. Now, a wealth of experience later, Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as chief of police. Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the Slaughterhouse Killer but came away from its brutality with the realization that she no longer belonged with the Amish. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence. But sixteen years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and “English” residents have lived side by side for two centuries.

Sworn to Silence is the first in Linda Castillo's New York Times bestselling Kate Burkholder series. Now the subject of the Lifetime original movie, An Amish Murder

Linda castillo sworn to silence series