In this gripping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo, a devastating murder exposes an Amish family’s tortured past. The peaceful town of Painters Mill is shattered when an Amish grandmother is brutally murdered on an abandoned farm. When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on the scene, she learns that the woman’s seven-year-old granddaughter is gone, abducted in … granddaughter is gone, abducted in plain sight. Kate knows time is against her–the longer the girl is missing, the less likely her safe return becomes. The girl’s family is a pillar of the Amish community, well-respected by all. But Kate soon realizes they’re keeping secrets–and the sins of their past may be coming back to haunt them. What are they hiding and why?
Kate’s investigation brings her to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river, a community where family is everything and tradition is upheld with an iron fist. But the killer is close behind, drawing more victims into a twisted game of revenge. Left behind at each new crime scene are cryptic notes that lead Kate to a haunting and tragic secret. What she uncovers threatens to change everything she thought she knew about the family she’s fighting for, the Amish community as a whole–and her own beliefs.
As time to find the missing girl runs out, Kate faces a harrowing choice that will test her convictions and leave one family forever changed.
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Shamed by Linda Castillo is the 11th A Kate Burkholder Novel. I thought Shamed contained good writing with a well-plotted crime. It can be read as a standalone, though, you would know and understand the characters better if you read the series in order. Shamed gets off to a shocking start with the death of Mary Yoder. Kate, John, and other police personnel begin searching for clues and for the missing child. Elise is seven years old and has Cohen syndrome. Kate has a gut feeling about the case that does not take her in the same direction as Tomasetti. Kate’s hunches, though, are rarely wrong. Kate ends up in a small, isolated Amish community that calls into question everything Kate knew about the Amish. The mystery is a tense one which ramps up the longer the little girl is missing. The author created a multifaceted whodunit that is complex and suspenseful. The beginning is violent and gory. There is a significant amount of foul language in the book as well. I enjoyed the authors vivid descriptions of Painters Mill, the people, and the other Amish town. You will find yourself quickly turning the pages to find how Shamed plays out. Shamed is a gripping tale with kidnapped child, a messy murder, a crazed killer, incomprehensible information, close calls, and a stupefied police chief.
5 Stars
Once again, Castillo delivers a page-turning story, well-drawn characters, and tender yet clear-eyed insight into the fascinating Amish community. I love stories that are about the push-pull between individuals and community, and this series never lets me down.
I have read all of her books. One of my favorite authors. Excellent writer.
4 bright stars for one of the best books in this series. This book starts of with a murder and a kidnapping in the prologue. Painters Mill is a small town, about 5,300 people, in Northeastern Ohio.
Kate Burkholder is the police chief and has a 5 officer force, including herself.
Kate knows that she has a limited amount of time to find the kidnapped child. Each chapter, starting with chapter 3 when the search starts, list the number of hours the child is missing, heightening the suspense. My wife read this book 6 months before me and she remembered that detail building the suspense.
She agrees with me that this is one of the best books in the series.
Kate does solve the case, but uncovers some hidden secrets that lead to a bittersweet ending. I read it in 4 days, finding it hard to out down about 1/3 of the way in.
Thank You Susan Johnson for sending me this book.
I have read all of Linda Castillo books with the main character being Kate Burkholder. She is the police commissioner in Painter’s Mill in Holmes County where a substantial number of Amish live. Kate grew up Amish and she can speak Deutsch so she can speak to them in their language if need be. In this book, she is working the case of the murder of an Amish grandmother and the kidnapping of a young female child. Kate is relentless in her pursuit of solving the case.
Love the plots in all her books.
I’ve loved every book in the Kate Burkholder series. As always, Linda Castillo has delivered a suspenseful page-turner that kept me reading late into the night!
Great cop drama series
This is one of my favorite series. I look forward to each new book to come out. This book did not disappoint! I look forward to the next one.
6 stars. Awesome book
Kate straddles the Amish and English worlds once again, racing the clock to find a missing child.
Mystery in Amish country
I love the entire Kate Burkholder series. This latest book does not disappoint.
im a big Linda Castillo Fan and have read every book in the Kate Burkholder series so maybe im biased 🙂
Another great story in this outstanding series.
What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. Even when deception is supposed to be for good, it doesn’t work out that way.
An Amish grandmother with two of her granddaughters is out picking walnuts on their neighbors abandoned farm. The grandmother is gruesomely murdered. One granddaughter is traumatized, the other is kidnapped. Now the story begins…
Each chapter of the book begins with the number of hours the child has been missing. That adds to the tension. More people are attacked and the pin linking them all together isn’t realized until late in the book. The suspense is palpable.
There is terror. There are secrets and lies. Most importantly, this secret is generated from people you’d never think would keep this kind of information from the authorities, especially with a child’s life on the line.
In my opinion, this was one of the best books of the Kate Burkholder series. We get a glimpse into the lives of the people we’re familiar with at the Painter’s Mill police department. Kate’s love, Tomasetti, with his state resources is also featured prominently in this book. Jurisdictional challenges that face all police departments are also discussed.
A fabulous addition to this series.
Another great ‘Kate Burkholder’ book. This book will take you in from the first page, its a tragic story of a couple who wants their baby back after thinking she was dead for many years. It’s a book with a number of murders in the Amish community. Kate is on the clock because a little girl is missing, and the number of bodies is piling up! It is a story of people who think they know what the right thing to do is, but do they really? Suspense at its best! It was a hard book to put down, I can not wait for #12….
Every year, I look forward to the next release in the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo. And, as is always the case, I could barely put it down until I was finished reading. And thus starts my next year-long wait… Great book!
Linda Castillo does it again with the latest installment in the Kate Burkholder series. In this novel, a grandmother is murdered and a child abducted. As Kate investigates, she discovers some troubling realities about the Amish way of life she left, and an unspeakable crime that has been covered up for years.
Castillo writes her novels with an understanding and respect for the Amish, as well as a knowledge of police procedures. She handles delicate situations with care, but keeps the tension and excitement high. Kate isn’t perfect, but she is a great heroine. I look forward to the next book and more unraveling of complex crime stories with Kate Burkholder on the case.
#Shamed #LindaCastillo