My description …
The author/publisher description is, well, perfect. It discloses just the right amount of information without giving away the plot. And those of us who love the Kate Burkholder series know that Katie will go through some rough times, that she will get the perpetrator or perpetrators in the end, and that the murder will not be an ordinary one. And yep! I’m a Kate Burkholder series fan. BTW, I have to remind myself it’s the Kate Burkholder, not the Katie, series.
This was a page-turner for me.
My review …
Hold onto your hat! This one will have your head spinning. The murders that Katie must solve are usually a bit dar. And this one is darker than most. I do NOT like dark books. But with this series, there are many other elements to the story. The Burning can be read without touching the previous 15 books in the series, but I would highly recommend reading at least Sworn to Silence, the first book so you have an understanding of the key characters. Or at least watch the movie An Amish Murder based on the first book. That movie is how I discovered the author and this series.
Reading the prior books also places her brother Jacob, who figures (as the description states) into the story. Why is his name mentioned regarding the murder? The personalities of her staff and associated law enforcement officers are important. I suspect most of this series fans have a favorite among these. Mine is Pickles. Reading The Burning I was surprised by one of them and I bet Katie never quite trusts him again like she has in the past.
I have researched the Amish more than most. My first school, a one-room schoolhouse, became the first schoolhouse for the Amish community just starting in Jamesport, Missouri. I was fascinated from the first time I saw a buggy. Our family doctor was the same the Amish used and I often saw them in the waiting room. Many years later when I “got into genealogy”, I researched them heavily as I believed one of my great-great-great-grandfathers (various surname spellings but Cauffman was often used). You see, I haven’t been able to find who his parents or siblings were and I’ve been researching since October 1998. I thought there might be a possibility he was shunned. Bummer. I found no connection after years of research and still have the same brick wall.
One of the pluses of this series is that the Amish stay — what is a good word? Maybe grounded. Certain Amish people behave differently and do things they shouldn’t but for someone like me who has studied the Amish quite a bit, I’m not trying to sort out what kind of Amish are these.
Another aspect of Linda Castillo’s work is her ability to set a scene with such a small number of words but yet exactly right. Characters are rich and developed. One feels when reading that you are growing in your knowledge of each character. Oh, and characters are never dumped on the reader making it almost impossible to know who is who.
When the issue with Katie investigating “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.” ~~ quoted from the description — my antenna went into overdrive. I had never read about this or even a hint of it. I believe avid readers of Amish fiction, especially Amish mysteries, will find it fascinating just as I did.
Someone right now is thinking but she hasn’t told us ANYTHING about the plot. The story. That’s right. I haven’t. I will not ruin a great plot and story in The Burning. The author/publisher description is all you need to know. And if you are curious about such things, this is a series where I gulp when I look at the price and pre-order the book anyway. Yes, I highly recommend this sixteenth book in Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series.
I received a complimentary DRC (digital review copy) of The Burning via NetGalley from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Rating: 5 stars
Series: Kate Burkholder #16 of 16
Cover: Grabbing and foreboding.
Pages: 320
Publish Date: 9 Jul 2024
#TheBurning #NetGalley #LindaCastillo
