This is the 7th book in the Kate Burkholder series written by Linda Castillo. The Amish country town of Painters Mill, Ohio becomes devastated by a tornado. It uncovers remains that have been long buried in an Amish Barn and Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, needs to investigate. It becomes apparent this might be a homicide instead of an accident.

This is a crime series set in Amish country but don't expect calm and non-violent. This is a gritty, suspenseful series with many twists to keep the reader engaged.

This installment is another good story. I enjoy the way the author has such the subtle hand in the way she presents and allows her ideas to unfold. There are many twists to the plot to keep the reader trying to figure out the mystery to what happens in each story. There is always plenty of conflict with the former Amish Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, and the Amish community which hurt and help her investigations since her knowledge of the community gets her a foot in the door while they still reject her for leaving the Amish fold.

Unfortunately, there are a few times where scenes are used for one purpose and all other points of the scene are discarded causing a hole in the setup. An example is at the beginning Kate is having lunch with her family and the discussion of marriage and children are brought up. The discussion sets the stage for what happens in the book to Kate, but after this terrible storm, her family isn't mentioned again. Was anyone hurt? Did she even check? She has finally gotten close enough to them after so long and yet they are completely forgotten. It isn't a big issue but I've noticed it a few times in this particular book.

I wanted to start the next in the series and even purchased it online before I realized it won't be released until July 2016!

I am enthralled with this series and have read them all in a short span of time (one after another). I'm glad to hear that Kate will be going to NY to consult in the next book (#8) It's time for a change-up in location since this small town is going through an exorbitant amount of serious crime for it's size.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of After the Storm: A Kate Burkholder Novel   from Amazon.Com!

Created Mar 07, 2016 at 12:36pm • Submit your own review...