Linda Castillo Books

When a young woman is found murdered in a Painters Mill motel, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is shocked to discover she once knew the victim. Rachael Schwartz was a charming but troubled Amish girl who left the fold years ago and fled Painters Mill. Why was she back in town? Kate remembers Rachael as the only girl who was as bad at being Amish as Kate was-and those parallels dog her. But the deeper Kate digs into Rachael Schwartz's life, the more she's convinced that Rachael's dubious reputation was deserved. As a child, Rachael was a rowdy rulebreaker whose decision to leave devastated her parents and best friend. As an adult, she was charismatic and beautiful, a rabble-rouser with a keen eye for opportunity no matter who got in her way. Her no-holds-barred lifestyle earned her a lot of love and enemies aplenty-both English and Amish. As the case heats to a fever pitch and long-buried secrets resurface, a killer haunts Painters Mill. Someone doesn't want Rachael's past-or the mysteries she took with her to the grave-coming to light.

A rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere. What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental. But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young son who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate. Desperate to find out who killed her best friend's husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer in the heart of Painter's Mill. It is a search that takes her on a chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and strikes at the heart of everything she has ever believed about the Amish culture into which she was born.

The discovery of a missing Amish bishop's remains leads chief of police Kate Burkholder to unearth a chilling secret in this new thriller from bestselling author Linda Castillo.

The second thriller featuring Kate Burkholder The sound of a scream in the early morning dawn leads to a case that will change Kate Burkholder's life irrevocably? When the police arrive at the Amish farmstead in Painters Mill they can't imagine the horror that awaits them. An entire family slaughtered: the men shot, the young women tortured and killed

The story unfolds when Amish widower Adam Lengacher finds an unconscious woman in a snowdrift, leading to a reunion between Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her former friend, Gina Colorosa. Their past as best friends in the police academy contrasts sharply with Gina's current predicament, as she shares a harrowing tale of betrayal and a desperate need for protection. The narrative explores themes of trust, friendship, and the complexities of their diverging lives, raising the question of whether Kate can trust Gina amidst the danger.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural, upstate New York to assist on a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl. Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and "English" communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community. Kate's longtime love interest, State Agent John Tomasetti, is dead set against her taking on such an unorthodox assignment, knowing she'll have limited communication--and even less in the way of backup. But Kate can't turn her back, especially when the rumor mill boils with disturbing accounts of children in danger. She travels to New York, where she's briefed and assumes her new identity as a lone widow seeking a new life. Kate infiltrates the community and goes deep undercover. In the coming days, she unearths a world built on secrets, a series of shocking crimes, and herself, alone ... trapped in a fight for her life.

In the gripping thriller Shamed 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 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.

In this electrifying thriller by New York Times bestseller Linda Castillo, an Amish town is haunted by the ghosts of its past as Police Chief Kate Burkholder untangles a dangerous web which has been decades in the making.

In this electrifying thriller by New York Times bestseller Linda Castillo, Kate Burkholder must uncover a family's long-hidden past to solve a brutal murderWhen a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones--and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves--and their future.Under siege from an unknown assailant--and her own personal demons--Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own.

A deadly fire exposes the dark side of Amish life in this harrowing thriller in Linda Castillo's New York Times bestselling series.