Murder in Painter's Mills, Ohio

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A former Amish woman, Kate Burkholder has returned to her home town and accepted the Chief of Police position. Sixteen years ago, just before she left, a series of brutal murders took place in town but seemed to have ended. Kate has a secret that may account for that although the killer was never found. Now, it would appear he has returned. Kate is sure that is not the case but cannot tell the townfolk. As the number of murders add up, she is forced by the City Council to call in an investigator from the State's BCI. He is a man defeated by the rape and murder of his wife and two young girls and this assignment is a last ditch effort by his boss to push him over the edge and finally be able to fire him.
These two emotionally scarred people find themselves racing against the clock to find and stop the murderer before another young girl is butchered and defiled. Castillo does a nice job of presenting the one-upmanship among officers of various police units trying to work together, the fear of the townsfolk, the reticence of the Amish when interrogated, the political demands of a small town council. Add to that the description of the brutality of the attacks, the near misses of trapping the killer and the final denouement when Kate realizes who the perp is and tries to keep her knowledge from him as she attempts to rally the police to catch him and you have a page turner with a satisfactory if surprising ending.

View all my reviews