The Dead Will Tell       

- Linda Castillo         

 

 
 

Procured via:  Goodreads

Book Title and Author: “The Dead Will Tell” by Linda Castillo

Rating:  5 Stars Excellent! Get your hands on the hardcover and add it to your shelves TODAY!

Release Date: July 8, 2014

Genre:   Mystery & Thriller, Amish

Audience:  Fans of Linda Castillo’s previous Kate Burkholder novels will enjoy her sixth novel tremendously.  Readers who enjoy mysteries from Marta Perry, Allison Brennan, and Elizabeth Adler will also enjoy dipping their toes into Castillo’s mythical Painter’s Mill and all of the town’s secrets.

Series: Kate Burkholder #6

Summary:  From book jacket: “Everyone in Painters Mill knows the abandoned Hochstetler farm is haunted. But only a handful of the residents remember the terrible secrets lost in the muted/hushed whispers of time—and now death is stalking them, seemingly from the grave.

 On a late-night shift, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide—an old man found hanging from the rafters in his dilapidated barn. But evidence quickly points to murder and Kate finds herself chasing a singularly difficult and elusive trail of evidence that somehow points back to the tragedy of that long ago incident. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti and for the first time in so long, they're both happy; a bliss quickly shattered when one of the men responsible for the murders of Tomasetti’s family four years ago is found not guilty, and walks away a free man. Will Tomasetti be pulled back to his own haunted past?

When a second man is found dead—also seemingly by his own hand—Kate discovers a link in the case that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine and revealing the horrifying truth of what really happened that terrible night thirty-five years ago, when an Amish father and his four children perished—and his young wife disappeared without a trace.”

*Courtesy MacMillan Publishing

Review and Opinion:  Right off the bat I’d like to admit that I’m a long-standing Linda Castillo fan.  Her small town setting of Painter’s Mill has the myriad problems small towns suffer, and seems as realistic as can be with a fictional police department solving crimes at a big city rate.  I would love to visit, but could never move there.  Too much darn murder…

I will also admit that while I finished this book last week, I was immediately compelled to gather the rest of the books in her Kate Burkholder series and read them in order.  Oh sure, I've read them before at some point, either on my Kindle, checked out at the library, sitting on my bookshelf…Nevertheless, I had to have them ALL on my Kindle, ready to go.  I started “Gone Missing” (Kate Burkholder #4) this morning and realized it would be gracious of me to get my review done for the book that lit the fire under me.

“The Dead Will Tell” takes Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her police department from investigating a fresh suicide to following links that trail back to an Amish family murdered thirty five years ago.  Chief Burkholder’s knowledge of Amish tradition come in handy, especially as they weave through secrets that have been hidden by both the Amish and the Englischers who know a lot more than they’re willing to tell about what happened to the murdered family so very long ago.

I loved how tenacious Burkholder’s character is; she’s like a pit bull with a meaty bone and she will not let go until the puzzle pieces are put together.  Adding to the delicious mystery that had me curling my toes during some chapters is the bonus of Burkholder’s heady relationship with John Tomasetti.  They’re finally playing house, but just as things are getting comfy one of the guilty bastards that killed Tomasetti’s wife and two little girls is set free in a terrible miscarriage of justice.  Tomasetti has to manage his hunger for justice while staying within the bounds of his current relationship.

Castillo keeps all the regular Painter’s Mill Police Department players front and center, pulling their share of the weight.  Glock is watching Burkholder’s back at every turn, T.J. and Skid as well as Pickles play their roles.  Mona and Lois are dispatching trouble over the radio and putting out fires at every turn.  Note: Ms. Castillo, WHEN are you going to make Mona a bona fide police officer?  It’s going to happen, right?

My bottom line is “The Dead Will Tell” is a sure fire winner!  If readers have not had the delight of reading other books in the series, this book is a great place to start.  Castillo has always done a marvelous job of adding backstory into her current novel so they do not need to be read in order.  Once readers HAVE finished “The Dead Will Tell”, I can almost guarantee that they’ll be reaching for the other books in this series.

FYI:  Linda Castillo’s author website http://www.lindacastillo.com/

All books in the Linda Castillo Chief Kate Burkholder series:   

Sworn to Silence (Kate Burkholder #1)

Pray for Silence (Kate Burkholder #2)

Breaking Silence (Kate Burkholder #3)

Gone Missing (Kate Burkholder #4)

Her Last Breath (Kate Burkholder #5)

The Dead Will Tell (Kate Burkholder #6)