The Dead Will Tell

May 12, 2014
In the prologue, set in Painters Mill, Ohio, in 1979, of bestseller Castillo’s suspenseful sixth Amish thriller (after 2013’s Her Last Breath), 14-year-old Billy Hochstetler survives a brutal attack that kills his father and three siblings; his mother disappears. In present-day Painter’s Mill, police chief Kate Burkholder investigates the apparent suicide of a respectable middle-aged man found hanging in his barn, a small wooden Amish doll stuffed into his mouth. When three other pillars of the community report threatening notes, two of them end up dead, adorned with a similar Amish doll souvenir. Is there a connection to the decades-old tragedy? What’s the relationship between these new victims? And could Billy be the avenger? All the while, Kate struggles with boyfriend John Tomasetti’s anguish over developments in the prosecution of the murderers of his wife and children some years ago. Outwardly calm and thorough as always, the chief handles it all. Author tour. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

June 15, 2014

Thirty-five years ago in Painters Mill, OH, the Hochstetler family was robbed in the middle of the night. The crime began as a quick money scheme but swiftly turned sinister, resulting in the deaths of the entire Amish family except for a teenage son who escaped. No suspects were found, and the case went unsolved. Suddenly this cold case is back on the radar when a prominent man is found dead with a clue connected to the Hochstetler murders. Soon several other residents die suspiciously, all with hints tied to the 1979 crime. Chief Kate Burkholder and her police force work feverishly to connect the dots between the murder victims and the cold case before the killer strikes again. Cryptic notes and sightings of a ghostly Amish woman late at night are linked to the recent deaths. Is a supernatural vengeance to blame? VERDICT Castillo weaves a taut mystery in her sixth series title (after Her Last Breath) that will keep suspense fans glued to their books and ereaders.--Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

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