Shamed

February 1, 2019

In this latest from the New York Times best-selling Amish mystery whiz, a woman is murdered and her seven-year-old granddaughter abducted, leaving Chief of Police Kate Burkholder trying to wrestle answers from their upstanding but secretive family and the residents of a remote Old Order Amish settlement.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
In the prologue of bestseller Castillo’s electrifying 11th novel featuring Painters Mill, Ohio, police chief Kate Burkholder (after 2018’s A Gathering of Secrets), an intruder murders Mary Yoder, a 60-year-old Amish widow, in her farmhouse. He then abducts Mary’s seven-year-old granddaughter, Elsie Helmuth, who was playing outside with her five-year-old sister, Annie. In a subsequent interview, Annie tells Kate that the devil took Elsie. Kate and her team undertake a methodical search for the missing girl, knowing that the chances of recovering her alive diminish rapidly with the passing hours. A break comes with the discovery that the Helmuth family adopted Elsie as a newborn under mysterious circumstances. The stakes rise as those involved in the adoption, including the midwife who assisted in Elsie’s birth, become targets of the person who took Elsie. More than one twist propels the action to its dramatic conclusion. To her credit, Castillo doesn’t tie up every loose end in what turns out to be a morally complex case. 200,000 announced first printing. Author tour. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

May 15, 2019
A murder and a kidnapping put tremendous pressure on a formerly Amish police officer. Mary Yoder and two of her grandchildren are picking walnuts at a deserted homestead when Mary is brutally murdered by someone who also abducts her 7-year-old granddaughter, Elsie Helmuth. Painters Mill police chief Kate Burkholder is on patrol when a panicked Amish girl, who looks about 5, comes running toward her, "vibrating all over...mewling sounds tearing from a throat that's gone hoarse," screaming that Da Deivel has hurt her Grossmammi. Mary lived with her daughter and son-in-law Miriam and Ivan Helmuth, and the missing child is one of their eight. A massive search is instituted after the traumatized Annie Helmuth describes the killer as a very large Amish man with brown hair. Kate checks out the few obvious suspects in the generally nonviolent community, including several sex offenders, but finds no reason for the crime until one of the Helmuth children mentions that "Mamm says Elsie was a gift," and "Bishop Troyer brought her," helping Kate put together several telltale facts. Elsie was the only Helmuth child not delivered by midwife Martha Hershberger. She's a brown-haired, brown-eyed child whose siblings are all green-eyed strawberry blonds. And two of the Helmuth girls are 7 years old. After tracking down birth certificates, Kate realizes Elsie isn't the Helmuths' biological child, and a distraught Miriam breaks down and admits the child was indeed brought to them by Bishop Troyer and a midwife and bishop from Scioto County. Kate, who grew up Amish before leaving the community, is aghast that Troyer would have anything to do with an illegal child placement. Following up the lead, Kate learns that the Scioto bishop was killed in a supposed hit-and-run. The midwife is murdered after Kate's first visit. Kate herself is lucky to escape when she's attacked by the killer. Bible verses left at the scenes that suggest someone seeking revenge leave Kate with still more trails to follow. Once again, the queen of Amish mysteries (A Gathering of Secrets, 2018, etc.) uses past events to drive her story. Block out time to read this page-turner at a single sitting.

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May 1, 2019
After going out to harvest walnuts from an abandoned property on a fall day, an Amish woman has been brutally murdered and her seven-year-old granddaughter is missing. The girl's younger sister, who was with them, is unharmed but can only say that "Da Dievel" is responsible. The hours ticking painfully by, Painters Mill, Ohio, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder won't rest until she finds young Elsie. Kate, who grew up Amish, uncovers a family secret she thinks could be the key, but no one's talking, Elsie's nowhere to be found?and the killer isn't done. While Kate's made peace with leaving the fold, her frustration over not getting the whole story and the reminders to stay in her lane add to the already unbearable pressure. In her swiftly paced, eleventh entry in the best-selling Burkholder series, Castillo (A Gathering of Secrets, 2018) again captures Kate's empathic understanding of Amish culture and Deitsch, and adds atmosphere with falling-down, peeling-paint, rural settings. If they haven't already, readers looking for a fierce-female-fronted procedural should check out Catillo's best-selling series, from the get-go.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)