Her Last Breath

Starred review from April 29, 2013
Bestseller Castillo’s fifth Amish thriller featuring Painters Mill, Ohio, police chief Katie Burkholder (after 2012’s Gone Missing) is a stunner. In the prologue a hit-and-run driver crashes into the buggy of Paul Borntrager, killing him and two of his children and seriously injuring a third child. Katie, who was a good friend of Paul’s wife, Mattie, before Katie left the Plain Life, now has to inform Mattie about the accident. An examination of the scene provides clues that the crash may have been deliberate, and more police work strongly suggests that it was premeditated murder. Meanwhile, kids discover human bones in an abandoned grain elevator—bones that have a connection to Katie’s past. Those twin dramas play out, each in surprising fashion, as the search for the hit-and-run vehicle and the killer continue. Castillo once again displays her mastery of edge-of-your seat suspense. Author tour. Announced first printing of 100,000. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency

October 15, 2013

Kate Burkholder is the chief of police in Painters Mill, OH. She grew up in the Amish community there but left the congregation as a young woman. The husband of Kate's best childhood friend, Mattie, and two of her three children are killed in their buggy by a hit-and-run driver, and Kate comes to believe that it was deliberate murder. The story is fast-paced, the setting is unique and fascinating, and the characters are believable and engaging. Reader Kathleen McInerney handles a wide range of characters and accents with ease. VERDICT This is sure to be popular. Recommended. ["In her fifth installment (after Gone Missing), Castillo combines the simple Amish lifestyle with dizzying hairpin twists and turns, and the result is a mind-blowing read that will keep her fans and mystery readers engrossed," read the review of the Minotaur: St. Martin's hc, LJ 6/1/13.]--Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA

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