Breaking Silence

April 4, 2011
In Castillo's fine third Amish thriller (after Pray for Silence), Kate Burkholder, police chief of Painter's Creek, Ohio, finds a gruesome crime scene at a farm. Solly and Rachael Slabaugh, and Solly's brother, Abel, have drowned in a poorly ventilated manure pit, succumbing to methane gas asphyxiation. But the deaths are no accident and may be related to a recent string of hate crimes against the Amish. The hate crimes designation brings in John Tomasetti, an agent with the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and Kate's sometimes lover. Kate becomes close with the four orphaned Slabaugh children, especially with the daughter, 15-year-old Salome. Kate, who was raised Amish, understands the difficulties an ambitious Amish teenager faces. Escalating hate crimes are uncovered, but the investigation is stymied because the Amish resist help from outsiders. Castillo melds deeply flawed characters with a glimpse into a unique community in which isolation can hide a plethora of secrets. 150,000 first printing; author tour.

March 15, 2011

A series of hate crimes against an Ohio Amish community turns deadly.

Painters Mill Police Chief Kate Burkholder was raised Amish. So she's not surprised that many of the crimes committed against the community are going unreported by the clannish sect that wants to keep its distance from the "English." When she's called to the Slabaugh farm and finds the bodies of Solly, his wife Rachael and Solly's visiting brother Abel in the manure pit, Kate is devastated. The fact that their deaths look like just another accident is no solace to the four children left behind: Mose, 17; Salome, 15; Samuel, 12; and Ike, 10. Their only relative is an uncle who's not the community's choice to raise the children because he's no longer Amish. When the autopsy shows that Solly was hit on the head and pushed into the pit, the investigation ramps up. Did the people who've been killing animals, burning buggies and beating Amish people escalate to murder, or is there some other reason for the murders? Kate's investigations turn up some scandalous discoveries. Salome, for instance, is pregnant by Mose. True, he's adopted, but he's still her cousin. State agent John Tomasetti, Kate's friend and lover, is sent to help on the case. His presence is more than welcome, since the pressure has Kate drinking more than she should. She'll have to revisit some dark places in her past before she can solve the crimes.

Kate's third (Pray for Silence, 2010, etc.) offers plenty of violence, a surprise ending and some insight into the Amish way of life.

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Starred review from March 15, 2011

Police Chief Kate Burkholder (Pray for Silence) is once again trying to balance the needs of the Amish community and the Englishers in Painters Mill, OH--a challenging task after a series of hate crimes against the Amish. What started out as harassment has escalated into the killing of farm animals and physical attacks. Kate's problem lies in the unwillingness of the victims to press charges or give her much evidence to work with. Things come to a head when three members of the Slabaugh family die in what initially looks like an accident but in reality was murder. Did they die in a hate crime gone wrong? Or did someone closer to home have reason to want them dead? With the help of the new county sheriff and state agent John Tomasetti (who, as always, makes her emotional life confusing), Kate has to find the answers before someone else dies. VERDICT Castillo really hits her stride here and tones down some of the graphic violence present last time around. Think of this as a cross between Karin Slaughter, with her darker outlook on human nature, and Julia Spencer-Fleming, who balances the darkness with moments of hope. [125,000-copy first printing; national tour.]--Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2011
The Amish community in small-town Painters Mill, Ohio, is suffering. Amish farmer Solomon Slabaugh and his wife and brother fall into the farms manure pit and are overcome by its deadly gases, leaving four children orphaned. At the same time, escalating violence is being directed toward the Amish, who wont press charges because of their suspicion of the authorities, frustrating Police Chief Kate Burkholder. When an autopsy shows that Slabaugh was hit on the head before he died, what appeared to be an accident turns into murder, and Kate must consider whether the case is related to a spate of hate crimes. Recalling the trauma that led her to renounce her Amish upbringing as a teen, Kate is drawn to the Slabaugh children, and particularly to 15-year-old Salome, as she works the case with her lover, Special Agent John Tomasetti of the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, who has his own traumatic past. In addition to creating exceptionally well drawn characters and crafting a gripping plot that takes some shocking turns on the way to a heart-pounding conclusion, Castillo probes with keen sensitivity the emotional toll taken by police work. The third in this series of thrillers (after Sworn to Silence, 2009, and Pray for Silence, 2010) is another winner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)