Publishers Weekly
05/30/2022
Early in bestseller Castillo’s captivating 14th Amish mystery (after 2021’s Fallen), Painters Mill, Ohio, police chief Kate Burkholder learns her services are needed out of state. The remains of Kish Valley, Pa., bishop Ananias Stoltzfus have turned up in a field 18 years after his disappearance. Unsatisfied with the local police, the current elders of Kish Valley ask Kate for assistance, informing her that the police wrongfully arrested charming Amish cabinetmaker Jonas Bowman after his rifle, the murder weapon, was found at the crime scene. Unbeknownst to the elders, Kate had a secret relationship with Jonas as a teenager and doesn’t believe he’s capable of murder. Despite her whirlwind of emotions, Kate decides to help and unearths disturbing secrets about Ananias’s past. As she oversteps, she often falls into danger during the investigation, and old feelings resurface when she questions the now married Jonas. Memorable characters help keep the pages turning, though the plot is somewhat more predictable than Castillo’s usual, and not all questions related to the murder are answered. Series fans will look forward to Kate’s next case. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (July)
From the Publisher
With great suspense, well-drawn characters and a totally unexpected ending, The Hidden One is a standout installment in a rightfully beloved series.” –Bookpage (starred review)
“From the start of this superb series, Castillo has mastered the fundamentals of fiction—plot, characters and setting—that combine for emotional and intellectual power. She does so again in The Hidden One as she addresses the pull of the past, the strain of the present and the gift of the future.” –Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
“Castillo—who is not Amish but has done wagon-loads of homework—paints such a vivid picture of Amish farm country that we can almost smell the fresh-cut hay and hear the clopping of horses' hooves. Always, she goes beyond beards-and-bonnets stereotypes to present Amish characters as individuals.” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Captivating...memorable characters help keep the pages turning.” –Publishers Weekly
“Another impressive entry in this always-entertaining series, which continues to combine a fascinating look at the Amish community with pacy action and a tenacious, thoughtful heroine.” –Booklist
Praise for Fallen:
“Exhilarating...Castillo adds surprising twists to the gripping plot and touches upon police brutality and Amish discrimination. This sterling entry can be easily read as a standalone.” –Publishers Weekly (starred)
“An absolute cracker of a book.” –Booklist (starred)
“Castillo uses her Ohio background and knowledge to superb effect. She conceives and creates fully fleshed characters, devises an intricate and twisty plot and examines complex issues of religion and morality. A series of literary weight, Castillo’s work appeals to connoisseurs of crime fiction who expect powerful purpose as well as serious storytelling.” –Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
“Castillo is terrific at constructing a story, and her pacing is impeccable…this series just gets better and better; Fallen may be the best entry yet.” –St. Louis Post Dispatch
“Fallen successfully pushes the envelope of the series…Castillo is more than capable of extracting new stories from a deceptively but deeply complex culture that is as intricate as it is misunderstood.” –Bookreporter.com
Praise for Outsider:
“A pulse-pounding Amish thriller (really!) that’s all too relevant to our time.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“[A] fast-paced, suspense-building ride, showing the character development and sensitivity to the Amish culture that mark Castillo’s masterful crime fiction.” –Booklist (starred)
“Bestseller Castillo’s suspenseful 12th Kate Burkholder mystery…Castillo presents a loving, realistic portrait of Amish life. Readers will hope Kate has a long career.” —Publishers Weekly
Library Journal
02/01/2022
In The Paper Caper, Carlisle's latest "Bibliophile Mystery," murder transpires at the first annual Mark Twain Festival, held by Brooklyn Wainwright at her bookstore and underwritten by media magnate Joseph Cabot. In Castillo's The Hidden One, Amish elders turn to Painters Mill chief of police Kate Burkholder when the remains of a long-vanished bishop are discovered, bearing evidence of foul play (150,000-copy first printing). Private informer Flavia Albia's next Desperate Undertaking is finding a serial killer (or killers) committing brutal murder and staging the corpses around Davis's first-century CE Rome (30,000-copy first printing). In Hokuloa Road, cross genre-writing, Shirley Jackson Award-winning Hand makes Grady Kendall caretaker of a luxury property in Hawaii (as far as possible from his native Maine), then has him hunting for a young woman from his flight who has since vanished (30,000-copy first printing). In McCall Smith's The Sweet Remnants of Summer, Isabel Dalhousie is serving on an advisory committee for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery when she is caught up in the squabbles of a prominent family where Nationalist vs. Socialist ideologies prevail. In Peril at the Exposition, a follow-up to March's Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay, newlyweds Capt. Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji have left British-ruled Bombay (now Mumbai) for 1890s Boston when Jim is sent to investigate a murder in Chicago (50,000-copy first printing). In Munier's The Wedding Plot, Mercy's grandmother Patience is set to marry her longtime beloved at the five-star Lady's Slipper Inn when family enmities bubble to the surface, the inn's spa director vanishes, and a stranger turns up dead (30,000-copy first printing). In An Honest Living—a debut from Murphy, editor in chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub's crime fiction vertical—an attorney picking up odd jobs after walking out on his stranglehold law firm agrees to help reclusive literati Anna Reddick find her possibly thieving bookseller husband, and all's well until the real Anna Reddick walks in. In Rosenfelt's Holy Chow, an older woman who adopts sweet senior chow mix Tessie from Andy Carpenter's Tara Foundation makes Andy promise that if she dies he will take care of Tessie provided that her son cannot—which he certainly can't when he is arrested days later on suspicion of his mother's murder (60,000-copy first printing).
AUGUST 2022 - AudioFile
Kathleen McInerney’s ace performance in the latest Burkholder mystery makes a fine story even more enjoyable. McInerney’s pacing and tone reflect the events in the audiobook, whether humorous or suspenseful. Her tone is one of common sense, which is a strong trait of Burkholder, who is police chief in Painters Mill, Ohio. In this 14th series entry, the fallen-away-Amish Burkholder is lending a hand in Pennsylvania Amish country. Amish elders there have asked her to help prove that Jonas Bowman, with whom Burkholder shares a painful past, did not kill Amish Bishop Ananias Stoltzfus. His recently discovered remains show that he was murdered years earlier. McInerney’s excellent narration makes this strong addition to the popular series. G.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
