Another great Kate Burkholder thriller!! I absolutely love this series and each book is better than the one before! I love the characters and how they work so well together. This Amish based community seems to have a lot of secrets and murders. This book has lots of twists and gives us more insight into Kate. I couldn't put this book down. Must read!!

I read this book while in the hospital with my dad dying. I didn't realize till now that I didn't review it. I am truly sorry. As always it was a fantastic edge of the seat read!

I've been enjoying Linda Castillo's books about Kate Burkholder for a while. This one is about secrets. Everyone has them and you are kept on the edge of your seat until the end. As always she is true to the Ohio Amish community, Kate's story, and the characters surrounding her. Her style of writing makes for easy reading. The plot is well developed and the characters sympathetic. Although part of a series it still feels like a stand alone. I couldn't put it down.

This is my first read by this author. When I requested this book I didn't realize it is part of a series. I will have to read the other books in this series. This book is about finding an Amish man in a barn he is burned. What looks like an accident is actually murder. I enjoyed this book very much. Looking forward to read more from this author. 5 plus stars from me.

David Gingerich turns up missing and is nowhere to be found.. Kate Burkholder receives a call from graveyard dispatcher Mona Kurtz who just received a call for a barn fire out at the Gingerich house. Kate Burkholder and Tomasetti go out and investigate. One side of the bank barn is engulfed in flames. The fire is so large, they could see an orange glow above the treetops a mile away. The structure had major damage. Yellow flames shot forty feet in the air. They found two horses and calves out in the pasture behind the barn. Someone released the livestock from the barn. Then they find the dead remains of a body, to find out that it is a body of an 18 year old, Daniel Gingerich-buried alive. They first think that its an accident. but Kate then suspects murder and arson.

Who would want a hard working Amish man, dead? Is this peaceful religious community conspiring to hide a truth no one wants to talk about? Kate doubles down only to discover a plethora of secrets and a chilling series of crimes that shatters everything she thought she knew about her Amish roots and herself.

I cant believe that I forgot to review this one. I read it a year ago and lucky I had notes in my kindle.
This was a five star read for me and after reviewing my notes the story came back to me like I just read it yesterday. Its a memorable one.

I just love this series! This is the tenth book in the Kate Burkholder series. It was a powerful, heart pounding, nonstop adrenaline rush. I love it when a book does that to me.

Get ready for a thriller that has lots of action, some violence, and lots of surprises. This is one book that will keep you up late in the night, as you quickly turn the pages. Its a top notch edge of your seat mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

I think that these characters are all so well done. I can really connect with them. I loved Kate and her drive to find the truth. She is very determined and I love her character. I also love Tomasetti and their relationship. I love the writing style.

It is sadly to say that I am all caught up and up to date in this series and hope to get her next book Shamed very soon. Its already on Netgalley and I cant wait to read it. This is my all time favorite series and they never disappoint.

I want to thank Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and the author for the copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

A young Amish man is found burned in a barn and what looks like an accident turns out to be a murder. Another great Kate Burkholder/Linda Castillo book.

I’m a big fan of the Kate Burkholder series, and as someone from Pennsylvania, a lot of the references are very homey to me. I can’t believe this book is the tenth already!

The series remains nice and fresh in this latest installment, and honestly, I could read ten more. You can read it as a standalone if you’d like, but trust me, you’re going to want to read the others in the series, as well.

FYI: This book deals with themes of sexual assault. If that is triggering for you, I would recommend another book.

Kate is called to a barn fire, where they find the body of a teenage boy trapped inside. By all accounts, he was a poster-perfect Amish boy, so who would want him dead? As Kate digs into the mystery, she realizes that not everything is as it seems, and she begins to discover a much darker side to the wholesome image presented to her by the community.

This mystery was just a really good, straightforward mystery, with a little bit of darkness that begins to seep through as things develop. I really like that about this series: it may seem wholesome and “plain,” but then the dark, gritty details really slip in. Nothing is ever off limits or completely straightforward in this series.

The only thing I didn’t like about this one is that there were a couple connections that the reader is able to make way before Kate does. A couple times she finds a piece of information that you’re immediately like “Ooh! That’s .... !” And she doesn’t get to that point until several chapters later. That took a little edge off some of the reveals. But I wasn’t so disappointed in anything that it took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, if you’re not reading this series, you’re missing out. It’s great mysteries wrapped in this really interesting Amish exterior. And this tenth installment continues this amazing series.

Another excellent Kate Burkholder mystery. I love how the characters continue to grow and move forward. This is always one of my must-read series.

This is not the first Kate Burkholder mystery I've read, but it's the first one I've reviewed, and since I've loved and been hooked on this series from its inception, this one may just be the darkest and most suspense-filled title in this series, and it gets 5 stars from this reader.

The novel opens with a prologue, in which a teenage Amish girl hangs herself in the family barn--nothing like starting off an Amish mystery with an Amish girl committing a sin against G-d. As if that wasn't enough of a surprise, in Chapter One, which takes place 6 months later, a handsome, charming, Amish teenager, Daniel Gingerich is being deliberately burned to death, locked and barricaded into the tack room of his family barn. So, a suicide and a homicide--welcome to the tense, edgy, and surprising, 10th novel in the Kate Burkeholder series.

For anyone new to the series, Kate Burkholder was born and raised in an Amish community, but she left that world behind and is now the Chief of Police in the small, predominantly Amish, town of Painters Mill, Ohio. No one in the Amish community or the police were informed about the suicide for a number of reasons, the chief one being that the act of suicide is a sin, the second being the fact that the Amish don't readily talk about such things or report them to the police, accepting death as the will of G-d, and the third being the reason for her suicide, something else her devastated Amish family doesn't want to discuss or spread around in their small community.

Kate Burkholder, as the chief of police in this small town, populated by many in the Amish community, is called in to investigate and find the person who set fire to an historic barn, an obvious arson, which killed a well thought of young Amish teenager, Daniel Gingerich. Kate's investigation begins with her investigation of why, from all accounts, Daniel was a good boy, a hard worker, handsome, and charming, and why would someone have locked him in a barn, made sure he couldn't get out, and burned that barn to the ground with Daniel trapped inside? There's no shortage of suspects in this small community, but what could possibly have been the motive behind the murder?

As Kate delves deeper into the mystery of Daniel's murder, and the suicide which preceded it, she is met with more than a little resistance from the Amish community, which has always been close-mouthed with law enforcement, and protective of their secrets and their community. Kate, who was once Amish herself, understands this mind set better than most, and yet she must find out what happened that caused someone to kill Daniel, and why a sweet, Amish girl would take her own life--since both crimes go against everything Kate understands about the Amish, and everything she's being told about these two deaths.

There's way more to be discovered about these deaths, and I'll have to keep the motives to myself, because I don't do spoilers, but what I will tell you is that this novel is perhaps the most nail-bitingly suspenseful of the Kate Burkholder mysteries I've read so far, and it was almost impossible to put down. Just when you think you know who the guilty party is, there's still a lot more depth to this story and more to discover, and what an tour de force of an ending awaits you! Do not miss this one!

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

This was a hard book to read. I guess I should have known that from the foreword by Ms. Castillo, but still. Her books can be scary and suspenseful, but this book was just on a whole nother level. I read the book and had the feeling of wanting it to end. I just wanted to finish it, and get rid of the guy that deserved to die, and everything unpleasant associated with him. I don't know that I've ever read a mystery book where i've rooted for the murdered person to be murdered.The other thing that bothered me was Kate getting stuck in another life or death situation. How many times can she almost die because she didn't wait for back up???! She is the chief of police! This is not her first rodeo! She almost died a few books back at the hog farm, she lost her baby, and here she is again now almost dying in a fire. One would think with all her training she would not be thisclose to losing her life in every single book.

I loved this book! I put of course that I would not recommend it for the age group that I teach but I would definitely recommend it for those who like murder mystery thrillers like I do. I love Linda Castillo and this Kate Burkhalter book was just as God as the rest!

Linda's Kate Burkholder series is always one I look forward to. Beautiful twists and turns make reading it very fun. Each book evolves and grows. As soon as I finish one -- I want to start another one!! I love reading books set in Amish country and Linda does it better than anyone!!

A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo is the tenth A Kate Burkholder Novel. Kate Burkholder, the police chief for Painters Mill, gets a late night call about a barn on fire at the Gingerich’s. Kate arrives and is told that Daniel Gingerich is missing. It looks like an accidental barn fire until Daniel’s body is found inside the locked and barricaded tack room. Someone wanted to make sure that Daniel did not survive the fire. Kate begins her investigation, but the Amish in Painters Mill are less than forthcoming. Despite being raised Amish and having family in the community, Kate’s uniform and position holds her apart. She is determined, though, to find out who murdered Daniel and set fire to the Gingerich’s barn. The more Kate learns about Daniel, the more unsettled she feels. Can Kate break through the wall of silence to get the answers she needs?

I do not recommend reading A Gathering of Secrets on its own. While it can be read alone, you will miss out on Kate’s backstory. Why she is no longer Amish, how she become the police chief, her relationship with John Tomasetti, and how she gets along with her family. In A Gathering of Secrets, we follow Kate as she delves into Daniel’s life. She gathers evidence, interviews family and friends, follows up on anonymous tips, etc. Kate finds herself once again in a situation that endangers her life. I am amazed that she allowed herself to fall for the one incident. Kate has enough experience to know better (I would say more but it would be a spoiler). A Gathering of Secrets contains good writing and I like Kate’s character. She is a strong, smart woman who does a difficult job. It cannot be easy being English in a community where you grew up Amish. I would like to see Kate grow more as a person. It is time for her to move beyond what happened to her as a teenager (she will never forget it, but she needs to find a way to deal with what happened to her so she can have a future). I was disappointed that A Gathering of Secrets is exactly like the nine books before it. The author seems to follow a formula for her books and she is sticking with it. The descriptions are the fire, the body and other crimes are vivid and explicit. There is an uncalled for amount of foul language as well. I liked that the author included different Amish sects (Beachy Amish and Swartzentruber) and explained the differences. The mystery had depth, but the solution was obvious. I kept hoping there would be a surprise/twist that would shock me. I was amazed at the amount of violence from non-violent people. My rating for A Gathering of Secrets is 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay). While I was not enamored with A Gathering of Secrets, I will read the next A Kate Burkholder Novel.

Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series has incorporated all the elements of magnetic mystery-a captivating protagonist, simmering secrets, and an engaging love interest. Her latest offering, A Gathering of Secrets, features Chief of Police Kate Burkholder at her finest. As Chief of Police of Painters Mill, Ohio, Kate is able to offer a unique perspective to law enforcement in a small community complete with Amish residents and their English counterparts. Kate grew up Amish but left the Amish order and entered the profession of law enforcement. She understands the Amish way of life and misses parts of it but enjoys the freedom her career offers her.

In this latest series installment, Kate investigates the arson and murder of young Daniel Gingrich, an eighteen-year-old Amish man who was trapped in a barn when it was set aflame. Beloved by his family and friends, Daniel was a young man on the cusp of adulthood and a promising future.

Kate’s continued investigation leads her to a gruesome discovery as she learns that Daniel had a dark side, a side that was apparently unknown to his family and belied the facade of the charming handsome Amish man. This discovery not only leads to a host of potential murder suspects but has Kate reliving some of the nightmares of her past.

Yet the stabilizing force in Kate’s life is her relationship with state agent John Tomasseti, the man she shares her home and her love with. Though many of her work colleagues are unaware of her relationship with Tomasetti, his constant presence in her life adds elements of humanity to the sometimes clinical nature that must be adopted by law enforcement professionals in order to maintain objectivity in their jobs.

Compelling and intensely engaging from the very first page, Castillo’s latest is not to be missed. With a plethora of red herrings, the suspense continues unabated until the breathtaking conclusion. And those new to this series may decide to eagerly search her backlist for previous series installments as they anticipate future scintillating Kate Burkholder novels.

I was excited to visit Kate Burkholder once again and wasn't disappointed. Kate serves as Chief of Police in a small town. Some of the people she protects and serves are members of the Amish community that she walked away from. This is the essence of any Kate Burkholder novel: the conflict waging in her between the two worlds.
Castillo has written yet another superb book that leaves the reader on the edge of his/her seat.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

3 1/2 stars to be fair. I love the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castilo. And while this one was good, I don't feel it was quite as good as some of the others. This is an interesting series with the chief of police not only being a woman but also raised Amish and serving an Amish community. I often recommend this series to others and will continue to do so.

I remember reading Linda Castillo’s first Kate Burkholder murder mystery, Sworn To Silence. I’d been reading romance steadily for two years and had come to realize that my previous mystery reading enjoyed the occasional romance that was included more than the mystery itself. What I missed about reading mysteries, though, was a sympathetic amateur/professional sleuth/detective, a voice of justice that rang true and vibrant and that I felt connected to. While Sworn To Silence‘s opening page was too violent for squeamish me, Kate captured my interest and sympathy. Castillo’s detective is, in this present volume, A Gathering Of Secrets, Painters Mill Ohio’s chief of police. She’d grown up as a member of their Amish community, but a teen-age sexual assault and the subsequent events and estrangements with family and community meant she left her sense of belonging behind. As a cop and now chief, Kate is nevertheless uniquely placed to deal with crimes occurring in Amish country, knowledgeable and understanding, yet very much dedicated to justice and the rule of law that comes with a secular perspective. Kate is a wonderful creation: fair, persistent, compassionate where she needs to be, never deviating from applying the law, but fully aware of the nuances of even the most heinous of crimes, and always, always empathetic to everyone affected, victims’ and victimizers’ families and communities.

With a background in category romantic suspense, Castillo also knows how to build a romance ARC and give Kate the hero she deserves. In Sworn To Silence, if memory serves, John Tomasetti is transplanted to Amish country and works in tandem with Kate on her case and the ones that follow. Their attraction is evident from the first book, but their histories are tormented, difficult, and their love, too often in previous books, seems doomed. Without giving too much away, it’s sigh-worthy to finally see Kate and John achieve happiness in this tenth novel. Their relationship is one borne of love and friendship and its central symbol, on their renovated Victorian farmhouse, is a coop full of newly-borne chicks. I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, except that it’s one of the most romantic scenes I’ve read this year, in a novel that is definitely not a romance.

A Gathering Of Secrets opens with the suicide of a seventeen-year-old Amish girl. That scene is key to the mystery’s resolution. It’s never in Kate’s detecting radar and the girl’s family and community, though they mourn her, are leery of outsiders, even an “outsider” of their own, such as Kate, to bring anyone “in” to discover cause and/or motive. Six months go by and Kate is called to a murder scene that will become the novel’s main mystery: the deliberate immolation of an eighteen-year-old Amish man, Daniel Gingerich. As with previous novels, Kate’s pursuit of the truth is conducted amidst the contradictions of shared Englischer-Amish country and her own, though much less so than at the series’s start, conflicted self. The Amish she interviews are portrayed in a sympathetic light. There is great unity and support to be found in the community. At the same time, the Amish’s choice to remain apart from mainstream society and deep sense of the proprieties make them vulnerable to dealing with injustice in an insular fashion; hence, the title’s reference to “secrets”. Kate, her team of officers, and John, uncover, by means of meticulous technical and interview police skills, the road that led Daniel Gingerich to that barn fire. I think one of the things I like best is Castillo’s ability to draw cops and perpetrators, victims, their families, and others caught in the cross-fire, with love and sympathy, with liking and respect in many cases, and with nuance even in the villains.

I’m not interested in dwelling on the novel’s crime and solution aspect, the procedure part of the procedural, but in its interstices, moments of great writing, clarity, exposure, heightened language and fellow-feeling that Castillo conveys. Kate’s ruminations on murder will tell you who Kate is, how she thinks, and what constitutes the novel’s ethic:

Some people say murder is a senseless act. I don’t agree. There’s no doubt murder is a brutal act. It’s a cruel act. An immoral act. It’s wrong in the eyes of the law. A sin in the eyes of God. Murder is an unthinkable deed in the mind of any decent human being. But murder is rarely senseless.

As we follow Kate, John, and her officers, to the resolution, it is eminently evident that this murder makes sense. How and why is part of the pleasure of reading A Gathering Of Secrets. Castillo captures in Kate how your work-life, if it involves people in crisis or difficulty, can adhere to your own, not only by touching the present but in recalling the past:

Certain cases take on a life of their own. They touch us in unexpected ways. Sometimes they touch us in way we don’t want to be touched. They take us to places we don’t want to venture. Remind us of people we don’t want to be reminded of. Cases are rarely limited to the victim or loved ones or the families. Cops get drawn in, too. They become involved with the people they come into contact with. While we do our best to keep a handle on all of those gnarly emotions and preconceived notions …

In many of the previous books, this is the main note – for Kate and John. Finally, in this tenth volume, Kate finds peace and joy too:

The chatter in my head grinds to a halt. Turning, I look out across our property, and for the first time in days, I see the simple beauty of my surroundings and I drink it in. Somehow I hadn’t noticed that the foliage is abloom with fall color. I stand there, listening to the calls of the red-winged blackbirds that swoop and play among the willows by the pond. The whisper of the wind through the treetops. The bawling of Mr. Cline’s cattle to the south. The tinkle of the wind chimes I bought on impulse at one of the Amish tourist shops in town. Autumn evenings in this part of Ohio are magical; they are a feast for the senses, balm for the soul of a troubled cop.

It is significant that Kate shares this beauty and joy with John: their peace and love are hard-won and therefore even more pleasurable for the reader to read about. I don’t know if, having brought them to this more-than-equanimity point, Castillo will be done with John and Kate. Kate promotes a most intriguing rookie-cop character in this novel and I speculate whether Mona Kurtz will play a greater role in volumes to come. Whether my hunch is correct or not, I’ll still come back to Painters Kill to be with some of my favourite characters. With Miss Austen, we say that A Gathering Of Secrets is evidence of “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Linda Castillo’s A Gathering Of Secrets is published by Minotaur Books. It was released on July 10th and may be found at your preferred vendor. I received an e-ARC from Minotaur Books, via Netgalley.

This is the tenth in the series and Linda Castillo stepped it up a notch. I was wondering if this series would burn itself out, but not so. In this story, a barn burns down and a young Amish man's body is discovered inside. As the fire inspector continues his investigation, it becomes obvious that this was intentional, and Daniel Gingerich was the intended victim. Who had motivation to kill this young man? Everyone Kate talks to seems to think he is a wonderful Amish man and son, yet others remain tight lipped. Who was Daniel Gingerich and what was his true self?

As Kate Burkholder investigates, this case becomes very personal. Can she remain neutral enough to see justice done? If there was motivation, was it still a crime? This book gives us another look at Kate's past and how it affects her now. I like that her relationship with Tomasetti is growing and changing. The inside glimpses and beliefs of the Amish community are insightful and interesting. With Kate no longer being part of the Amish Community, this book really showed how the police force is her new community and how they support one another. As a mother, I wondered, how far I would go to protect my child(ren). This case will take a few turns before coming to a satisfying though sad ending. As always, Linda Castillo presents the reader with a well written and plotted story. I enjoy the balance between crime and personal life. It is nice to connect with the protagonist and wish that you got a chance to meet them. If you enjoy mysteries or crime stories with a personal twist, pick up this book or any in this series. The publisher, St. Martin's Press, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own.

Another solid installment in this series. I love these characters. The storyline was a good one. But what is happening to Kate? Since when did she become so naïve and a stupid cop?

Not much of a surprise that I enjoyed this book. This series has been a winner for me. It's not too light. It's not too dark. It's just right for a comfort read that keeps me interested and connected. I really enjoy the procedural part of the investigations - all the thoughts and questioning of suspects lets me into the mind of an investigator. I'm not into the storyline of Kate discovering herself or any of that, but overall, this was a very good quick read.