I am a huge fan of the Kate Burkholder series! This title had complex characters and relationships, as always. The characters felt real, but they also had the capacity to surprise me. When I thought I could see a plot event coming a mile away a couple of times, it played out differently. Engrossing read!

My two disappointments were 1) I didn't care for the setting of the snowed-in house for the majority of the book--I missed the rest of the police department and community members; and 2) it was really more of a thriller than a mystery. You know up front that it's about dirty cops, and that Gina is one of them. So there are questions to be answered, but I wouldn't really call it a mystery. Oh, and 3) What's with the Amish woman on the cover? Shameless marketing ploy. There is no Amish woman significant character in this book!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Outsider
Linda Castillo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
7/7/20

This is my third book of Linda Castillo. Although this book is one of 12 in the series it can absolutely stand alone as well.
As usual Linda Castillo’s latest book Outsider did not disappoint. It was jam-packed with suspense, corruption, romance and a true look into the Amish. I enjoyed learning of the customs and rules of the Amish and walked away with a clearer picture of their tight knit community. Kate Burkholder, who decided to leave the Amish community, is the main character. She is the Chief of Police and is hard working, loyal and compassionate. I enjoyed the flashbacks which not only reminded me of some of her past storylines but also makes it easier to read read the book as a stand alone. The story starts off with an urgent call to Kate from widower Adam Lengacher. He stumbles upon a bad accident where Gina is unconscious on his farm on a snow bank. When Kate responds she realizes it is a former friend who is also a cop. Gina is on the run and claims to have been framed for killing an undercover officer. Kate and Gina have not seen each in 10 years and you can see the strain and tension between the two. I found it hard to like Gina. Gina hasn’t always made the smartest of choices but Kate helps her out anyway. It truly shows off Kate’s true colors and competence as a police officer. Needing help, Kate calls state agent John to help with the investigation. I was excited to learn more of the budding relationship between Kate and John.
This books takes many twists and turns and Kate has no idea what she is going to uncover and it will be something that will change Kate’s reality.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Minotaur books for an early release of the Outsider for my honest review.


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I was very happy to get this book early. I have read all of her books and have gotten a few other people to read them all also. Like most authors Castillo's books were better at the start of the series, but this book wasn't bad. Be ready for a lot of snow, bad cops and a sweet Amish family. It seems like Kate is really missing her time being Amish. Arc provided in exchange for a fair review.

This new book in the Kate Burkholder series is provides insights into Kate's background, especially her days before she came to Painter's Mill and became the sheriff. In the midst of an ongoing blizzard, Kate finds herself stranded with an Amish family and a cop on the run from Columbus, Ohio. The twist is that the fugitive is Kate's former roommate and best friend, Gina. Since she left the Columbus PD, Kate's friend has gone down the wrong path, getting caught-up in a scheme of police corruption that involves bribery, sex, and murder. Gina claims to have decided to report the misdeeds and now is running from those same cops attempts to silence her forever. Since she is stuck in the middle of Amish land, without electricity or phones, Kate relies on Tomasetti to dig for information and find a way to safely deliver Gina to the authorities. While reminiscing about her Amish childhood, Kate begins to realize that Gina has not been completely honest, and she has put innocent lives in danger. It's an intense thriller right up to the end!

I have loved Linda Castillo since her very first novel. For anyone unfamiliar with her, Castillo's novels are always about a small town chief of Police named Kate Burkholder. Her town, Painters Mill, is deep in Ohio's Amish country, and Kate herself was born and raised Amish until she made the decision to break away from the religion when she was 18. Generally Castillo's novels focus on a crime committed in the Amish community, but in Outsider, she switches things up a bit.

Outsider begins with a policewoman named Gina Colorosa fleeing from her home when it is raided by the Columbus police serving a middle-of-the-night no-knock warrant. She's shot while making her escape and she needs to make an on-the-fly decision about where to seek help. Although she hasn't seen her in over ten years, she thinks of Kate Burkholder. She and Kate had been best friends and joined the ranks of the Columbus PD together as rookies. On her way to find Kate, Gina becomes stuck in a massive snow storm, crashes her truck into a tree, and is found by an Amish widower, Adam Lengacher, and his three children. They are able to get her out of the truck and back to his house where he gets word to Kate about what has happened.

A lot has changed in the ten years since they were best friends though, and Gina has taken a bad turn, getting in with a group of corrupt Vice squad detectives. When she finally had enough, Gina decided to come clean, but the result was that middle of the night raid. Kate doesn't know what to believe, but she agrees to keep Gina safe until they can work through other police agencies to find the truth and get Gina on the record. With the snowstorm getting even worse, Gina and Kate bed down on the Lengacher's farm. Of course, you just know the bad guys are going to track her down!

I love all of Castillo's novels and the way she brings the Amish lifestyle to life. In times like this, one can't help but to wish life could be so simple and satisfying and that people could be so kind as the Amish in Castillo's world. Outsider is a fabulous new addition to the Kate Buckholder series. Five bright stars from me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing a digital ARC in return for an honest review. Outsider comes out on July 7, 2020.

The twelfth in the Kate Burkholder series will not disappoint fans. More of Kate's story is shared about her years after leaving the Amish in this new installment. Mystery surrounds Gina, an old friend who helped Kate become a cop, when she is found shot. Held up in an Amish farmhouse during a blizzard, Kate will need to sift through all the lies Gina has told to find out if she is a dirty cop out being set up. I missed the interactions between the other members of the Painter's Mill Police Dept. Their unique personalities always are a plus. Loved Adam and his children. Recommended!

At first glance I thought this book was going to introduce another character as the beginning of a spin-off. I wasn't happy, but I kept reading. It turned out to be one of the best book - the interplay between the Amish outsider and an Amish family allowed us to know about the Amish way of life. The good cop/bad cop motif was in clear evidence, but greatly overshadowed by Kate. An excellent addition to the series.

I love Kate Burkholder books and this was no exception. I raced through this book because it was so good, then was sad because it was over!
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.
If you are new to this series, you should start it.If you have read other books in the series, this is an excellent addition.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

I'm always excited when Castillo adds another book to this series. They are all well written, fun to read, and unique. This latest addition is no exception and it neatly loops in some of Katie's past life and how she came to her career. Just be prepared to settle in with this book when you start reading it because you're not going to want to put it down as this is one of her more engaging stories.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police in Painters Mill, is having a busy day. A blizzard is being forecast in their small Ohio town, and the snow has caused many accidents and tow trucks are pulling people out of snow drifts. She gets a call that she's wanted at the farm of Adam Lengacher, an Amish man that she knew as a child, and she manages to drive to his yard before getting stuck in the drifts. She's surprised on entering the house to see her old police friend, Gina Colorosa, from Columbus, a woman she had lived with and gone to police training with. She hasn't seen her for ten years, and Gina tells her that she's on the run from the rogue cops she's been working with, and has a bullet would in her shoulder. Adam graciously agrees that Gina and Kate can stay until the blizzard passes, and Kate contacts Tomasetti about Gina's story. He's very suspicious of Gina and warns Kate to be careful. What they don't know is that the rogue cops are on Gina's trail, and know she in Painters Mill - how long before they find out she's on the farm?

I love the author's ease of reading - these are real page turners and fast reads. The Amish man and his kids were fun to read about, especially the oldest, Sammy. A great job!

This is the 12th book in the Kate Burkholder series. I have read the whole series and always look forward to reading a new one each year. Although part of the series, this book can be read as a standalone. Castillo makes a point in each book to give Kate's background. In this book we learn even more about how she decided to become a police officer along with her best friend, Gina Colorosa.

The plot starts with a phone call to Kate from an Amish widower, Adam Lengacher. He discovers an unconscious woman in her car stuck in a snowdrift at his farm. The woman turns out to be Kate's friend, fellow cop, Gina Colorosa. Kate has not seen Gina in 10 yrs. Gina is wanted for killing an undercover officer. Gina claims she is innocent and is being framed by corrupt officers.

Kate asks state agent, John Thomaselli, for help. John's superior tells John to back off. As Kate gets closer to the truth, Kate must confront a reality that changes everything she thought she knew.

The book is a very well-written edge-of-your-seat read with lots of suspense. I look forward to reading more about John and Kate's flourishing relationship in future books. I highly recommend this book and series to those who love suspense thrillers. I would like to thank Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a free book for an honest review.

What I love about this book is that so easily, you’re a part of this different world and the mystery surrounding Gina. Most readers will know Kate, the former Amish girl turned chief of police, and many will remember mentions of Gina, the girl who got her interested in police work. Gina becomes a full character in this book and the mystery become who she really is as she hides out from her fellow vice squad officers with an Amish family. I always love the sprinkling of Pennsylvania Dutch in these books because it gives them an authentic feel. It makes everything seem more dangerous and real. The author’s pacing is always perfect. I finished this in 24 hours, which is a sign that a book was written to keep me turning the pages. Another great book from Linda Castillo.

Another well-written story from mystery author Linda Castillo. Castillo continues the tale of Chief Kate Burkholder of Painters Mill. Though this is the 12th in the series, readers do not have to read the others to follow along. Castillo is a master of reviewing important character details in her books without taking away from the current story.

In this book, an old friend of Kate's by the name of Gina shows up wounded asking for help. Gina and Kate have a long history. Some good but mostly bad. Gina was the friend that helped get Kate back on her feet after leaving her Amish community. She encouraged Kate to get her G.E.D, sign up for criminal justice with her, and they even graduated from the Police Academy together. After a while Gina went down a path that Kate couldn't agree with and couldn't ignore. They separated on bad terms.

10 years later the path Gina went on has her running for her life against her fellow cops and seeking help from the only person she could ever trust. Kate is wary of Gina and unsure of whether this tale Gina is spinning should be trusted. In the end, Kate has to use her instincts, resources, and the help from the people she holds dear to save Gina's life and her own.

I really like this series about former Amish turned police chief Kate.

This latest in the series brings Kate's past crashing into her present in the form of her former best friend and fellow former Columbus officer Gina. Gina is on the run from vice squad members and turns to Kate to help. But Kate wonders if Gina is trustworthy.

This book is part of an imaginative, original series featuring a setting of a former Amish woman, now having forsaken her religion, still living near the Amish. And while I know little about the religion and culture, I truly enjoy learning a little in each book.

These books are not religious in any way, it's just part of the setting, and makes for a creative plot every time.

I recommend this latest, whether or not you have read any others.

This is the 12th book by Linda Castillo in the Kate Burkholdier series and they just keep delivering!

I really liked this book because Castillo writes about the Amish in a way that no one else does. It's a great picture of what Amish life is really like. Her character Kate was raised Amish and left the order to go into law enforcement. She is now the Police Chief in the small Ohio town where she was raised.

This book opens with an attempted murder on a police officer. What happens next is one action packed scene after another. Gina, the police officer escapes and makes her way to Painter's Mills only to be found unconscious by a local Amish man. He takes her to his home and contacts Kate. Gina and Kate used to work together and haven't spoken in ten years. Gina is being pursued by bad guys but what do you do when the bad guys are cops?

I highly recommend this series but if you do read it start at the beginning because one does not want to miss one minute of this fantastic series.

Another page-turner with former Amish police chief Kate Burkholder trying to figure out what's going on in her small Holmes County, Ohio town. When one of the local Amish widowers calls her to his home, she's surprised to see an old friend, Gina Colorosa, from the time when she first left home to upend her expected life as a good Amish hausfrau.

Gina's got a gunshot wound and a story about how she got it that sounds a bit crazy but almost believable--corruption in the old police department where Kate first started out. Kate calls state investigator Tomasetti to get help without alerting everyone to her old friend's whereabouts. Now, they just have to figure out whether she's lying or telling the truth.

I really enjoy this series and this installment didn't disappoint!

I am a huge fan of this series and I loved getting more of Chief Kate Burkholder’s past. This book gives more of a look into the Amish way with blackmail, murder, mystery and Suspense in every page. A huge page turner and another great Linda Castillo read

Another enthralling entry into the Kate Burkholder series with some background on our former Amish sheriff that leads her down a path she may wished she had avoided.

An old friend comes back into Kate's life during one of the worse snowstorms ever and she is on the run from the very people she works with.....the cops. Injured and needing help she goes to the only person she feels will help her drawing Kate into her web of deceit, lies and corruption. How far will Kate go to aid a friend who helped her out in her time of need and what will be the final outcome?

Kate Burkholder straddles both the English world and the Amish world and she does it very well. All her skills will be brought to the forefront as she strives to arrive at an ending that will be determine who will live and who will die.

Did I say something about the ending? Oh boy, hold on to your seat! This book is due to be released in July, 2020.

Linda Castillo has written another great Kate Burkholder book. Outsider gives the reader a view into Kate's life before she became the Chief of Police. She and Tomasetti team up to solve the crime in a story that grabs you from the very beginning.

Absolutely fantastic! Every book in this series is pulsating with suspense. Kate is one tough chick. This story gave some history with former associate looking for some help to bring down some bad cops. Nail biting and tense then entire story! Thank you NetGalley for the advance galley