I have been a fan of Linda Castillo since her first book in this series. I love the insight into the life of the Amish and I love she's a cop. All her books have a great mystery as well as a good story.

When a church Bishop is found murdered, 3 Amish church leaders approach Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police, requesting her support with the police investigation. She also learns that the accused is her childhood friend and first love -- the stakes couldn't be higher. Kate may be no stranger to police work, but she is still estranged from their Amish community, a community in which secrets are kept close and a town that doesn't always follow the rules when it comes to police procedure.

I've been wanting to read a book centered around the Amish community for some time, and Linda Castillo was recommended as an author I needed to check out. I was thrilled that a new book was coming out and found that despite this being the fourteenth book in the series, I could start reading this one and not be "behind."

This book exceeded my expectations, and I found that I had a really hard time putting it down. The plot was interesting and there were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. The characters were also interesting and likeable, as was the links to the Amish culture. Definitely worth the read--I now plan to check out 1-13 in the series.

The Hidden One by Linda Castillo

Katie Burkholder is a young police chief in Painters Mill, Ohio. She is called to help solve an 18 year old cold case murder for which a childhood Amish friend has been charged.

In order to help, Katie must travel to Pennsylvania to speak to Jonas, the accused, who is in jail. Important is the fact that Katie was once Amish, having left the order as a teenager. She speaks Deitsch, the Amish language, and knows the customs.

Though Katie is a law officer, she is an outsider in Pennsylvania. Many obstacles impede her investigation, but she works doggedly to find the real killer. Lies and danger await Katie, but she is very determined to prove that Jonas is innocent and to return him to his family.

Thanks to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for my ARC.

This book was the first of the series I read, it was easy enough to follow along despite not having read the many books before. Interesting story primarily for the information on Amish culture, which I enjoyed alot

It’s Chief of Police Kate Burkholder’s day off when she is called into her office in Painters Mill, Ohio to meet the Amish church elders from a town near Lancaster, Pennsylvania called Belleville in the Kishacoquillas Valley. They have a problem they figure Kate can help with. Two months prior the bones of a former bishop of the church, Ananias Stoltzfus, were dug up by a man plowing his field. Stoltzfus disappeared 18 years ago, just vanished, leaving two adult children and grandchildren. Along with the bones, an old muzzleloader was found, one that belonged to Jonas Bowman. Jonas had been arrested two weeks ago. That meant that the Amish community had stepped in to help his wife and three kids along with his woodworking business, and that meant the elders felt they could act on his behalf.

Jonas Bowman and Kate Burkholder grew up together in Painters Mill. Kate was in her mid-teens when the Bowmans moved away. Kate is astounded that these men have come to her for help, yet she knows she must go. When confronted with the muzzleloader, Jonas confessed that it was his but denied any involvement in the murder of Ananias. However, there was bad blood between them since Jonas blamed Ananias for his father’s death. Jonas’s father, Ezra, was a minister in the Amish church, and there was a disagreement over a diesel tractor he bought. Ananias would not allow it and silenced Ezra. Two weeks later, Ezra died from a heart attack that Jonas says was brought on by stress induced by Ananias. Things got ugly and there was a public disagreement after church services.

Kate knows Jonas as a good, hard-working man, honest to the core, and she cannot believe he would commit murder. She leaves her small police force in Painters Mill and goes to Belleville. First she helps get Jonas released from jail on bail. With so little to go on, she decides to get to know the victim, and like the layers of an onion, the layers begin to peel away. Kate’s journey is not easy, and she awakens in her motel to be beaten and her vehicle ransacked. Yet she continues to talk with those who knew Ananias and his wife only to be threatened again and again. Perseverance is her middle name, and Kate pushed onward until an odd clue falls into her lap that lifts the veil covering everything up.

While I missed contact with Kate’s hometown police force, we got to know someone from Kate’s past who was important to her in a new way. There were several flashbacks to times from her childhood where she reminisced about Jonas and what might have been that slowed this reader’s heartrate back to normal from the tension of tracking the killer. While I always expect a twist at the end of Castillo’s books, this one felt like it came from the cornfields until I thought about the clues leading up to it and how they made sense. While Kate wasn’t trying to solve the murder of Ananias Stoltzfus, she needed to in order to prove Jonas innocent. Lucky for us, that cold case heated up nicely.

Name of Book: The Hidden One
Author: Linda Castillo
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press ~ Minotaur Books
Genre: Amish/Mystery Suspense
Pub Date: July 5, 2022
My Rating: 4+ Rounded up

This is #14 in the Detective Kate Burkholder series
Kate Burkholder is the Chief of Police in Painters Mill a (fictional) small Northeast Ohio town where most the residences are Amish.
I have read several in this series; also have read and enjoyed many other Amish mystery novels and find the culture super interesting. <i> If you are new to this series, Kate was born Amish but left the congregation when he was eighteen. Although she is trying to leave her Amish past, she states she misses home. </i>

Kate is in a relationship with John Tomasetti who is an agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and usually helps Kate in cases involving investigation.

In this story, three Amish elders visit Kate and seek her help in Belleville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (the town where she grew up). They are asking for her assistance in the investigation of an eighteen year old ‘cold case’. It appears the skeletal remains recently found belong to bishop Ananias Stoltzus, who went missing many years ago. Kate is willing to help but states she has no jurisdiction. ~They understand but want her assistance since she speaks ‘Dietsch’ Pennsylvania Dutch the Amish language and understands the culture.

Kate childhood friend, Jonas Bowman who later was her high school boy friend is in custody. (We learn more about their friendship in flashback chapters.)
When Kate meets with Jonas, she is sure he didn’t do it ~ even though his rifle was found and he was known to have arguments with the bishop.

The details of ‘Whodunit’ sure kept me curious and the twist at the end was awww!
This is my favorite in the series.
I like Kate and Tomasetti and anxious and looking forward to #15.

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press ~ Minotaur Books for this uncorrected eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for my honest professional opinion.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 5, 2022.

As a long-time reader of the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo, I was so excited to read this new installment. The Hidden One definitely did not disappoint. Chief Kate travels outside of Painter's Mill to help clear the name of her childhood love. The mystery was solid with enough twists and turns to keep me interested. I really enjoy the descriptions and interaction with Amish life. I did miss the regular characters from Painter's Mill. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

As a long time fan of Linda Castillo’s I regret to say that I am finding them to be very formulaic. The Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, is formerly Amish and her police district has many Amish families residing in it. We have heard her story of leaving that religion over many, many books. The story lines in the books, including this current one, are repetitive….crime is committed….Kate jumps in..Kate gets beaten or shot..Kate recovers incredibly quickly..Kate solves crime. Not very believable.
On a positive note, her descriptions of Amish life are interesting. I enjoyed learning about the different sects of the Amish faith and also about how they tend to conduct their private lives.
Hopefully, Linda Castillo will move Kate’s life along and have her look a bit more toward the future rather than concentrating so much on her past.

I always am interested in the writings of Ms. Castillo and this book did not disappoint!
Learning moreinto the childhood of the maincharacter was a plus and very heart touching.
Castillo will continue to be on my "favorite author" list!

I loved it! It's so refreshing to delve into a murder mystery from such an unconventional viewpoint. I enjoy dropping in on the ever welcoming Amish households and learning about their daily routines. That said, the ending was unexpected and quite insidious. Great author!

This was a great whodunit in an Amish community. It was a little mix of Amish and contemporary. It was a brilliant setup to have the police chief be ex-Amish - she brings insight into the Amish customs while being the target of disdain. The investigation moves at a snail's pace as she gets resistance from anyone who might actually have information. You won't see the end coming til it knocks you in the head! Great story; great characters! This was my first Kate Burkholder story, but it won't be my last!!

I think this is my favorite one so far! I love the little bit of historical she pulled into this storyline. chief of police Kate Burkholder is visited by three men who are a little far from home but they need her help, well someone from her past does and they have come to plead the case on their behalf. Kate having a personal connection to this person from her past cannot say no and heads off to Pennsylvania to investigate a decade old cold case. A well know Amish bishop went missing years ago, and his remains have just been found, along with the gun that murdered him and the person the gun belonged to admitted it was his and had been missing. Now he is in prison being charged with this murder and no one will seem to listen or care to let Kate in. She is an outsider even if she was Amish and they are not impressed that she has a close connection with the supposed killer. Can Kate prove that the man she knew years ago would never do this, even though people can and do change over time? I just love these novels and look forward to the new one each year.

Thank you to Minotaur and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC.

The Hidden One
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 7/5/22
Author: Linda Castillo
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 4.37

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: The town’s elders arrive in Painters Mill to ask chief of police Kate Burkholder for help, but she quickly realizes she has a personal connection to the crime. The handsome Amish man who stands accused of the murder, Jonas Bowman, was Kate’s first love. Forced to confront a painful episode from her past, Kate travels to Pennsylvania’s Kishacoquillas Valley, where the Amish culture differs dramatically from the traditions she knows. Though Bishop Stoltzfus was highly respected, she soon hears about a dark side to this complex man. What was he hiding that resulted in his own brutal death? But even after being accosted and threatened in the dead of night, she refuses to back down. Is she too close to the case—and to Jonas—to see clearly? There’s a killer in the Valley who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Will they get to Kate before she can expose the truth? Or will the bishop’s secrets remain hidden forever?

My Thoughts: This is No. 14 in a series. It can be read as a standalone but you might get a better picture of Detective Kate’s personal history by reading them in order. This one is a bit different as we do not see Kate’s team in this edition, however, we do get see her preteen Amish lifestyle somewhat. The author does a good job of describing this small Amish town, with a great deal of respect to the Amish culture, and you feel like you are there with Kate trying to solve this mystery. The author does a good job of developing the characters and giving more depth to Kate’s character. This was a fast-paced, page-turning book that was hard to put down. I enjoyed this book very much.

I'm so sad. I'm not sad because it wasn't a good book, I'm sad because I have caught up with all the books in this series and now have to wait for the next book, and who knows when that will come out. This story was so good and yes I keep saying it gets better and better but it's true. I hope the author keeps going with this series for years. I can't imagine not being able to stay updated with Kate, Tomasetti, Glock, Skid, Pickles, and the rest of the best little group of people.

I did write some notes while reading this book and like before most of them are the Deitsch definitions.

loc 1560 - "Not to speak ill of the dead." Why is that a thing? If the person is bad say it!!

loc 2014 - Here is where I found out the word of the book. Eschew. I lost count how many times this word showed up but it might have been 7 or 8 times.

loc 2792 - Around here is where I figured out who Ananias was. Or at least had an inkling of who he was.

So now I'm lost as to what series to read without Kate Burkholder. I know the author has other books so I'll try those. Hopefully they are just as good as this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book and this is my honest opinion.

The Hidden One by Lunda Castillo
Absolutely love this author and this series. Great storyline and interesting characters, enough action to keep me reading as quick as I could! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book and leave my opinion.

For me, nothing is better when you read a novel and learn something new. In Castill0's 14th book regarding Police Chief Kate Burkholder, the scope of Amish culture is painted on a wider landscape. This time Kate doesn't remain in her hometown of Painters Mill, Ohio but travels to Pennsylvania. Three members of the PA clergy made the long trip from Kish Valley, PA to beseech Kate to help solve the disappearance of a bishop whose remains were discovered after a hiatus of 18 years. The person accused was a old boyfriend who she hadn't seen in all these years and whose family was run out of town because of "improper Amish behavior" between the two of them. Feeling guilty coupled with unresolved feelings, she travels to PA to help unwind myriad clues. This is when I was introduced to different conventions that I had been familiar with. I had not realized how so many of the individual sects have different mores and rules that govern their community. I kept underling passages that were totally fascinating. As I live only 90 minutes away from the Amish and Mennonite community in PA, it has helped enlarge my own horizons when conversing with them.
At first Kate is stymied by all the different pieces of the puzzle, but she felt strongly in her old boyfriend's innocence. Was she letting her emotions override the facts? As the ball of yarn unravels, her safety is threatened more than once as she learns of the dead bishop's dark past and puzzling clues about his wife. The book had me on the edge of my seat while simultaneously spoiling me with a cast of fetching characters. I was only disappointed in that I felt there were some loose ends that were not investigated but that was a minor grievance in an otherwise superb and enriching mystery. Fans will love it and first timers will not need to have read the other books to engulf great entertainment and knowledge at the same time. A double win!

The Kate Burkholder series is a great mystery series, and "The Hidden One" is a great series that includes Interesting story lines and mysteries, and unique settings.

THE HIDDEN ONE opens with the scene of the murder being played out and the murderer telling his victim he knows what he did.

It then moves to present day when Kate returns to where she grew up.

Coming back to the Amish town you grew up in to investigate an eighteen-year-old murder was something Kate didn’t want to do, but she had to.

She had to help because the elders of the Amish community asked her, and because it was a childhood friend who was accused after all this time.

She can’t believe Jonas killed this man. He couldn’t have changed that much after all these years.

We follow Kate as she gathers background information on the murder even though the local police force is a bit reluctant to share the information.

She doesn't have an easy time investigating, though, because someone is trying to make her leave and to make her stop searching for clues.

We also get a glimpse into her childhood and growing up with Jonas.

The investigation is interesting, and I enjoyed how it was carried out.

The ending is excellent.

This was my first book by Ms. Castillo, and I enjoyed it. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Move out of the way! Chief Kate is off to catch a murderer. Asked to see if her childhood love, she goes to see if he’s innocent or if someone else did it, who. It’s exciting from the beginning and had me stumped for most of the book. My first time reading this author, it won’t be the last!

The Hidden One is the 14th in the Kate Burkholder series. Castillo changes things up this time. Kate is asked by the Dieners or elders of the Belleville, Pennsylvania Amish sect to help in the investigation of an Amish man accused of murdering their Bishop 18 years previously. A man that Kate knew as a teenager and with whom she has a past.
Castillo has created a strong police procedural series with a unique main character. Kate was raised Amish but left as a young woman. Now the chief of police in Painter’s Mill, Ohio, which is home to a large Amish sect.
This time around, she’s without her normal resources or team. I missed the gang but the story works well and it’s nice to think Painter’s Mill gets to go a year without any murders.
Castillo fleshes out the story with a lot of background on the Amish faith and beliefs.
It’s not necessary to read the entire series, although previous books definitely help flesh out Kate’s background and history.
The first half of the book is a slow build, setting the reader up for lots more action in the second half. While not gruesome, there is a lot of violence.
Castillo’s writing allows the reader to easily see how the scenes play out. Her writing is descriptive without being verbose.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.