The Hidden One by Linda Castillo is a back and forth path to the solving of a present murder. I learned more about Kate's past when she defends someone she had a bond with then and has a bond with now. Riveting reading.

I received a complimentary copy to review.

When her childhood sweetheart is arrested, Kate Burkholder gets pulled out of her element and into the middle of murder investigation, without her formal police powers.

While I missed Tomasetti in this installment of the series, I thought the change of scenery was good. Kate can speak the language, but the Amish in Pennsylvania have different traditions and lifestyles than the Amish she was once part of, she's still an outsider.

I loved the way this case made Kate address her past and her future.

Great addition to series. Love learning a little more about the Amish with each book. Missed the camaraderie of the usual characters but enjoyed the change all the same.

I have been reading and enjoying this series since it began in 2009. Some I have enjoyed more than others, but all in all this is a series I tend to recommend for murder mystery lovers.

I am thankful I received an advance kindle copy and audiobook, so that I could go back and forth between the two. Ultimately I prefer reading and not listening. Although, Kathleen McInerney did a fine job narrating her voice is not what I have pictured Kate's to be all these years. 9 hours and 18 minutes and an easy listen at 2x.

Linda's prologues always suck you right in and this one is no different. Kate is being asked to help an old friend from her Amish days. Jonas is being accused of murdering a Bishop. As Kate investigates, in the thorough way that she is known for, she slowly uncovers secrets and lies about this Bishop. Can Kate solve the case without causing a ruckus, or will she put herself in death defying circumstances like always?

I liked the flashbacks to 21 years ago that gave us a feel of Kate and Jonas's relationship when they were kids.
Since she traveled to a neighboring town we unfortunately didn't have any interaction with our old friends ~ Pickles, Glock, Mona, etc. I don't feel like Tomasetti gets the page time he deserves either, and I would love a spin off series following him. Hint hint Linda Castillo.

An intense thrill ride that fans of this author come to expect.

This was the first book that I have read by Linda Castillo and in the Kate Burkholder series, and I am absolutely planning to read the rest of the series. This book had me hooked pretty quickly and kept me wanting to keep reading to find out what happened to Ananias. The little tidbits of Kate's past with Jonas was sweet and a great addition to the book. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital arc of this title.

The Hidden One by Linda Castillo is the fourteenth novel in the Kate Burkholder series. It can be read as a standalone as the author provides Kate’s background information for new readers. You will be missing out though if you do not read this series from the beginning. Kate travels from Painter’s Mill, Ohio to Belleville, Pennsylvania where elders from an Amish community paid her a visit. Kate’s first love, Jonas Bowman has been arrested for murder. Ananias Stoltzfus, the bishop of the community, disappeared eighteen years ago. His remains were found two months ago in a farmer’s field along with a gun. The gun belongs to Jonas. Jonas and Ananias had been at odds at the time of the bishop’s disappearance. Kate travels to Pennsylvania to see if she can prove Jonas’ innocence. I thought The Hidden One was well-written with realistic, developed characters. I like that we get to learn more about Kate’s past. I did miss Painter’s Mill and Kate’s significant other, John Tomasetti. I like how the author portrays the Amish people. We see them as they are (not sugarcoated). There are explanations for the way they live and how they do things. The mystery was intriguing (I love solving the mystery before the reveal) and well-plotted. It is a cold case which makes it more of a challenge. I liked all the action in the story. Someone did not want Kate to find out the truth. You can tell that they do not know Kate (she is tenacious). There are clues to help readers solve the crime (if you pay close attention). People were judging Jonas for his past actions and not the man he is now. There was one piece of the puzzle that gave me the answer to this clever mystery. I enjoyed the suspenseful reveal. The books ending was sweet. I enjoyed reading The Hidden One. This is one of my favorite books in the series. I am looking forward to Kate’s next adventure. The Hidden One is a revealing suspense novel with a confusing cold case, an old love in jail, a beau’s birthday, meaningful memories, perilous incidents, and one curious Kate.

The hidden one will pull you in as the plot thickens. There are interesting characters and lots of secrets to uncover. When you think you have it figured out the clues twists in another way.

This was another entry in the Kate Burkholder series, and it's the first (or at least the first in a long while) that doesn't take place in Painters Mill. A childhood friend of Kate's, who is Amish, was arrested for murder and Kate rides to the rescue. This was a crazy one, but it ended well, and I really liked the very end. 4 stars!

Another winner starring Kate Burkholder!

As a formerly Amish person working as police chief in Ohio's Amish Country, Kate often runs into situations where her past unexpectedly turns up in the present. In this book, Kate is approached by a group of Bishops from the Pennsylvania Amish Country, asking for help to clear one of their own of murder. It turns out that this person grew up with Kate, and was a teenage crush of hers.

As always, this book is filled with twists and turns, the actual murderer not evident until the end. Kate pretty much acts alone in this story, having left her BCI boyfriend Tomasetti at home when she traveled to PA. Was her former crush Jonas capable of committing murder? Kate doesn't want to believe it is possible and continues to try to locate the real killer, while someone out there tries to stop her.

Fast moving, easy read, enjoyable. Recommend.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Although I generally stick to reading romantic suspense, one major exception is the Kate Buckholder Amish mystery/police procedural series by Linda Castillo, as they are reliably excellent reads, and while I've not read all of them, this one was a nice change of pace, since the discovery of a set of human remains and an old musket in a farmer's field is determined to be a murder, and a visit from the church elders of that community, has Kate leaving Painters Mill, Ohio, where she is now the Chief of Police, and heading to an Amish community in Pennsylvania, where her first love, Jonas Bowman, has admitted that the unearthed musket was his, is blamed for the 18-year-old murder, and jailed. The church elders have come to Painters Mill to request Kate's assistance in the investigation, and how could she possibly refuse, when the Amish rarely seek police assistance, preferring to handle such matters themselves? With an ending I certainly didn't see coming, this was most definitely a 5-star read.

Before Kate ever left the Amish, her one-time sweetheart and his family suddenly up and left Painters Mill after an underaged Kate was spotted with her older lover, Jonas. The two lost touch over the years, and aside from some warm memories, Kate has moved on, eventually leaving the Amish community and becoming a police officer, and she is now in a committed and loving relationship with another law enforcement officer.

When Kate arrives in Pennsylvania, meets with Jonas in jail, and starts to investigate the murder, she learns that Jonas blamed his father's death from a heart attack, 2 weeks after his shunning, on the ongoing harassment, banning , and eventual excommunication of his father by their bishop, Ananias Stoltzfus, who went missing 18 years earlier, after the senior Bowman bought a diesel-operated tractor to help with his farming and refused to get rid of it as the bishop ordered. Jonas has always believed that the stress of that shunning is what led to his father's heart attack, but was he angry enough to leave his Amish pacifism behind and actually kill his bishop? He says he didn't do it, and Kate believes him, but he certainly had a motive.

While getting little help from the local police, who resent her interference, it soon becomes really clear to Kate that someone doesn't want her involved in this case at all, as she is warned off, her car vandalized, she is physically attacked one night, and even run off the road by an unknown and unseen assailant, which only makes Kate more determined than ever to discover who murdered Ananias and why.

I really loved the fact that interspersed with the ongoing murder investigation, Ms. Castillo returns us to Kate as a teenager, feisty and troubled even back then, and her crush on Jonas Bowman, who all these years later has a lovely wife, several children, and a successful business as a cabinetmaker. If you've not read the first novel in this series, I strongly suggest that you do so, because there's a lot more than her crush on Jonas that affected Kate when she was fourteen, and while it's hinted at in this novel, it's more completely dealt with in the first one.

To tell you more about Kate's investigation into this decades old murder would spoil this novel for you, so I'll just say that it had plenty of dark and mysterious overtones, and no shortage of possible motives and suspects. It also added a great deal to the depth and understanding of Kate's character. Well-written and well-paced, The Hidden was quite the page-turner, and I'm happy to recommend it.

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

It’s hard to believe that this series is still so strong after 14 installments. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Every year I anxiously await the newest installment in the Kate Burkholder series. This book is #14 in that series, and my wait was rewarded with another top-notch mystery from Linda Castillo.

Three Amish bishops from Kate's hometown in Pennsylvania ask her help in solving the murder of a bishop who disappeared twenty years earlier. His bones have recently been discovered in a shallow grave. The Amish man accused of the crime had been Kate's first love when she was a teen. Kate agrees to go to Pennsylvania to do what she can to help.

The plot moves quickly. Along the way, through several flashbacks, we learn more of Kate's life as a teenager in the Amish community.

As usual, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next installment in this series. Thank you, St. Martin's
Press- Minotaur Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

Kate is surprised, to say the least, to hear that Jonas, her first love, has been accused of murder but equally surprised that three Amish bishops from his town of Belleville have come to Painters Mill to ask for her help in clearing him. The bones of Ananias Stoltzfus ,who went missing 18 years ago, were found in a field, along with a gun Jonas has admitted to owning. Jonas was not the only person who had trouble with Stoltzfus- the bishop was rigid and difficult to a number of people in the community. And he had a secret. More than one secret. Kate's status as formerly Amish comes into play as she works her way through all the dark passages. Local law enforcement, with the exception of one deputy, doesn't welcome her help but more importantly, someone wants her gone. As always with this series (and this should be fine as a standalone), the atmospherics are terrific, the characters jump off the page and the mystery is more twisty than you'll guess at the start. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I admit to looking forward to new installments every year because the series is that good. Kate spends very little time in Painters Mill or with Tomasetti but no matter- this is a bang up terrific read.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher although I didn't request it. I had not heard of the author or the series but the book sounded intriguing so I dove in. I'm so glad someone at Minotaur Books knows what I like because I certainly liked this book!

The bones of an Amish bishop who went missing from a small community in Pennsylvania over ten years ago have been discovered and based on circumstantial evidence, Amish farmer Jonas Bowman is arrested and charged with murder. The elders of the community turn to Kate Buckholder, Chief of Police in Painters Mill, Ohio for help. Not only is Kate a former member of an Amish community, she has ties to Jonas from when they were teenagers and has a reputation for solving intricate cases.

Once Kate begins her investigation, she quickly learns that the bishop had a dark side that may have led to his death. When she is warned off the investigation, she digs in her heels, determined to get to find out who killed him and why.

Although this is the fourteenth book in the series, it easily reads as a standalone. I was a bit hesitant at first because of the religious theme but I found the Amish background story more interesting and educational than preachy. Not only are the characters well developed, the pacing and plot twists kept me engaged. Kate is a wonderfully complex protagonist and switching back and forth between present day and when she was a rebellious teen in a strict Amish community added to her dimension. I highly recommend this book for those who like police procedurals with twists. I wish I'd discovered this series sooner.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this review copy. The publication date is July 5, 2022.

I enjoyed this book very much and liked the main character Kate Burkhoder. I have not read any of the other books in this series and it did not seem to matter to the story. I will pick up another book by this author in this series for my next read.

Over a decade ago, beloved Amish bishop Ananias Stoltzfus disappeared without a trace. When skeletal remains showing evidence of foul play are unearthed, his disappearance becomes even more sinister. Another Kate Burkholder thriller and it does not disappoint. For being a long running story, it has not gotten stale and this one held me all the way to end. A handful of twists and as always, interesting characters. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I've been following this series for years now, so I was quite happy to be able to read The Hidden One and catch up on Kate Burkholder, our protagonist. She's ex-Amish and now is the police chief in the very town where she grew up. She seems to have made herself a good place in her hometown and this latest work takes Kate outside of her town at the request of some Amish elders and has her meeting up with a boy from her past.
I appreciated that this book delved into some of what made Kate who she is, and the story was complex enough to hold my interest until the very end. It is wonderful to see Kate evolving and the characters she encounters in this work are all very human in their thoughts and actions. I'd say this is one of the better volumes in this series and I look forward to the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I hope Castillo continues writing this series for a long time!

I received a digital advance copy of The Hidden One by Linda Castillo via NetGalley. The Hidden One is scheduled for release on July 5, 2022.

The Hidden One is the fourteenth novel in the Kate Burkholder series. Kate chose to leave the Amish community when she was young. Now she has returned, as the chief of police. In this installment, she is visited by elders of a neighboring Amish community. The remains of a bishop who disappeared eighteen years ago have been found, along with the gun of one of their members. They want Kate to help their community navigate the legal system, and hopefully prove that the death was not at the hands of a member of their community. As Kate investigates the murder, she is forced to face her own past in the Amish community.

I have not read the previous books in this series, so I was initially concerned that I might have a difficult time following the story. However, Castillo did a great job of giving enough background in the initial chapters for new readers to get a sense of the main character and the events of her story so far. At the same time, Kate’s personal story moves forward within this novel, which should give long-time readers a satisfactory read, as well.

Castillo also does a good job of giving the reader a sense of the world of the story. We are invited into family farmhouses, barns, and sent out across the open countryside to experience the fresh air and sunshine. It is clear that Castillo is very familiar with the part of the country and the communities she is describing.

The case Kate is working on is not clear cut. There is the obvious suspect (the man whose gun is found at the scene), but Kate quickly find clues that make her question the man’s involvement. Kate discovers many bits of information that could be interpreted as evidence against more than one individual. There were a couple of spots where Kate makes a leap from the clues that I wasn’t able to follow. In those spots, I would have like a little more clarity from Castillo to describe Kate’s thought process. In the end, I also didn’t quite have the whole picture of the case. Kate jumps quickly from conclusion to conclusion, with outside events shoving her from one path to the next. I needed a bit more explanation to connect the dots.

Overall, The Hidden One was a solid entry in a long-running series. While I have not previously read books in this series, I would gladly pick up another installment in Kate Burkholder’s journey.

An interesting read, not an absolute favorite, was not an “I can’t put this down” but drawn in enough to finish. I’ll have to read more of this author. Thanks to the publisher and net galley for this ARC opportunity

This was easy to understand as someone who doesn't have much knowledge about this series.
Katie is a delight; her balancing of her English life and her former Amish life is fascinating.
Some of it dragged but it is well written with vivid writing.As someone who has never been to the area I felt like I was there.
I will seek out more from this series.


3 1/2 stars