I loved this book! It was well-paced and nicely balanced between getting to the plot and introducing the characters. Kate was a good character. She was strong but vulnerable - she came across as human. She wasn’t all one or the other. Her relationship with Tomasetti was believable. There was give and take, there was love, emotion. The ending took an unexpected twist that I felt could have been developed better. I also feel that Schrock’s character was poorly developed.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Another great addition to the Kate Burkholder series. Our readers love mystery series and this 8th volume to the series - brings another great mystery set in an Amish settlement. I will recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery series.

Hmmm this book was decently good. I was very excited to be chosen to read this title however was somewhat underwhelmed by the end. Strongly written but somewhat bland.

I love the Kate Burkholder series. Linda Castillo pens a thriller that is hard to put down. With a strong, smart, gutsy female lead, this book leads you on an investigation involving the Amish Community. Kate is the police chief in the little town of Painters Mill, Ohio. She was raised in an Amish community but left the community to go to college and become a police officer. She speaks Pennsylvania Dutch so is able to speak and understand the Amish when they are involved in an investigation. She is out of her element in this story as she is asked to go undercover in an amish community in upstate New York. A young amish girl was found frozen to death, and the state police do not think it was an accident. She heads off and quickly begins to make inroads in the community. Someone notices her asking a lot of questions and they don't like it. Can she figure out what is going on with the Bishop before her cover is blown?

This mystery builds slowly until it hits its crescendo then moves quickly to the end. Kate puts herself in danger once again to solve the crime and take down the villian. She insists she is a cop and will be able to protect herself. When she realizes that there are other people involved in the cover up, she is worried that this might be her last investigation. Tomasetti (her live-in boyfriend) does not play much of a role in this book, but he is there to be her sounding board and for her to call when she needs contact with her real life. I never imagined the twists this story was going to take. Another great addition to the Kate Burkholder series. If you enjoy a good crime/mystery/thriller, pick this one up, although you may want to start at the beginning if you have not read any in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I just won a copy of this on Goodreads, too!

When Joseph King, a childhood friend of Kate's, escapes from prison, she is asked to help in the search. But a hostage situation goes awry and the sheriff of a neighboring county belittles her in front of several colleagues. Kate wants to believe Joseph is innocent, but her only recourse is a unofficial investigation.

As always this series is an excellent read. For me, this one did not have as much mystery as previous books, and I had a couple moments of disbelief over decisions she made that seemed a little like rookie mistakes. Still, it tied up neatly and left me entertained.

In my opinion, there is no better mystery series than this one, and no other main characters can beat Kate and Thomasetti! This is a fantastic addition to the series!

Among the Wicked has Kate agreeing to travel to New York and pose as an Amish woman in order to investigate the death of a young girl against Thomasetti's better judgement. As Kate goes deep undercover, she discovers shocking crimes, but is alone as the danger escalates.

I loved this one and can't wait for more!

I love this series, and this book is a wonderful addition. The main character is flawed, but likable and realistic. A great read!

Among The Wicked
Kate Burkholder, Book #8
Linda Castillo
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural, upstate New York to assist on a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl. Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and "English" communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community.

Kate's long time love interest, State Agent John Tomasetti, is dead set against her taking on such an unorthodox assignment, knowing she'll have limited communication - and even less in the way of backup. But Kate can't turn her back, especially when the rumor mill boils with disturbing accounts of children in danger. She travels to New York where she's briefed and assumes her new identity as a lone widow seeking a new life.

Kate infiltrates the community and goes deep undercover. In the coming days, she unearths a world built on secrets, a series of shocking crimes, and herself, alone... trapped in a fight for her life. (Goodreads)


Review:

Kate is one tough lady and she knows criminals and criminal behavior. But going undercover is a whole new ball game for her and she will have to be at the top of her game in order to find out why the Amish girl was killed and what exactly is going on in this particular Amish Community.

The characters are well rounded, well developed and three dimensional. I really liked Kate and admired how she wanted to accept the assignment, despite the danger to herself. We got to see her struggling with her Amish roots and wondering what her life would have been like had she not left the Amish Community. I can understand her boyfriend, John Tomasetti, not wanting her to go undercover, and his struggle accepting that she was going to take the assignment. To me these struggles made them seem more human and realistic to me.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there, watching all the action take place around me. She is also very talented in writing suspense, and I found myself swiping pages as fast as I could. There were quite a few tense moments and I found myself on the edge of my seat more times than not.

The writing style flows smoothly and this is a quick easy read. This book is written in the first person, and normally I do not like that perspective as much. But for this book it worked and I found myself hardly noticing it.

This is the eighth book in the series, and I have loved all the ones that I read. This book took a departure from the others because Kate was not in her own town of Painter’s Mill, where she knows everyone and has her law enforcement team with her. It allowed us to see her in a different environment, and I enjoyed that.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Amish suspense and mystery. This was one of my mom’s favorite authors and she loved reading her books. I think you will too.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was another satisfying mystery/thriller by Castillo.
A young Amish girl is found dead in the woods of New York State under mysterious circumstances. The Bureau of Investigation wants to send an agent undercover into the local Amish settlement but can find only one person who has the qualifications. Sheriff Kate Burkholder's background makes her the obvious choice. Kate agrees to go thinking the assignment will only be minimally dangerous, but this is an Amish settlement like no other.