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In this 15th book in the Kate Burkholder series, the Police Chief investigates the brutal murder of a young Amish man on Rumspringa (the period during which Amish youth are given greater personal freedom, usually ending with the choice of baptism into the church or leaving the community). The book can be read as a standalone, but there are developments in Kate's personal life that might be a spoiler.
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
*****
Police Chief Kate Burkholder grew up in an Amish community in Painter's Mill, Ohio but left as a teenager.
After Kate became a law enforcement officer, Painter's Mill offered her a job and she returned to head the police department. Kate's Amish background is advantageous because she speaks Pennsylvania Dutch and is familiar with Amish culture.
As the story begins, 21-year-old Aden Karn is bicycling to work along a country road when he's struck down by a killer wielding a crossbow.
When Kate and her team start investigating the murder, they learn that Aden - who was on Rumspringa - was roommates with his best friend Wayne Graber, worked at Buckeye Construction, and was courting a pretty Amish girl called Emily Byler. Almost everyone speaks well of Aden, though Kate discovers Aden had a monetary dispute with a garage owner named Vernon Fisher about a car.
It's very difficult to look into a crime in the Amish community because the Amish are exceptionally close-mouthed and almost never speak ill of a fellow member.....no matter what. Still, there are hints that Aden wasn't the saint he appeared to be on the surface.
Things get more complicated when another murder victim is found under a bridge, a naked young woman without ID.
The corpse has painted fingernails and toenails, so she's probably not Amish, but Kate surmises there MUST be a connection between the deaths of Aden and the young lady.
As Kate struggles to make progress finding the killer(s) she's also planning her wedding to long-time beau John Tomasetti, who's an agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Kate is happy to wear the wedding dress worn by her mamm and her sister, and glad to have the wedding at the home of her brother, Jacob. This will solidify the (very slow) rapprochement between Kate and her Amish family, who disapproved of her leaving the faith.
With the nuptials on her mind, and two extremely difficult murder enquiries, Kate has a few sleepless nights. As always in this series, Kate finds herself in some harrowing situations before the perpetrator(s) are exposed, partly because she insists on plowing into dangerous scenes without backup. (This carelessness on Kate's part always disturbs me; she's the police chief, for God's sake, and should know better.)
Still, I always enjoy the books in this series, and like the glimpses into Amish life and customs. I must say, the Amish wedding dinner - which includes roast chicken with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed celery, apple pies, and cherry pies - sounds quite delicious. 🙂
Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Apple Pie
Cherry Pie
I highly recommend the novel to mystery readers, especially fans of the Kate Burkholder series.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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