I just finished my first Chief Kate Burkholder book by Linda Castillo, and it was so satisfying!

One line that really stuck with me was: "Hate and shame are powerful emotions. The kind that can make good people do bad things." It adds such depth to the story and makes you think.

I'm definitely a fan now and can't wait to read more in the series. Highly recommend this for anyone who loves a good mystery with a strong lead character.

While I always seem to enjoy the mystery elements of this series, the personal aspects in this one was one of favs.

A Gathering of Secrets is the latest in the Kate Burkholder series. It opens with a burning barn that kills a young Amish man, that most thought highly of. Turns out he had dark secrets. This latest installment moves along at a fast pace and keeps your attention. I have read all the books in the series and have enjoyed them all. This one does not disappoint.

A huge thank you to Minotaur Books for the free Advance Reader's Edition of "A Gathering of Secrets" by Linda Castillo. I had never heard of the Kate Burkholder mystery series and I was intrigued from the beginning. The fact that the main character, Kate, grew up Amish and became police chief in her Ohio town made her character so interesting and multi-dimensional.

I won't give away any of the secrets or plot twists of the story, but it centers around an arson fire at an Amish farm, where an 18 year old boy is killed in the fire. Kate uses her past experience as part of the Amish community as a stepping stone to solving this crime. Try as I might, I could not guess the ending. This book can be read on its own without having read any previous books in the series. Of course, now I want to read all of the Kate Burkholder series.

A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo is the tenth A Kate Burkholder Novel. Kate Burkholder, the police chief for Painters Mill, gets a late night call about a barn on fire at the Gingerich’s. Kate arrives and is told that Daniel Gingerich is missing. It looks like an accidental barn fire until Daniel’s body is found inside the locked and barricaded tack room. Someone wanted to make sure that Daniel did not survive the fire. Kate begins her investigation, but the Amish in Painters Mill are less than forthcoming. Despite being raised Amish and having family in the community, Kate’s uniform and position holds her apart. She is determined, though, to find out who murdered Daniel and set fire to the Gingerich’s barn. The more Kate learns about Daniel, the more unsettled she feels. Can Kate break through the wall of silence to get the answers she needs?

I do not recommend reading A Gathering of Secrets on its own. While it can be read alone, you will miss out on Kate’s backstory. Why she is no longer Amish, how she become the police chief, her relationship with John Tomasetti, and how she gets along with her family. In A Gathering of Secrets, we follow Kate as she delves into Daniel’s life. She gathers evidence, interviews family and friends, follows up on anonymous tips, etc. Kate finds herself once again in a situation that endangers her life. I am amazed that she allowed herself to fall for the one incident. Kate has enough experience to know better (I would say more but it would be a spoiler). A Gathering of Secrets contains good writing and I like Kate’s character. She is a strong, smart woman who does a difficult job. It cannot be easy being English in a community where you grew up Amish. I would like to see Kate grow more as a person. It is time for her to move beyond what happened to her as a teenager (she will never forget it, but she needs to find a way to deal with what happened to her so she can have a future). I was disappointed that A Gathering of Secrets is exactly like the nine books before it. The author seems to follow a formula for her books and she is sticking with it. The descriptions are the fire, the body and other crimes are vivid and explicit. There is an uncalled for amount of foul language as well. I liked that the author included different Amish sects (Beachy Amish and Swartzentruber) and explained the differences. The mystery had depth, but the solution was obvious. I kept hoping there would be a surprise/twist that would shock me. I was amazed at the amount of violence from non-violent people. My rating for A Gathering of Secrets is 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay). While I was not enamored with A Gathering of Secrets, I will read the next A Kate Burkholder Novel.

Zlo se někdy skrývá, všem na očích.
Další díl povedené série s Kate Burkholderovou, tentokrát desátý, nás opět přivádí mezi členy Amišské komunity. Jak už je u knih L. Castillo zvykem, netrvá dlouho a začínáme rozplétat spletitou sérii tajemství a nevyřčených pravd. Potřeba odhalit skládanku jednotlivých tajemství, nutí čtenáře obracet stránku za stránkou, a než se naděje, zjistí, že knihu přečetl jedním dechem. Autorka ve svých příbězích poukazuje na velice lidská témata, díky čemuž je snadné se do jednotlivých knih začíst a nechat se jimi pohltit. V tomto dílu o to víc, že se to dotýká historie i života samotné Kate.
Už se moc těším na další díly.