Sociopaths can come from anywhere

By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s fifth Kate Burkholder novel is Her Last Breath. Once again, Castillo dives deeply into the Amish way of life as tragedy strikes a young family. Paul Borntrager is coming home late one evening from a doctor’s appointment with his three young children when their buggy is hit by a speeding vehicle. The collision is catastrophic, and Paul and two of the children are killed at the scene. The only survivor is his eldest son, although it’s touch and go for a while as he too suffers life-threatening injuries in the crash. The buggy is completely destroyed, and so begins a grisly case that uncovers a truly disturbing plot that takes some time to unravel.

Kate’s childhood best friend, Mattie, is Paul’s widow. Kate’s first duty is to inform the widow, but she enlists Bishop Troyer’s help in part because she’s afraid she’ll fall to pieces in the process, and in part because Mattie will need the support. In parallel with the investigation, Kate is at loose ends because her own trauma is rekindled when some local boys find the remains of her attacker from when she was fourteen, although at first, the investigators don’t know the identity of the remains. She’s terrified her secret, that she killed a man in self-defense after being raped, will be discovered, and her life as she knows it would end were that to happen. The two separate story arcs don’t directly intersect given Kate and her team aren’t the investigators in the second case, but she’s understandably distracted in her own investigation because of it.

Castillo explores some of the idiosyncrasies of the Amish community in this one. She doesn’t just talk about the customs, she also covers some of the less publicized but more disturbing aspects of Amish life. Because it’s such a closed community, there is a reduced gene pool compared to the outside world, and as such, certain genetic abnormalities that are rare in the general population are more common among the Amish. Some of these maladies can cause life-long disabilities. In this story, two autosomal recessive genetic conditions are mentioned – Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome and Cohen Syndrome. In this case, Mattie and Paul’s children all suffer from Cohen Syndrome to some degree which results in specific physical features, developmental delays, and cognitive disabilities.

As comes out in the story, Mattie and Paul’s children are seen and treated weekly at a local clinic that specializes in the particular conditions prevalent in the Amish community. While Mattie normally takes the kids to their appointment, this particular week, Paul was handling that task. Once it’s determined that the crash was no accident, the investigators question whether Paul was the intended target, or if Mattie was the actual target and as such is still in danger from the perpetrator.

As the investigation deepens, a stark reality comes to light. Beyond genetic abnormalities from the reduced gene pool, Castillo shows again in this story that the Amish are not immune from some of the sociological defects that can plague a community. In particular, in this case it’s clear that sociopathy and/or psychopathy can occur in any population once again prompting an exploration of nature vs. nurture. Is a lack of empathy born or is it created through exposure, trauma, or neglect? Further, does a lack of empathy necessarily lead to violence, or can it manifest in other ways? And once it does manifest, can it be corrected?

As for the other case, while Kate’s past will no doubt resurface again in the series, enough time has passed and enough erosion has occurred that Kate will no longer be in danger of facing any legal issues stemming from the event. Her psychological trauma; however, is permanent, and it will continue to haunt her for the rest of her life. She was a child when she was attacked and took action in response to that attack. That event tore her family apart as they were sworn to never divulge what really happened that fateful day to both protect Katie and themselves from any kind of retribution or community scorn. Despite the fact that they all suffered from keeping that secret, they have all learned to live with it despite their guilt and discomfort. It both binds Kate and her siblings together while simultaneously forging a wedge between them. As readers discover again, when Kate was young, she and her siblings were close, and even though she’s no longer part of the Amish community, that bond is stretched but not completely broken. They still protect one another as best they can from their different worlds.

While not trained as a psychologist or psychiatrist, Castillo delves deeply into the psychological motivations and effects of trauma, violence, and crime in general in various ways. Both Kate and her boyfriend, John Tomasetti suffer from significant loss stemming from violence. Their reactions to that trauma have some similarities and some stark differences. Because they each know the other’s story, they can support one another in ways that nobody else could. It makes them a good match. It makes them better at their jobs. It also creates some stresses that are hard to overcome. Their interpersonal turmoil is an integral part of this story and of the series.

Kate’s team includes:

Mona Kurtz – the night shift police dispatcher
Lois Monroe – the day shift dispatcher
Jodie Metzger – the newly hired second shift dispatcher
J. Banks – the youngest police officer on the team
Rupert “Glock” Maddox – a former Marine and Kate’s most experienced officer
Chuck “Skid” Skidmore – another veteran police officer
Ludwig Coblentz, the local coroner and physician
Roland “Pickles” Schumacker – a retired officer who serves as an auxiliary officer and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to any case
John Tomasetti – a BCI officer and Kate’s boyfriend

The primary Kate Burkholder series includes:

Sworn to Silence (2009)
Pray for Silence (2010)
Breaking Silence (2011)
Gone Missing (2012)
Her Last Breath (2013)
The Dead Will Tell (2014)
After the Storm (2015)
Among the Wicked (2016)
Down a Dark Road (2017)
A Gathering of Secrets (2018)
Shamed (2019)
Outsider (2020)
Fallen (2021)
The Hidden One (2022)
An Evil Heart (2023)
The Burning (2024)
Rage (2025)

There are also a few Kate Burkholder novellas beyond the primary series, but they are side stories and break from the formula and tone of the primary series though still involve Kate and company.

References:
Sworn to Silence, by Linda Castillo
Pray for Silence, by Linda Castillo
Breaking Silence, by Linda Castillo
Gone Missing, by Linda Castillo
Her Last Breath, by Linda Castillo