You cannot escape your past

By Ande Jacobson

The Hidden One, is the fourteenth Kate Burkholder thriller. Once again Kate’s past is the reason she’s sought. Three Amish men (a bishop, a deacon, and a minister) from a small Pennsylvania village show up in her office asking for her help for one of their flock. Jonas Bowman has been arrested for a murder that occurred almost two decades ago, yet the victim’s remains, the former bishop of the church district Ananias Stoltzfus, have only recently been found. How much the Diener (elected church officials) know of Kate and Jonas’ past is unknown, but they specifically sought her out because they don’t know how to help Jonas. They don’t think he did what he’s been accused of, and they claim to have no idea who committed the crime. They offer to pay Kate for her time, although because she’d be out of her jurisdiction by far, she’d have no official authority which will make it much more difficult to get the information she needs. The men ask her to sleep on it before giving them her answer, though she knows from the start that she has to go. She owes it to Jonas.

Kate being Kate, she starts investigating with a bang. She talks with the local police who are sure they have their killer. She meets with Jonas who is surprised to see her. He’d asked the Diener not to contact her, but they did so anyway. As the story unfolds, readers learn the full scope of Kate and Jonas’ past, one that seriously changed the direction of both of their lives. They were very close as kids. Jonas being four years older, ended up being forced to leave Painters Mill along with his family because of their relationship. Had he been able to stay, Kate’s life may have been very different to the point that she may never have left the fold. Jonas is still Amish and still faithful to the customs. He’s married, has three children, and he has a thriving woodworking business, a trade his father taught him. His marriage to Dorothy is happy, though when Kate meets his family, she’s surprised that Dorothy not only knows of her but tells her that Jonas has spoken fondly of her often. All of this makes her work her hardest to find the truth. She’s sure that Jonas didn’t do this horrible thing, but she gets very little from the local police who see her as an interloper. She makes one contact in the department who helps her initially, but even he grows cold as she gets further into the investigation. He’s not involved in any wrongdoings, he just thinks she’s mistaken and has been warned off having any contact with her by his superiors.

As always, Kate goes above and beyond her duty putting herself in danger. As she digs into the case, she ruffles a lot of feathers, including those of Ananias’ grown children. She also talks with a few people who knew the bishop and discovers that he was not a very nice man. More than that, she discovers huge holes in his history, to the point where those who live where he was supposedly from have never heard of him. The truth of who and what he was is shocking, but more than that, Kate discovers that there were many who wanted him gone. Not necessarily dead, but gone. The problem was there was no easy way to make that happen. He had been elected bishop back in the day, although with what Kate learns, she questions why he had that much support. And there is also a mystery surrounding Mia Stoltzfus’ demise. She committed suicide shortly before her husband went missing all those years ago. Why she did it consumes Kate. She even talks with the pastor who found her in a Lutheran church, and he too found it odd that an Amish woman would enter a Lutheran church let alone die by her own hand there. There was a further connection to the Lutheran church that baffles Kate as she tries to pull all of the pieces together.

And once again the formula holds true. Kate is attacked multiple times in this one, both before finally breaking the case wide open, and even once even after she thinks the case is over. The last time though, Kate ends up alone when she shouldn’t be, but she manages to survive despite all of the odds being against her doing so. She never knows the full truth of exactly who actually killed Ananias back in the day, but she unravels the mystery of the multiple co-conspirators who were involved in some fashion.

After seeing how Jonas’ life turned out, Kate’s more determined than ever to protect her own happiness and her future with John Tomasetti. She loves him with all of her heart, and he loves her with all of his. They belong together, and she finally agrees to marry him. The wedding hasn’t happened yet, but they are moving forward.

It’s also clear that Kate will always have a soft place in her heart for Jonas and his family. As a teen, he opened her eyes to what love was, although she was too confused to understand what she was feeling at the time. Still, it was an important part of her childhood and was another part of the reason she eventually left the Amish way of life. More than that though, this case causes Kate to again ponder what might have been had she made different choices along the way.

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

The Dead Will Tell, by Linda Castillo

After the Storm, by Linda Castillo

Among the Wicked, by Linda Castillo

Down a Dark Road, by Linda Castillo

A Gathering of Secrets, by Linda Castillo

Shamed, by Linda Castillo