Amish

Falling in with the wrong crowd can be deadly

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By Ande Jacobson

The seventeenth (and final to date) Kate Burkholder mystery by Linda Castillo is Rage. Castillo takes readers on a very dark journey this time showing them just how dangerous falling in with the wrong crowd can be. Throughout the series, she’s given readers some insight into the Amish way of life including some of the things that young people get into during their rumspringa (or “running around” period). That’s the time when teens are allowed to disregard the strict rules governing the Amish way of life and experience the outside world for a time before they choose whether to commit the rest of the lives to the plain life or leave the community for the outside world. It happens before they are baptized, and it can last for a few years in their mid-to-late teens. The normal extravagances are things like shedding the traditional clothing, partaking of drink and perhaps tobacco, and using language that is frowned upon in Amish culture. Some of the more rambunctious kids take even greater liberties not only ignoring the Amish rules, but also skirting some of the laws governing the outside (or English) world. When things go even further afield, some of these kids can fall in with dangerous crowds or more sophisticated criminals looking to take advantage of their naiveté. When this happens, the results can be life threatening. This is one such story involving multiple innocents who stray way too far from the lives they knew with tragic consequences. Continue reading →

Surprising Amish history comes to light

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By Ande Jacobson

The sixteenth Kate Burkholder mystery by Linda Castillo is The Burning. This time, Castillo educates the reader on some disturbing Anabaptist history from the Reformation period. While the Anabaptists as a whole are pacifists, during the Reformation when the Anabaptists were persecuted by the mainstream Christians of the day, a sect arose that embraced violence when necessary in defense of the community. This sect was known as the Schwertlers, or loosely translated “of the sword.” Although its members knew that violence was a sin, they saw the need for it when the community was threatened, and as a group would use a particularly nasty ritual to eliminate threats while ensuring those so sacrificed a place in heaven as martyrs. While it’s thought that this group ceased to exist, an unusual and disturbing case sends Kate down an investigative path that includes digging into the details of this outcast group’s practices. Continue reading →

What you see is not always what you get

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By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s fifteenth Kate Burkholder mystery is An Evil Heart, and it starts with a horrific murder. An Amish man is murdered on his way to work when his assailant lies in wait along the side of the road where Aden Karn commutes on his bicycle each morning. Aden sees the man and stops. What follows is a horrific and graphic murder at the heart of the story. The obvious question beyond who did it is why would anyone do such a thing? Continue reading →

You cannot escape your past

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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. Continue reading →

Following your dreams can be rough

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By Ande Jacobson

Fallen, is the thirteenth Kate Burkholder thriller, this time exploring the dangers of following one’s dreams. Kate isn’t the only one who left the Amish community when she approached the critical decision point of whether or not to be baptized. In Kate’s case, she never was. Rachael Schwartz was another young woman facing that difficult decision, and she too left the community, but under very different circumstances from Kate’s. Still, when she turns up murdered in a dreary motel room in Painters Mill, Kate catches the case, and it stirs up memories of her own past. She recognizes that she and Rachael never fit in, although their rebelliousness manifested in very different ways. Kate knew Rachael as a child, and she saw that even then Rachael followed her own mind in ways that Kate both admired and knew would cause her trouble as she grew older. Continue reading →

Gossip and faulty assumptions can backfire

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By Ande Jacobson

In Linda Castillo’s eleventh Kate Burkholder novel, Shamed, the Amish don’t always get it right even when their intentions are noble. Seven years before the main story takes place, something happened in the middle of the night that would later haunt a family in Painters Mill although the story doesn’t start there. This time, the story begins with what should be a happy fall afternoon when Mary Yoder takes her two granddaughters, Elsie (age 7) and Annie (age 5) Helmuth to the abandoned farm down the road where Mary had played as a child to pick up fallen walnuts. Mary and the girls begin their task picking up walnuts that have fallen from the trees, the girls playing some along the way. After a while, Mary notices some movement in the house that should be empty, so she goes to investigate. The girls eventually follow her into the house, and unfortunately for Mary, it doesn’t end well. Beyond her demise, Elsie is taken by the perpetrator leaving Annie screaming and running from the scene. Continue reading →

Childhood impressions stick around

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By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s ninth Kate Burkholder novel is Down a Dark Road. This time, Kate finds herself face-to-face with an old childhood friend in a desperate situation. The Prologue starts out two years earlier detailing the commission of a horrific crime. Kate’s childhood friend, Joseph King, was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for the crime of brutally murdering his wife, Naomi. Joseph was Kate’s neighbor for a time during their childhood. She and her siblings were close to Joseph and his family enjoying various summer adventures together. Kate really liked Joseph, and it was reciprocal, although neither expressed anything more than youthful friendship at the time. As a kid, Joseph was responsible, imaginative, and had an easy, carefree manner. Everyone liked him. That all changed when his father died in an accident when he was a teenager. He struggled with that loss, became somewhat distant, and the family moved away to be closer to extended family. Kate hadn’t thought about him for many years until she gets a call from the deputy warden at Mansfield Correctional Institution notifying her that Joseph has escaped and is at large. Continue reading →