"She’s back! Police Chief, Kate Burkholder, and her motley crew (her fellow officers) along with hubby, John Tomasetti are on the case of some of the most gruesome murders in the history of the series – at least to me they are. This is probably one of the darkest and most twisted installments so far.

”Children discovering body parts in the woods is extremely unlikely in a town like Painters Mill.” - Kate Burkholder

Yes, this is true, but finding dead bodies in Painters Mill is not all that uncommon, at least not for Kate and her crew. I’ve said this before, but it bears mentioning again, the crime rate in Painters Mill is pretty high for such a small rural town and in this Amish community, the Amish get knocked off at an alarming rate, which makes their suspicions and caution of “the English” a rather prudent and valid attitude.

The book summary introduces the primary storyline of the two Amish friends, Samuel and Aaron being brutally murdered. What the book summary doesn’t mention is the lawsuit against Samuel, a tree farmer and landscaper, from a wealthy and respected local business owner for some shoddy work. There are also questions surrounding the possible relationship between Samuel and Cass, a local exotic dancer (and formerly Amish), who seems to have disappeared around the same time that Samuel was murdered.

Most of the story revolves around Kate and her crew, along with Tomasetti, investigating the case. Kate believes the murders have a “big city” vibe to them and that perhaps Samuel and Aaron had gotten involved in something that was out of their depth of handling, especially since Samuel had just recently returned home and to the Amish fold from his Rumspringa period. It’s deep into the second half, and as the body count increases, that Kate and the team realize that the danger and threats are much closer to home. The end comes to an intense and scary end for Kate, who in true bad@$$ form, takes a beating and gets up swinging – every time!!!

The continuing character development of Kate and Tomasetti, along with some of the other characters continue to exhibit that all is not what it seems in Painters Mill. Kate is a total bad@$$ and I love that about her. The pacing was steady to fast, never dragging, at least not to me. The storyline was interesting and the writing was classic Castillo, who is a really good writer and storyteller; I really enjoy her work. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.3 that I will be rounding down to a 4star review. I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #StMartinsPress #Rage"

"I have been reading the Kate Burkholder series since the first book was published. So I was thrilled to receive this ARC. This story again pulls you in and shows you how terrible human beings can be, how innocence can be preyed upon. But it also shows how there is forgiveness and strength and a hope for justice."