The "New York Times "bestselling series hailed as "gripping" ("People "magazine) and "compelling" ("USA Today") returns with Police Chief Kate Burkholder called to the scene of a horrific tragedy on a peaceful Amish farm.

The Slabaugh family are model Amish farmers, prosperous and hardworking, with four children and a happy extended family. When the parents and an uncle are found dead in their barn, it appears to be a gruesome accident: methane gas asphyxiation caused by a poorly ventilated cesspit. But in the course of a routine autopsy, the coroner discovers that one of the victims suffered a head wound before death--clearly, foul play was involved. But who would want to make orphans of the Slabaughs' children? And is this murder somehow related to a recent string of shocking hate crimes against the Amish?

Having grown up Amish, Kate is determined to bring the killer to justice. Because the other series of attacks are designated hate crimes, the state sends in agent John Tomasetti, with whom Kate has a long and complex relationship. Together, they search for the link between the crimes--and uncover a dark secret at work beneath the placid surface of this idyllic Amish community.

Chock full of twists and chills and set against the unusual world of the Amish, this series "will delight fans of Chelsea Cain and Thomas Harris" ("USA Today").

The peaceful town of Painters Mill is shattered when an Amish grandmother is brutally murdered on an abandoned farm. When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on the scene, she learns that the woman's seven-year-old granddaughter is gone, abducted in plain sight. The girl's family is a pillar of the Amish community, well-respected by all. But Kate soon realizes they're keeping secrets - and the sins of their past may be coming back to haunt them. Kate's investigation brings her to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river, where tradition is upheld with an iron fist. The killer remains close, and one step ahead, drawing more victims into a twisted game of revenge. Left behind at each new crime scene are cryptic notes that lead Kate to a haunting discovery - one that threatens to change everything she thought she knew about the family she's fighting for, her own Amish past, and time is already running out. . .

In the gripping thriller Shamed from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo, a devastating murder exposes an Amish family's tortured past.

The peaceful town of Painters Mill is shattered when an Amish grandmother is brutally murdered on an abandoned farm. When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on the scene, she learns that the woman's seven-year-old granddaughter is gone, abducted in plain sight. Kate knows time is against her--the longer the girl is missing, the less likely her safe return becomes. The girl's family is a pillar of the Amish community, well-respected by all. But Kate soon realizes they're keeping secrets--and the sins of their past may be coming back to haunt them. What are they hiding and why?

Kate's investigation brings her to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river, a community where family is everything and tradition is upheld with an iron fist. But the killer is close behind, drawing more victims into a twisted game of revenge. Left behind at each new crime scene are cryptic notes that lead Kate to a haunting and tragic secret. What she uncovers threatens to change everything she thought she knew about the family she's fighting for, the Amish community as a whole--and her own beliefs.

As time to find the missing girl runs out, Kate faces a harrowing choice that will test her convictions and leave one family forever changed.

"One family. One horrific murder. An entire town under suspicion..."

The Planks moved from Lancaster County Pennsylvania to the small Amish community of Painters Mill, hoping to resume the comforts of the Plain Life in Ohio. Less than one year later, the family of seven is found dead--slaughtered on their own farm.

"Shades of In Cold Blood . . . Another chilling thriller."--"People "magazine

Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from their "English" neighbors--and each other. When the diary belonging to the rebellious teenager Mary Plank turns up, Kate is surprised to find not only a kindred spirit but a murder suspect: the charismatic stranger who stole Mary's heart.

"Violent and earthy, and completely impossible to put down."--"BookPage "

Then there's Mary's brother, Aaron. Shunned by his family and the rest of the Amish community, could he have returned to seek revenge? Now it's up to Kate to search for some dark truths about the Planks--and confront long-buried secrets of her own. As Kate's obsession with the case grows so does her resolve to bring the killer to justice--even if it means putting herself into the line of fire . . .

"Will appeal to fans of Karin Slaughter and Tami Hoag."--"Library Journal"

Everyone in Painters Mill knows the abandoned Hochstetler farm is haunted. But only a handful of the residents remember the terrible secrets lost in the muted/hushed whispers of time--and now death is stalking them, seemingly from the grave.

On a late-night shift, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide--an old man found hanging from the rafters in his dilapidated barn. But evidence quickly points to murder and Kate finds herself chasing a singularly difficult and elusive trail of evidence that somehow points back to the tragedy of that long ago incident. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti and for the first time in so long, they're both happy; a bliss quickly shattered when one of the men responsible for the murders of Tomasetti's family four years ago is found not guilty, and walks away a free man. Will Tomasetti be pulled back to his own haunted past?

When a second man is found dead--also seemingly by his own hand--Kate discovers a link in the case that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine and revealing the horrifying truth of what really happened that terrible night thirty-five years ago, when an Amish father and his four children perished--and his young wife disappeared without a trace.

And, as Kate knows--the past never truly dies . . . in "The Dead Will Tell" by Linda Castillo

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in An Evil Heart, the latest installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo. On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road. Aden Karn was just twenty years old, well liked, and from an upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a young man whose life was just beginning? The more Kate gets to know his devastated family and the people--both English and Amish--who loved him, the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn was funny and hardworking and looking forward to marrying his sweet fiancé, Emily. All the while, Kate's own wedding day to Tomasetti draws near... But as she delves into Karn's past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn't the wholesome young man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumors are a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach. The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural, upstate New York to infiltrate a reclusive Amish settlement where a young girl has been found dead under mysterious circumstances. Kate's longtime love interest, State Agent John Tomasetti, is dead set against her taking on the assignment, knowing she'll have limited communication - and even less in the way of backup. But Kate can't turn her back, especially when the rumor mill boils with disturbing accounts of children in danger. She travels to New York where she's briefed and assumes her new identity as a lone widow seeking a new life. Kate goes deep under cover. In the coming days, she unearths a world built on secrets, a series of shocking crimes, and herself, alone...trapped in a fight for her life.

An extraordinarily beautiful Amish woman, a dangerous femme fatale, is the central figure in Linda Castillo's "Her Last Breath," " "a story that reveals a dark side of Painters Mill and its seemingly perfect Amish world

"A rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere.
"What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental. But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young boy who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate. He may be the only one who knows what happened that night. Desperate to find out who killed her best friend's husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer amid the residents of Painter's Mill. It is a search that takes her on a chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and makes her question everything she has ever believed about the Amish culture into which she was born.