Down a Dark Road - Linda Castillo

Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo


First Paragraph:

Two Years Earlier
He waited until the children slept.  It was his final kindness.  Give them a few more hours of peace before he took from them the thing they loved most.  Before he shattered their innocence forever.  Took something from himself he would never get back.


My Thoughts:

Linda Castillo's series featuring Police Chief Kate Burkholder is one of my favorites.  I look forward to a new book each summer.  Down a Dark Road is #9 and it's a good one.  As these books continue, we learn more and more about Kate's life as a child and young adult - her Amish life.  She left in her late teens and became a police officer, but she eventually returned to her home area as the Chief of Police.  She understands the issues that the Amish people face, but she also is shunned by many of them because of her current life.  This book is quite gripping and involves a hostage situation and some questionable police decisions.  Kate is also called on the carpet by the town council of Painter's Mill, mostly a political decision, but one that could have consequences in later books.  I listened to Kathleen McInerney's narration of the story and it was as good as ever.  This is a series that I love and I'll be watching for the next book, hopefully in a year or so.


Blurb:

Two years ago, Joseph King was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life in prison. He was a “fallen” Amish man and a known drug user with a violent temper. Now King has escaped, and he’s headed for Painters Mill.

News of a murderer on the loose travels like wildfire, putting Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her team of officers on edge. But this is personal for Kate. She grew up with Joseph King. As a thirteen year old Amish girl, she’d worshipped the ground he walked on. She never could have imagined the nightmare scenario that becomes reality when King shows up with a gun and takes his five children hostage at their Amish uncle’s farm. Armed and desperate, he has nothing left to lose.

Fearing for the safety of the children, Kate makes contact with King only to find herself trapped with a killer. Or is he? All King asks of her is to help him prove his innocence—and he releases her unharmed. Kate is skeptical, but when the facts and the evidence don’t align, she begins to wonder who she should trust. Spurned by some of her fellow cops, she embarks on her own investigation only to unearth an unspeakable secret—and someone who is willing to commit murder to keep it buried.