Fabulous reads – Delve into gripping Amish murder mystery

Shamed, Linda Castillo, Pan Macmillan, ISBN: 9781250763204

IN Painters Mill, Ohio, an Amish community is reeling in shock after grandmother, Mary Yoder, is brutally murdered while out collecting chestnuts with her granddaughters.

When the police arrive at the scene, little Annie tells them her special needs sister, the seven-year-old Elsie, has been abducted. As the chief of police, Kate Burholder races against the clock to find the missing girl and soon realises the Amish are harbouring a dark secret, but what is it?

Hours turn into days as Burkholder works around the clock without sleep, but the tight-lipped Amish leaders stay silent as the murders continue in another Amish town. Burkholder must leave her jurisdiction and rely on help from the sheriff to piece together a puzzle with numerous missing pieces.

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The story is narrated by Burkholder, who grew up in an Amish community before leaving the fold. As the protagonist comes to terms with the shocking truth, her attempts to see the story through the Amish mindset only makes the crime more shocking to the reader.

The gripping whodunit unfolds at just the right pace to hold suspense without getting tedious, although some readers might lose interest in the prologue, which is narrated by Mary Yoder, which is far less exciting than the rest of the book.

We really get to connect with Burkholder as Linda Castillo masterfully places the reader into the mind of a police woman who is desperate to solve a mystery, constantly observing her profound inner thoughts.

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