3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

This is a well done, solid mystery. Kate Burkholder is lapsed Amish, chief of police for a small Ohio town. In this book, a childhood friend who had been convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and returns for his children. Kate has gone to the house where the children are and ends up losing her gun and being taken hostage by the man. He later releases her when she promises to investigate his claim of innocence.

There is a nice balance between story and character development. We are given glimpses into Kate’s childhood and her thoughts on those episodes. I like that Kate is psychologically healthy, not struggling with drink or pills or damaged in any way.

I have only read one other of the series, which was the first. It works well as a stand alone, I didn't have issues with not having read books 2-8.

I wouldn't call this a fast paced book. But it moved along at a steady clip and kept my interest throughout. The victims are well done, with a variety of strengths and weaknesses. I particularly liked the way Castillo juxtaposed the Joseph of Kate’s youth with the adult he became.

One key plot element doesn't bear looking at too closely as it won't hang together upon close examination.

My thanks to netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advance copy of this book.

Wow, another great one by Linda Castillo. This series is so enjoyable to me and the character development is fantastic. I feel as if I personally know Kate Burkholder and her crew. I read in someone's review that she hopes there is a book 10. Wait, what? Of course there will be a book 10, there HAS to be, I don't know what I would do if there were no more Kate Burkholder! Linda Castillo is a great author and I have read all of this series and am still here at book 9 waiting for book 10!

An old childhood friend of Kate's is in prison for murdering his wife. She is notified of his escape as a warning that he may return to Painter's Mill for his 5 children. She is on the lookout and things start to happen, secrets start to unfold. He insists that he is innocent and begs Kate to look into his case again. As the sweet boy she remembers him to be, she has a hard time believing he would actually kill his wife. Memories of their past start coming back and she decides to honor her promise to him and starts digging for answers.

Wow, this book grabbed me from the opening scene and had me until the end. Very well written and engaging and a story filled with suspense. If he didn't kill his wife, who did and why? Page turner! 5 stars! I cannot wait for the next! Linda Castillo, keep them coming please! A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy of this fab book!

Linda Castillo is a great author and this book was a great addition to the Kate Buckhalter series. I recommend to all you suspense readers.

In this 9th book of the Kate Burkholder series, Kate finds herself in a hostage situation and she is not alone. The person that is holding her hostage is an old childhood friend, Joseph King, who just escaped from prison. Her fellow hostages are his five children. She is conflicted by the boy she knew with the man she is facing today. She attempts to get him to let the children go, but he refuses her request. He does end up letting her go with her promise that she finds the true person responsible for the murder of his wife.
This sets Kate on a search for the truth. Could the boy she knew grow up to be the man everyone was saying he was? Or was there something else going on. With help from her police officers and BCI Agent John Tomasetti, she sets out on the hunt. The one real problem, will she end up finding the truth before it kills her.
This book puts you on an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. The story line will keep you on the edge, but not sure it will keep you guessing. If you like a good mystery, I highly recommend this one. I also recommend reading the entire series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is 9th in the Kate Burkholder series, and as a huge fan of the series I was thrilled to be given the chance to read this book before it's released in July. This book did not disappoint. In fact, one thing I love about this series is that even though this is the 9th title, it could very well stand alone for someone new to the series. Enough background information is given on minor players but you never feel like you are missing details pertinent to the story.

Being a female Chief of Police in a small town is tough enough, but to be an ex-Amish Chief of Police takes some balls. And Kate has a big set. Two years after being convicted of murdering his wife, an escaped convict shows up at the house where his children are living with their aunt and uncle. Kate discovers the convict is not only local, but a former childhood friend - and former crush. An investigation turns into a hostage situation where Joseph tells Kate that he is innocent, and that his youngest daughter, 5-year old Sadie, saw a man in the house the night her mother was killed. An 'Englisher'. Taken hostage by Joseph in the house with his children, can Kate talk him into releasing the children before the situation becomes uncontrollable? And is this man, her first childhood love and family friend, a man who murdered his wife in cold blood, or a victim himself?

This book kept me guessing right up to the end. It definitely had a few twists and turns, and some surprises I didn't see coming. Perfect for fans of police dramas and detective fiction.

This is one of my favorite series! It is the nineth book in the Kate Burkholder Series. I have read every book in this series. This book was outstanding! Linda Castillo has done it again! Her ability to weave together the Amish life and "Englischers" into an interesting story and then throw a murder mystery in the midst is superb.

I love the characters in this series, especially Kate Burkholder. In this book the characters come to life, you actually care what happens to them. The author evokes different emotions and I just adored Sadie, the five year old. She was so mature for her age and was so smart. I really got emotional for the children.


In this, her ninth book in this series, we are introduced to Joe King who used to be a childhood friend and first crush. Eight years ago he was charged with killing his wife, Naomi, and sentenced to prison. However, at the start of the novel, he breaks free and is holed up in his relatives' house with his five children. As all hell breaks lose, Kate tries to use her personal connection with him to solve the issues without any fatalities. He insists he did not kill his wife and begs her to help uncover the truth. But what really is the truth?

The book has insight on Kate's past that helped the reader understand just a bit more about this complex character. As each book is written another layer unravels and at the same time the characters are developing a more detailed and robust storyline. I can't wait till the next one. I love how the author uses twists and suspense, which makes it a page turner and hard to put down!

I recommend this series highly.

I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Linda Castillo for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book was a disappointment. If it were not for the previous eight books that I could not put down, I would have given up early on. It was not until three quarters of the way through that things got interesting. Usually there are multiple plotlines in a Castillo book, but other than a brief mention of a call to graffiti on a bridge, ‘Down a Dark Road’ concentrated on a single straight line to a mediocre end.

Kate Burkholder knew that one day she would get a call that would hit too close to home. She grew up Amish and now she is the police chief of Painters Mill, the same area where she played in the creek and picked berries as a child. Now she must separate her childhood memories of Joseph King, the boy next door with the man that broke out of prison where he was serving a life sentence for killing his wife.

Kate becomes his unwilling hostage yet that is not how she is viewed. There is too much history and with a photo that could have multiple meanings, Kate is not only frantically searching for the truth, but she is also trying desperately to keep her job.

The story boils down to secrets and what a precocious 3-year-old saw. Kate will not give up, she made a promise to Sadie before she realized how deep this murder investigation went and who, in the surrounding areas of Ohio, are responsible for a cover-up.

For me, this book would have been much better if they had cut out most of the first third of this book and continued where it had ended. There would have been more “meat” to the story if she had continued with the conspiracy and brought the real criminal to justice.

Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo is the first I've read in this series featuring Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police of Painters Mill, Ohio in the midst of Amish country. Why has it taken me so long to discover this series?

Kate left the Amish community, but her personal knowledge of the people and their customs makes her remarkably suited to her role in law enforcement in an area where the Amish live and flourish.

When Joseph King, sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife, escapes--Kate finds herself troubled my memories of the boy Joseph was and their childhood friendship. Joseph always denied killing his wife, but few believed him, certainly not the jury that convicted him.

Joseph kidnaps his five children, and in an effort to talk him down, Kate discovers that she has some serious questions about whether or not Joseph killed his wife. When the Swat team kills Joseph, Kate decides that she needs answers to her questions about Joseph's guilt and begins to dig into the events of eight years ago.

An absorbing book for several reasons including a well-crafted plot populated with interesting and well-drawn characters. I will enjoy going back to pick up previous books in this series!

Read in April; blog post scheduled for June 18

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books

Police Procedural. July 11, 2017. Print version: 320 pages.

Linda Catillo is on a very short list of my favorite authors. My own grandparents were Amish until my mom, the 8th of their children, was a preteen, so I enjoy reading books that include this culture from a realistic point of view. Since my own personal favorite genre is mystery, Ms Castillo's books are some of my favorite. This book, [book:Down a Dark Road|31450759] is not my favorite of the series but it's a very good story. I feel like through the previous books I've come to know the cast of characters well -- the slightly impulsive, somewhat immature main character Kate, the police officers that work under her, her boyfriend/fellow police officer Tommasetti, who comes with his own baggage. Introducing a new character from her past, who is also the "bad guy", is a great twist. One of the things I enjoy about Ms Castillo's writing is that she's not afraid to paint a picture with her stories, even when that story is not pleasant. This one struggled for me in the beginning and I didn't feel like it really came together until I was a good halfway into the book, but once it started picking up momentum, I was hooked. It's an interesting story of Kate trying to prove her old friend's innocence and the implications of that action. I really enjoy it and highly recommend not just the book, but the entire series.

Another exciting book in the Kate Burkholder series. This time, Kate hears that Joseph King has escaped from prison and may return to Painter's Mill for his children. He had been her first crush when she was fourteen, and had moved away shortly afterward. She still remembered him fondly and was dismayed to hear that he had shot his wife in their bed. He'd been in prison for a year. While patrolling about the children's home where they lived with her aunt and uncle, Joseph takes her hostage and makes her come with him to the house. He tells her the his did not kill his wife and asks her to investigate his case. Then he releases her into the glare of TV cameras, newspaper reporters and many police and a SWAT team. Tomasetti is there too in his BCI role. A short time later, it is reported that Joseph has been killed by the SWAT team. Kate is determined to clear his name and begins to interview family and friends. What she learns puts her life in danger.

My gratitude to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

What a treat it is to have this series. Linda Castillo blends her fascinating knowledge of the Amish with the adventures of Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police in the town of Painted Mills, Ohio. Kate who used to be Amish, is therefore in an excellent position for any police action concerning this culture. In this, her ninth book in this series, we are introduced to Joe King who used to be a childhood friend and first crush. Eight years ago he was charged with killing his wife, Naomi, and sentenced to prison. However, at the start of the novel, he breaks free and is holed up in his relatives' house with his five children. As all hell breaks lose, Kate tries to use her personal connection with him to solve the issues without any fatalities. He insists he did not kill his wife and begs her to help uncover the truth. But what really is the truth? Peeling layer and layers of the onion, Kate battles her own guilt and fear of bias towards uncovering the facts. With sustained tension, Castillo has created another great addition to the series. Her detailed rendering of the environment and Amish way give such depth and realism to the story, but you need not have read the others to enjoy and learn this terrific series..Fans, you will have a ball.

The latest in Linda Castillo's Kate Burkholder series is a fast-paced thriller which delves even further into Kate's character both as a police chief and a former member of the Amish community. I read a great deal and this is, hands down, one of my favourite series ever. Highly recommend to anyone who likes a fast-paced, engaging read with a strong female lead. Five stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I just won a copy of this on Goodreads, too!

When Joseph King, a childhood friend of Kate's, escapes from prison, she is asked to help in the search. But a hostage situation goes awry and the sheriff of a neighboring county belittles her in front of several colleagues. Kate wants to believe Joseph is innocent, but her only recourse is a unofficial investigation.

As always this series is an excellent read. For me, this one did not have as much mystery as previous books, and I had a couple moments of disbelief over decisions she made that seemed a little like rookie mistakes. Still, it tied up neatly and left me entertained.

Another standard Amish mystery by this enjoyable author but getting a little mundane. May need to shake it up a bit.

This author does such a great job of blending the Amish culture with that of our own, or as the Amish say, English. Burkholder, now sheriff, was one Amish, and her family, brother and sister, still belong. This case will take Katie back to her childhood, a time filled with chores, but also a great deal of fun. A man, who she last saw as a boy, will be the focus.

I love how this book goes back and forth in time, learning a little more about her past, small glimpses and insights into the Amish way of living. Secrets, held both by the Amish and people in authority, will turn out to be key. I actually figured out some of the answers quite early in the book, but still enjoyed the process and the journey of watching Katie get there. There were still a few surprises. A good and thoughtfully put together series.

ARC by netgalley,
Publishes July 11th by Minataur

Things get a little close to home for Kate Burkholder when a childhood friend from the Amish community escapes from prison. Joseph King was convicted of killing his wife, but he has claimed all along he didn't do it. His young daughter claims to have seen the murderer and it wasn't her Father but no one believes her. They think she is too young to be a credible witness. King takes Kate and his 5 children hostage, he has no intention of going back to prison and is determined to prove his innocence. Kate begins to believe him and agrees to look into the case. Unfortunately for King he won't live long enough to find out if the truth is uncovered.

This book will break your heart, for the children and the King family. In the process of her investigation Kate learns that power corrupts. We also see the Amish community thru Kate's eyes. The book caught my attention from the beginning and kept me turning the pages til the end. This is the 9th book in the Kate Burkholder series but I feel it could stand on its own. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

“Down A Dark Road” is the ninth book in Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder Series of which I’ve read all but one. (And yes, I really need to do something about that soon!) I eagerly look forward to the release of each of Castillo’s books, so it’s not surprising that I jumped at the chance to review her latest novel. Some book series grow stale overtime, but that is not the case here.

The story opens in the now familiar setting of Painters Mill in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder has just learned that a prisoner has escaped from a nearby state penitentiary. Locations lacking electricity, telephones, motor vehicles and other modern conveniences aren’t the typical destinations of choice for escaped cons—unless, of course, they previously lived an Amish lifestyle. Despite maintaining his innocence, Amish farmer Joseph King was convicted two years earlier of shooting and killing his wife while she slept in her bed. He received a life sentence and was sent to a maximum-security correctional facility located less than two hours from Painters Mill where his five children live with his wife’s Amish sister and brother-in-law. The possibility of King trying to get to his children seems likely, so area law enforcement is on high alert.

Chief Burkholder once had a personal connection to the prisoner. During their childhood, they were neighbors and friends. Although King had gotten into some trouble as a young adult, Burkholder found it difficult to believe that the boy she once knew so well and cared about could grow to become a man capable of such a vicious act. This causes her to let her guard down as she patrols the area, and Burkholder suddenly finds herself being held hostage by her former friend. As the hours turn into minutes and the minutes become hours, King and Burkholder have plenty of time to discuss the past. Gradually, Burkholder senses that all is not quite as it originally seemed. Is it possible that King was framed for his wife’s murder, and if so, by who, and why?

Once again, Linda Castillo has crafted an engaging plot. Several characters are familiar to the series, but the story stays fresh so that the reader keeps coming back for more. Castillo is a master at spinning an entertaining tale. Please tell me there is going to be a Book 10, because I can’t wait to see what happens next in Painters Mill!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Linda Castillo for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Linda Castillo is at the top of her form in her latest novel Down a Dark Road. Chief Kate Burkholder receives a phone call from the Mansfield Correctional Agency that a prisoner has escaped and could be heading for Painter’s Mill. Kate is shocked because she knows the escaped Amish prisoner; in fact, he was her first love. Joseph King lived in the farm next to Kate’s family farm. He taught her to play baseball, skate on Miller’s pond, and gave her her first kiss. He rescued Kate and her sister from bullies who tried to vandalize their roadside vegetable stall. Until he moved away when Kate was fourteen, she had a massive adolescent crush on him.

Joseph was imprisoned for the murder of his wife which he denied committing. His children were fostered to his wife’s sister back in Painter’s Mill and this is the reason that Kate was notified that he might show up in her jurisdiction. He does show up and a hostage situation develops when he holes up in the farmhouse where his children are living. He is armed and presumed dangerous. Kate is brought in to try to negotiate a peaceful outcome and relays that Joseph’s only demand is that she look into his wife’s murder and find the real culprit.

Kate has not much hope but agrees to do what she can. And what she finds is an open-and-shut case which might not be so open-and-shut. She is bucking the system because the evidence against Joseph appears too strong for doubt. Still, she persists and, gradually, begins to suspect that things are not what they appear.

All the familiar characters are here. Her co-workers, her lover, and the members of the town council who begin to doubt the ability of their chief of police to keep an unbiased position in the case.

This is a fast-paced mystery. A very good addition to the Burkholder series.

Linda Castillo pulls off another good mystery in her 'Amish' sheriff series with Katie Burkholder. In this adventure, Katie is again called on to return to her roots in a hostage situation involving her childhood friend and neighbor. Imprisoned for murdering his wife, Katie can't believe he is actually guilty. Her investigation leads her into danger, with help coming from an unexpected source.

Fans of descriptive writing, crime drama, and stories based on the Amish will want to spend time reading this amazing series by Linda Castillo. "Down a Dark Road" is the ninth book that narrates the challenges of former Amish and now policewoman Kate Burkholder. Painters' Mill police have been given notice that murdered Joseph King has escaped from prison and may be heading their way. Joseph was a childhood friend of Burkholder and this event brings to light memories of the past for her. Action is vividly portrayed on Kate's path to uncover the truth surrounding Joseph's conviction. This will make your heart race to the end. "A copy of this book was provided to me by St. Martin's Press and author with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read and my comments here are my honest opinion,"