3.5 stars rounded up.

While I was interested to keep reading and finding out what happened the story aside from the murder didn't pull me in, in the books defense I 100% think that was because I have only read one other in the series. And while it is a stand alone you obviously are just going to feel more for the characters and MC if you had followed from the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Book for providing me with a review copy.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is back with another puzzling case to solve in Painters Mill. Kate responds to a call regarding a man lying dead in the street. As the investigation begins, it becomes immediately apparent that the Amish man was murdered with a crossbow. At the time of his death, Aden Karn was just twenty years old, a seemingly well liked young man from a good family. As Kate digs in, will she find out that there is more to Aden than meets the eye?

An Evil Heart was an average read, with little character development and story progression. This story seemed a bit formulaic, following the same path of the previous novels. The end of the novel had a bit of a personal conclusion for Kate, which to me seemed like a natural ending to the series. An Evil Heart was a fast read, but not one I would definitely recommend.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. I made the decision to read and review this novel all on my own.

AN EVIL HEART is the 15th book in Linda Castillo's Kate Burkholder series, and it's another gripping crime thriller. Chief of Police for Painters Mill, Kate Burkholder, is called to the scene of what they think is an accident. When she arrives, she finds a murder scene, where an Amish man on his rumspringa has been brutally murdered and left along the side of the highway. The victim is Aden Karn a young Amish man with a stellar reputation and recently engaged. His death by crossbow shocks the community and leaves Kate and her team scratching their heads. No one has an unkind thing to say about him, but eventually Kate finds someone who has a secrets about Aden. This opens the door and gives them direction to what is going on in his life, and he is not what everyone thinks.

I love the character of Kate Burkholder. Growing up Plain, she left the Amish community to go to college and become a police officer. She still had family in the community and she can also speak Pennsylvania Dutch, so the Amish people will speak to her about what they know before talking to others. There are some brutal and difficult scenes in this book, but they are all necessary to the story. Linda Castillo writes gripping police procedural/crime thrillers and An Evil Heart is no exception. I was kept guessing and I have to say, I was angry with some of the things she finds out in her investigation. Not only was there a murder to solve, but as the story unfolded, there were other crimes as well. The main plotline in this story was similar to one in a previous book, so that is the only reason I didn't give this one 5 stars. There are twists, red herrings, several suspects and motives that made it difficult to solve until just before the reveal. There is also a personal storyline with Kate and Tomasetti's wedding coming up. She is getting married at her sister's home and it is going to be an Amish reception, but will this case derail that. Another wonderful addition to this series, but I am hoping the next book will have a more original storyline.

Another great who done it by Linda Castillo, kept me guessing until the end who the killer was, when the clues were in the storyline the whole time. Anther great story to the series.

I need to go back to the first chapter because there was something that caught my attention but wasn't clear by the end. It's possible that I misread or forgot something, or maybe there's a gap in the story.

The book was intense and graphic, more than any other book I've read from Castillo. It wasn't until halfway through the book that a possible suspect list started to form. As I was narrowing my list of suspects, a new tragedy occurred -- out went the old list, in came the new.

I was surprised that Castillo took the time to reintroduce her recurring characters in the fifteenth book of the series. It might be me, but I can't imagine anyone starting a series with the fifteenth book. Speaking of jumping, Kate is no novice, but the number of fences she jumped over made me chuckle.

Some parts were repeated, and some sections felt drawn out, but overall, I highly recommend this series.

Even though this is book 15 in the series, I was not at all lost just jumping into this one. The plot had me hooked from the start and the characters were so wonderful and well written and the suspense did not let up or let me down

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? This series just gets better with age and this book did not disappoint. Any of the books in the series can be read as a standalone but I recommend reading in order to follow the growth and development of Kate over the years. Looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This is the fifteenth installment in Linda Castillo excellent Chief of Police Kate Burkholder series. As Kate prepares for her upcoming wedding and reconciling with her family, a young, charming Amish man is brutally murdered. What follows is a gritty, complex investigation that is the trademark of this series, and this is one of the best.

What a story this was and the opening scenes of the first attack was truly brutal and cold blooded. Kate has no idea how truly twisted this crime is going to turn into, with so many layers. Secret after secret will have to be unraveled and it won't be easy. It continued to surprise me which as a reader I really like. She also has a really good team of people working with her. Not just her own in her department but also other law enforcement departments come alongside to help. I enjoyed their interactions with Kate with many that had actually become friends. Even the coroner, Doc was an unusual character who was as skilled as he was unique.
There is plenty of emotions shown and not only by the shocked community. Kate is still dealing with some of her own emotions with having been a former Amish person. Her romance and upcoming wedding with Tomasetti was so good. He accepted her for who she was and so often was a steadying influence when she needed it. They knew each other so well, that it was easy for them to know what the other needed and when they needed it. I enjoyed that. And if I haven't said it yet, I really liked BOTH of them as a couple and main characters.

Just like the opener of the story being a shocker, prepare yourself for a shocker of an ending. I dare anyone to say it was easy to figure how things were going to end.
They will fight through stuff to get there but there will be a wedding. And it's a sweet one at that !It added a great note to the end of the story.
“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkeholder series is one of my favorites. An Evil Heart is a good police procedural set in Amish country in Ohio. The mystery is a good one and filled with action. More violence than found in a cozy mystery but I thought it added to the theme. Another great edition!

Am I crazy for reading book 15 of the series without reading anything from before? Yes. Do I think you need to read the 14 books before this one to read it? No. I am not gonna lie when I say I judge a book by the cover. This one just pulled me in and I didn't care that it was a series. I loved that it took place in my home state of Ohio and featured the huge amish community that is there. This book was able to give readers a peek inside the lives of people unlike them. Which I loved! I loved the romance and family drama along with solving murders. Listening to the audiobook I thought Kate was calling her fiancé by his first and last name the whole time.. Thomas Eddie. It made it really hard to pay attention as you're wondering why is she doing this. However it is actually Tomasetti. Thanks to the reading the e-arc with my audiobook I realized I was crazy. Face Palm...

The FMC, Kate, was easy to connect with and you could understand her perseverance when it came to her job. Your heart literally breaks for all the amish girls that you come across while Kate is solving a crime. This book to me was very surface level and I wish there was more suspense and tension through the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for my e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Once again, a great read. This series is so good and just keeps getting better!
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is working on a case where a young 20-year-old Amish man (Aden Karn) is found brutally murdered by a cross bow. Kate's team is on the case.. A dark theme in this one, and the victim isn't what he portrays on the outside to the Amish Community. This time Kate is also planning her wedding to FBI agent Tomasetti at the same time.
Great writing and story, with a strong female police chief in a small Amish Community. (I love Kate's character). Great character development.
What a twisty dark story, but I loved how the author builds up story and details everything along the way. I loved the book so much so I purchased the audio version, so I could listen when I could read. The narrator Kathleen McInerney has narrated all the Kate Burholder books, and she does a fabulous job. I highly recommend this book or audio book to anyone who enjoys a great police procedure/detective novel. Full of suspense and has you guessing until the very end.
A very special thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

"An Evil Heart: A Novel" by Linda Castillo is a chilling crime thriller that takes readers on a harrowing journey through a small town's dark secrets. The book follows a strong and determined protagonist as she unravels a complex case. Castillo's writing is atmospheric and filled with suspense, making it an immersive and compelling read. With its well-developed plot and intriguing twists, "An Evil Heart" is a gripping novel that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

This story starts with a violent murder and ends with a wedding, with lots of police investigation in between. A good example of not really knowing what someone is really like behind closed doors. Lots of suspects and no real evidence to find who murdered young Amish, Aden Karn. Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, struggles to find a motive for the killing. After finding a second body, Kate believes the two deaths are related and is determined to find out who did it. Good writing and characters. Part of a series but can be read as a stand-alone novel. The ending was good.

I received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

An Amish man, Aden Karn, is found brutally murdered and left on dirt road. At first glance, Aden seems well-liked with a bright future ahead. His fiancée, Emily, is torn up over the crime. Chief Kate Burkholder and her team are tasked with finding the person responsible for this heinous crime. Kate’s disturbed that someone would cut Aden’s life short so cruelly. However, as Kate and her officers dig deeper, another side of Aden is presented, and motives start coming out.

This was a chilling mystery! I don’t want to go into detail because of spoilers, but as the story unfolds, I was outraged on behalf of more than one character and was eager for justice to prevail.

The town of Painters Mill is a small one so Kate has to be a very hands-on Chief of Police, investigating suspects and following up on leads right along with her officers. I appreciated that she is smart when there’s possible danger, well for the most part, anyhow. I really like Kate and her officers: Glock, Mona, Skid, and Pickles! They’re a good team, more than just work colleagues.

An Evil Heart is book fifteen in the Kate Burkholder series but could be read as a standalone in a pinch. Each book focuses on a case that’s solved by the end. There is the romance between Kate and Tomasetti that begins in book one, and I was happy to discover their status in this installment! I read the first two books in the series and then skipped ahead to this one, but I’d like to go back and work my way through the rest of the books.

AN EVIL HEART by Linda Castillo is unquestionably one of those books that will hold you in its grip as you turn the pages to find out the truth.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction

Complete review: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=82968

An Evil Heart is the 15th Kate Burkholder procedural thriller by Linda Castillo. Released 11th July 2023 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

This is a very well written murder mystery and although it's number 15 in the series, it works well as a standalone. All the background character and setting information is provided in the book itself. There is an ongoing, multi-book, partnership between formerly-Amish small-town police chief Kate and her significant other, a retired cop as well as an ensemble cast of colleagues. I do recommend reading the previous books, they're all solid; but it's not necessary to understand what's going on here. The series is well plotted and full of believable characters and inter-agency police stories. Refreshingly, in this case, the interagency interactions are generally cooperative and professional.

The sense of place is palpable. There are a number of Amish characters (the small town where Chief of Police Kate Burkholder works is a rural agricultural area whose population is roughly 1/3 Amish). The author's descriptions are nuanced and believable. I found some of the dialogue jarring because it's liberally sprinkled with Pennsylvania Dutch, but the author is adept at translating, and most of it is understandable from context.

The characters are impressively nuanced. It takes a quite a lot of technical expertise to write characters who do bad things but aren't necessarily bad people and subtlety to allow readers to arrive at their own conclusions as well as the converse (bad people who are charming and well regarded). The denouement and resolution were well written and satisfying and although I had guessed the overall theme of the crimes and motivations underlying, there were some surprising twists at the end.

For sensitive readers, this book contains quite graphic descriptions of violence, body horror (a crossbow murder at the beginning), sexual assault (including non-consensual assault of a minor), trauma, and oppressive religious fundamentalism and closed societies. Language is "R" rated.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours and 25 minutes and is narrated capably and well by series narrator Kathleen McInerney. She has a warm and rich clear alto voice and does a good job delineating the widely varied accents of a range of characters of all ages and both sexes including elderly and young voices. Sound and production quality are high throughout the recording.

Four and a half stars. This series/author will likely already be on public library acquisitions lists and available from local libraries. It's a consistently high quality procedural series and would make a great choice for a long binge/buddy read. It would also be a good choice as a mystery book club selection; lots of content for good and enthusiastic discussion (modern sexism, religion, sexual assault in rural areas, women in positions of respect in those areas, etc).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Another great book in the Kate Burkholder series. Looking forward to the next. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

Chief Kate Burkholder is back and working hard as ever to keep her town safe. In this ongoing series, readers find Kate days away from her wedding and trying to solve the murder of a young Amish man by what appears to be an unusual weapon.

What I love about Linda Castillo's Burkholder series is how it shows the amount of work that police officers and detectives put in, in order to solve the murders. Also even in a well established series, Castillo is able to keep the plot fast paced and the "twists" are still relatively unseen by the audience until the appropriate times when all is revealed. All in all, a great book series with enjoyable characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this novel.

Another installment in the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo. Very detailed gruesome murder scenes and police procedurals throughout the book. Much suspense up to the climactic ending. Nice continuation of Kate's personal and family life as a backdrop for the series. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense and look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC. All opinions are my own.