I give this book 4.5 stars! Another great installment in the Kate Burkholder series. There's plenty of action and twists and turns that keep this book very entertaining. One of the things I love about this author is the personal side of the characters that she isn't shy about including which I feel makes the story rich and believable. The Amish backdrop is very interesting and adds so much to the plot. Like most Burkholder stories there is a bit of gore and some parts of this book may be triggering (sexual assault) for some. I received an ARC of the book - thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher. All comments are my own!

Another winner! Intense and complex murder mystery interweaving the Amish and English communities, beliefs, and lifestyles. This series just gets better and better, with real character who have emotion and history and solid investigations of unique crime. Can be read as stand alone, but this is a series to follow!

Glad that I got to read this early. I've read all of the books in the series and this was a good one. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

The last thing Kate Burkholder needs is a puzzling case the week before her wedding, but that's what she's got. Confronted with the body of a young man killed by an arrow, she must unravel the threads to determine the victim's true nature. Kate has evolved over the series, making tentative reconnections with her Amish siblings, and it's nice to see that she's developed a healthy and happy relationship with Tomasetti. This book is at times both darker and lighter than some of the others in the series, but it's classic Kate Burkholder and Painters Mill all the way through.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press for the ARC Loved the story and the mystery surrounding the characters. Great character development. It grabs hold of you from the very beginning. Love the Kate Burkholder series and with each one they get better and better. Cannot wait to see where it goes from here. The one thing that gets me, one would think Kate would know better by now than to go alone to a suspect's home. But still a very good read.
Highly recommend!

Book fifteen of the Kate Burkholder series…and it just keeps getting better and better!

There are wedding bells chiming in Kate’s near future. But first things first. Before she can walk waltz down that aisle with Tomasetti, she has a murder…or two to wrap-up.

Kate Burkholder is the Chief of Police in the town of Painters Mill Ohio. She grew up Amish, and though she left that life behind, many of her cases bring her into daily contact with the very private community.

This latest case for Kate involves a young Amish man, Aden Karn who was on Rumspringa. (A time when Amish teens are entering adulthood. This is the first time they step outside their community to experience an English life. With the understanding that at the end of this journey they’ll choose to either return to Amish life or leave it behind forever).

When Aden is found murdered on the side of the road it’s up to Kate to find the killer. Why would anyone target an innocent Amish teen that everyone seemed to love?

The deeper Kate digs into her investigation, disturbing and ugly secrets are un-rooted.

I absolutely love this series. Always look forward to the latest release every year! Linda Castillo provides such detailed insight into the Amish community, while delivering a dark, pulse-pounding thriller.

At the risk of flagrant gushing, I can’t recommend this series enough! But make sure to start at the beginning to get the full experience, as each release builds on the previous. Now I have to (im)patiently wait for next years’ release!😫

A buddy read with Susanne.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man in this book. Twenty year old Aden Kern was killed with a crossbow and his body left for dead in a ditch. Aden came from a good Amish family and both English and Amish people loved him because he was hardworking, funny and nice. Only days to be go before Kate marries Tomasetti, she works hard to get this case settled. The more Kate digs, the more she realizes that Aden has a dark side and may not be the wholesome young man he projects himself to be. As Kate tries to make sense of all the rumors and tries to figure out what is fact and fiction, she has to be careful for her own life as the as she investigates. This book has a lot going on and you just want to keep reading to the end to find out who the murderer is.

I look forward to the next book in this series because they are all great mysteries with great characters.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book..

This is the upcoming Kate Burkholder series novel. Great mystery with good twists and for longtime readers of the series an anticipated change for Kate’s domestic life. As a longtime reader of the series myself, tongue in cheek, I always wonder at the crime rate in tranquil Painters Mill. I always wondered the same for Craig Johnson’s Longmire series. As a dutiful reader, of course, the novel holds its own, may easily be read as a standalone, and I’ll let the good citizens of Painters Mill figure that out. There’s lots to lose yourself in for the latest addition. This review is for an Advanced Reader Copy of the novel.

The fifteenth book in the reliable Kate Burkholder series starts with the grisly murder of a young Amish man by crossbow. The killing appears to be planned and the target deliberate, but everyone tells formerly Amish Chief of Police Burkholder that Aden Karn was polite and charming. He was planning to marry his girlfriend soon, and although he was on rumspringa, he was going to be baptized into the faith when that phase ended. Kate's investigation reveals that there was more to the victim than the face he showed to the Amish, which opens up new potential perpetrators and motives.

The disturbing search for the killer contrasts sharply with the last few days of planning for Kate's wedding to her longtime boyfriend, John Tomasetti. The couple has forged a strong bond despite their respective troubled pasts. Will Kate close the case in time to get married without endangering her life?

The books in this series have a predictable pattern. Someone is murdered in Kate's jurisdiction, she enlists her small, loyal team of officers and dispatchers, and she interviews suspects or other persons of interest. Throughout the process she is uncomfortably reminded that, although she speaks German and knows many of the Painters Mill residents, she voluntarily left the fold many years ago, and is now viewed with mistrust. The case in An Evil Heart is one of the most horrifying to date, but the emotional core of the story is Kate's dawning realization that she does have a place in the Amish community, albeit not quite the one she envisioned as a young girl.

Let's hope that Kate and Tomasetti at least get to enjoy a brief honeymoon before the next murder is committed. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.

Do we ever really know anyone? Are some people just so adept at hiding the evil within that only those closest to them can know the dark details of their thoughts and deeds? An Amish young man has a wonderful, good boy reputation throughout the Amish English communities alike. Yet he was found shot to death with a crossbow on his way to work on a typical sunny day of the work week. At first glance, no suspects can be found, no one has a bone to pick with him, and by all outward appearances he is an innocent, gentle soul, which makes this case even more puzzling. Who shot Aden Karn? As the story unravels, perhaps you too will see that an evil heart heart can lurk within anyone. Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Read Copy of this great book!

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eARC. I’m grateful. I’ve read all of them, and was so excited to get the chance to review the new one. This is by far one of the best procedural and detective and mystery series out there, and one, if not, my only, favorite series of all time.

Linda Castillo’s, “An Evil Heart,” is the 15th book in the Kate Burkholder series. This series continues to be exciting, fresh, and human. This installment find our Chief of Police investigating the death of a young Amish man. The young man was violently attacked with a crossbow, and as with each of the prior novels, not all is coming up roses and is what it seems. Additionally, Kate is preparing for her wedding to Tomasetti, and along the way, another body pops up. So, with many things going on, the story moves quickly and comes to a satisfactory, tense, but tender ending.

Castillo, writes with such description and emotion that when you are reading her novels you are right there in the story. All the characters keep growing and changing with each subsequent novel. Now some of those changes may not be what we like or expect, but that is what makes these novels worth waiting for and reading.

I cannot recommend this novel, this series, enough, I anxiously await each year for the newest installment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Love this series! A young Amish man found dead on a little traveled road and a body of English woman found wrapped in plastic and left in a ditch days later has Chief Burkholder perplexed.. Are the two murders connected? Are the guys at the garage involved? A tangled web of evil and deceit will reveal that someone has a very dark soul. And finally Kate's wedding is on the horizon. Love the ending. Looking forward to the next in the series. Recommended!

This book was a fabulous entry in the Kate Burkholder series! Kate and Tomasetti are finally (FINALLY!) getting married - their wedding is a handful of days away - when a murder investigation is dropped into Kate's lap and a kidnapping investigation is dropped into Tomasetti's. Will they be solved? (Positively, in John's case?) Of course they will, and it's a doozy. I loved revisiting all of my favorite characters, and I loved seeing Mona in action as a cop finally - she's worked so hard for this! She's green, but has potential. All in all five stars and I can't wait for book 16.

An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo -- 5 Stars
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9781250781086

While on a country road riding his bicycle to work, a young Amish man is brutally murdered. Neighbors describe him as friendly, cheerful and helpful. Kate Burkholder, chief of police, uncovers his true nature and dark past.
I am fascinated by the portrait of life in the Amish community and how the people there stay true to their traditions in the current world of increasing technology. Descriptions are skillfully and respectfully woven into the story while adding to and never slowing the pace of the plot.
This is one of my favorites in the series. Kate and her staff are like a family working well together. Her personal romantic relationship evolves with each book. The setting paints a picture of rural farming country. The story is complex and believable. I have absolutely enjoyed every part of the books in the Kate Burkholder series.

Reviewer: Nancy

I cannot say how much I love this series and this book does not disappoint! I was not able to put this novel down and read throughout the course of a day. Such a good and thoughtful piece! I was on the edge of my seat, and absolutely loved the ending! Definitely hope this series keeps going!! I read this as an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher.

Who killed Aden Karn? Everyone - his family, his friends, his neighbors and girlfriend - describe him as caring, helpful and religious, a young man with a heart of gold. So why would someone use a crossbow to shoot him and leave him to bleed to death on a lonely country road? Kate Burkholder has only days before her wedding to John Tomasetti, so she’s determined to solve this case as quickly as possible. She has several suspects but when another body is found, she is concerned that there may be a serial killer in their quiet Amish community.

Things are not always what they seem in An Evil Heart, the fifteenth in Linda Castillo’s excellent Kate Burkholder series. There are some dark themes here and disturbing violence but as usual Painters Mill, the residents of the town, the small police force, and the dominant Amish lifestyle drive this mystery. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Linda Castillo for this ARC.

4 chilling stars

This one kicks off with a grisly crossbow murder and Kate Burkholder spends the rest of the book trying to solve the puzzle of who killed Aden Karn, a young Amish man.

Kate is the Chief of Police in Painters Mill and this is her 15th book! It’s hard to believe there is so much murder in this town, but the author does a great job of making these believable characters come to life. I read these as soon as I can to get my dose of Amish crime solving!

Kate and her team talk to all of Aden’s friends, family, and the woman he was courting, and they describe him as a wonderful young man. Who would murder him? They have to really dig to get to the truth, once details start coming to light, it fits the title – who has an evil heart?

There are some trademark foot races where Kate is chasing after the bad guys, but I think her police car makes it through this one safely.

One of my favorite side plots is the romance with Tomasetti. Kate comes to an agreement with her siblings and this book ends perfectly with the crime solved and a lovely wedding! Can't wait to read the next book and see what the next crime will be to solve.

When I requested this one, I had no idea this was a. part of a series, but it only took getting halfway through the book to notice that. So, here's my recommendation for you, you could 100 percent start this at number 15 in the series, and it will still shock you. I am very thankful to Linda Castillo, NetGalley, and Minotaur books for granting me an advanced copy of this fast-paced thriller that is sure to drop jaws.

How could you not love the Amish world of Kate Burkholder!!!???!!! Love, love, love this series. Great read :)

An Evil Heart is the 16th book in the Kate Burkholder series. I have read this series from the beginning and love this series. It starts with Aden Karn riding his bike to work. He is confronted by a man with a crossbow who shots him with a bolt. The man comes up to him and withdrew the bolt and then puts another one in his mouth and fires. He withdraws the the bolt.

Kate Burkholder, chief of police in Painter Ridge, Ohio, is at her sister Sarah's house being fitted for her upcoming wedding in a dress that has been in the family. Kate is not Amish anymore but her brother has agreed that she can be married at the family farm. She is marrying John Tomasetti who is an agent with Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Kate has left the Amish faith when she was 18. While there she gets a call of a dead body found by Julie Faulkner taking her children to school.

Upon arriving at the scene Kate finds an Amish teen who she recognizes as Aden. She knows his parents, She does not know what happened. She calls Doc Coblentz the coroner. Upon seeing the body he thinks that the victim was killed by a crossbow bolt. After the autopsy it is confirmed that it was the method of his death. Kate and her deputies start the investigation of why he was killed. Mike Rasmussen; sheriff of Holmes County is also brought into it. Later there is another body found. A woman named Paige Rossburger.

This story has so much going on that it is hard to put on paper. I will leave it to the reader to follow and enjoy. The story comes to an exciting conclusion with the attack on Kate when she finds out who killed Aden, The story also ends with her marriage to Tomasetti.

I look forward to the next book in this series and what is next for Kate and Tomasetti.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC.