My review: 4⭐
I have been reading and enjoying this series since it began in 2009. Some I have enjoyed more than others, but all in all this is a series I tend to recommend for murder mystery lovers.
I am thankful I received an advance kindle copy and audiobook, so that I could go back and forth between the two. Ultimately I prefer reading and not listening. Although, Kathleen McInerney did a fine job narrating her voice is not what I have pictured Kate’s to be all these years. 9 hours and 18 minutes and an easy listen at 2x.
Linda’s prologues always suck you right in and this one is no different. Kate is being asked to help an old friend from her Amish days. Jonas is being accused of murdering a Bishop. As Kate investigates, in the thorough way that she is known for, she slowly uncovers secrets and lies about this Bishop. Can Kate solve the case without causing a ruckus, or will she put herself in death defying circumstances like always?
I liked the flashbacks to 21 years ago that gave us a feel of Kate and Jonas’s relationship when they were kids.
Since she traveled to a neighboring town we unfortunately didn’t have any interaction with our old friends ~ Pickles, Glock, Mona, etc. I don’t feel like Tomasetti gets the page time he deserves either, and I would love a spin off series following him. Hint hint Linda Castillo.
An intense thrill ride that fans of this author come to expect.
*Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, MacMillan Audio , Linda Castillo and NetGalley for the advance audiobook. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Link to whole series ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon
⬇Purchase links ⬇
Save on The Hidden One at Booksamillion.com.Book blurb: Release date ~ July 5, 2022
The discovery of an Amish bishop’s remains leads chief of police Kate Burkholder to unearth a chilling secret in The Hidden One, a new thriller from bestselling author Linda Castillo.
Over a decade ago, beloved Amish bishop Ananias Stoltzfus disappeared without a trace. When skeletal remains showing evidence of foul play are unearthed, his disappearance becomes even more sinister.
The town’s elders arrive in Painters Mill to ask chief of police Kate Burkholder for help, but she quickly realizes she has a personal connection to the crime. The handsome Amish man who stands accused of the murder, Jonas Bowman, was Kate’s first love. Forced to confront a painful episode from her past, Kate travels to Pennsylvania’s Kishacoquillas Valley, where the Amish culture differs dramatically from the traditions she knows. Though Bishop Stoltzfus was highly respected, she soon hears about a dark side to this complex man. What was he hiding that resulted in his own brutal death?
Someone doesn’t want Kate asking questions. But even after being accosted and threatened in the dead of night, she refuses to back down. Is she too close to the case—and to Jonas—to see clearly? There’s a killer in the Valley who will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Will they get to Kate before she can expose the truth? Or will the bishop’s secrets remain hidden forever?
