Sworn to Silence

Book 72 of my 2014 Reading Challenge

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo

Book 1 of the Kate Burkholder series

Summary (via the book jacket)

In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and "English" residents have lived side by side for two centuries. But sixteen years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence. Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the Slaughterhouse Killer but came away from its brutality with the realization that she no longer belonged with the Amish. 
Now, a wealth of experience later, Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as chief of police. Her Amish roots and big-city law enforcement background make her the perfect candidate. She's certain she's come to terms with her past - until the first body is discovered in a snowy field. Kate vows to stop the killer before he strikes again, but to do so, she must betray both her family and her Amish past - and expose a dark secret that could destroy her. 

My Opinion

I read this for my book club.

A little cookie cutter as many mysteries are, but the book had a very strong start that grabbed my attention and it was highly readable.

I liked Kate as a character. I won't run to the library for the next books in the series but will definitely read them eventually.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"She hadn't believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night. But at the age of twenty-one, bound and brutalized and lying naked on a concrete floor that was as cold as lake ice, she believed." - first sentence, start with a bang

"A gun-toting, cursing, former Amish female chief of police. I'll be damned."

"I look out the darkened window at the deserted street beyond where snow sparkles beneath the streetlights. I think about the killer and wonder if his dark hunger torments him tonight. I wonder if he's out there, looking for his next victim. I wonder if he's already picked her out."