Minotaur Bks, St. Martin's Press, June, 2009$24.95
322 pgs.
Rating: 4
For ADULTS
I saw this reviewed in People magazine a couple of weeks ago. It sounded really intriguing....and ex-Amish woman who has returned to her hometown in Ohio to become Chief of Police. My favorite genre, too. It's been a long time since I spent one day and evening just reading a book from start to finish. That's how this one got read.
I always say I like the gritty mysteries, not the cozies. Well, this one was perhaps one of the very grittiest I've ever read. Grizzly, actually....horrible murders take place, to not one, but three different vulnerable young women. They are described in great detail. They are awful. They are disturbing. But that didn't stop me from reading, and it didn't stop Chief Kate Burkholder from doing her job.
There's a pretty decent cast of characters to get to know, and good descriptions of the setting. Farmland, middle of winter, frigid cold, constantly snowing. You can see the police station, Kate's home, the Amish farms.
Not only has a serial killer seemingly returned to Painters Mill after a sixteen year absence, Kate cannot believe it could be the same killer. She has first-hand information about that killer from when she was fourteen. Information that she's never told anyone. Information that makes her wonder if it will change the way she investigates. She's a first rate cop; spunky, caring, smart. Of course she figures it out.
There are not a lot of surprises here, most is pretty predictable, though still exciting. For example, as soon as John Tomasetti is introduced, you know what's going to happen with him. (What a delicious name.) The outcome to the mystery is really no surprise either. But (other than the gruesomeness of the murders), it's a good piece of storytelling.
Psychopaths are usually born, not created. How can this be?
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