29. Her Last Breath - Linda Castillo

Kate Burkholder #5 (Painter's Mill/Ohio Amish country police chief)

Minotaur Books, 2013

308 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.24

My rating :4/really good

Adult Murder Mystery

Setting: contemporary Painter's Mill, Ohio

1st line/s:  "The clip-clop of the standardbred' shod hooves against asphalt echoed withing the canopy of the trees."

My comments :I couldn't wait to read this latest installment in the Kate Burkholder "saga," so when my reserve became ready at the library I was overjoyed.  On my ride back from Maine, about 10 days ago, I actually visited Ohio's Amish country, including a couple of the towns mentioned in the book.  Since Painter's Mill is a fictional name, I'm betting that one of the towns I checked out is actually the "real" Painter's Mill. Very cool!  This installment was no disappointment, as I swallowed it up in just two readings and am ready for more.  Unfortunately, since this one was published last month, I've got a longish wait in front of me....

Goodreads summary:  A rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere.  What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident  suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental.  But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young boy who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate.  He may be the only one who knows what happened that night.  Desperate to find out who killed her best friend’s husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer amid the residents of Painter’s Mill.  It is a search that takes her on a  chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and makes her question everything she has ever believed about the Amish culture into which she was born.