49. The Hidden One (#14 Kate Burkholder) by Linda Castillo

listened on Audible

2022
320 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery - Series

Finished 7/12/22
Goodreads rating: 4.35
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Lewistown, PA

My comments: This episode takes Kate to just outside Lewistown, Pennsylvania, where she is investigating a murder charge that has been imposed on her first love/lover.  The story of their encounters when she was 15 and he was 19 are interspersed throughout the story.  The murder was of an 86-year old Bishop who was an over-the-top asshole and as she discovers more and more about him the pieces start fitting together. There were a lot of coincidences ... need to sharpen up the story and make it either more believable or less believable, right now I'm not sure!  Kept my attention, better than some of her previous ones.

Goodreads synopsis:  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?

47. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

#7 Ruth Galloway

read on Kindle
2015

370 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 7/5/2022
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Norfolk, England

My comments: Kate is now five years old.  The mystery is interesting, a three generation family, the Blackstocks, that live in a huge old manor, finds one of the first generation's sons shot in the head and buried in an airplane in a place where he did not die.  Outside of the mystery, Michelle spends a good part of the year cheating on Nelson...and Ruth and Frank get together, though Ruth admits she's in love with someone else (Nelson of course)  A good one, though lots of bleakness.

Goodreads synopsis:  The chilling discovery of a downed World War II plane with a body inside leads Ruth and DCI Nelson to uncover a wealthy family’s secrets in the seventh Ruth Galloway mystery.

Norfolk is suffering from record summer heat when a construction crew unearths a macabre discovery—a downed World War II plane with the pilot still inside. Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway quickly realizes that the skeleton couldn’t possibly be the pilot, and DNA tests identify the man as Fred Blackstock, a local aristocrat who had been reported dead at sea. When the remaining members of the Blackstock family learn about the discovery, they seem strangely frightened by the news.

Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk’s deserted air force bases, the so-called Ghost Fields, which have been partially converted into a pig farm run by one of the younger Blackstocks. As production begins, Ruth notices a mysterious man lurking on the outskirts of Fred Blackstock’s memorial service. Then human bones are found on the family’s pig farm. Can the team outrace a looming flood to find a killer?

Laced with dry humor and anchored by perennial fan favorite Ruth, The Ghost Fields will delight fans new and old.