The mysteries themselves are, for the most part, well done. Instead, Kate and Tomasetti make a great team, bouncing ideas and theories off of each other, respecting the other’s thoughts and opinions, and providing each other with challenges to grow. I really appreciated that Castillo didn’t feel like she had to give Kate a dumbed-down boyfriend in order to make Kate look good. He also comes from a troubled and tragic past, but overall is levelheaded, intelligent, and logical. If I’m honest, Tomasetti was one of the reasons I enjoyed the series so much. Part of this is Kate’s romantic interest, John Tomasetti. Instead, Castillo decides to put Kate on a path of progress – throughout the books she is able to face various demons from her past, becoming stronger and growing as a person. At the beginning, I was afraid she was going to turn into one of those dark, tortured souls who is drunk all the time and on a path to self-destruction. Kate is overall a likable person, which is a big part of why this series works. Her unique background means that she can often work as a sort of bridge between the Amish and non-Amish (aka “English”) communities, as she is familiar with the Amish culture and also speaks Pennsylvania Dutch. Through a series of life events, she joined law enforcement, and a decade or so after she left, finds herself back in Painters Mill. Kate was born and raised Amish, but left the community at the age of 18. The protagonist, Kate Burkholder, is the chief of police in a small town in Amish country (i.e. Part of the pleasure in these books for me is their setting – right here in Ohio. It’s been a while since I just sat down and immersed myself in a series (especially a mystery series), but I am so glad that I did that with these books! I really enjoyed these mysteries a lot, and I’m excited because it appears that Castillo is still adding to the series, with #11 scheduled for publication this summer. The links in the titles above actually go to her reviews of these books, so you should definitely check out her thoughts!! The Aroma of Books //Rants//Raves//Reviews//įirst off, these books were brought to my attention by my good book-blogging buddy Stephanie.

Pargeter, Edith (also writing as Ellis Peters).Mertz, Barbara (also writing as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels).Christie, Agatha (also writing as Mary Westmacott).Children’s History: Landmark, Signature Biographies, and We Were There.

#BookSpin & #BookSpinBingo (Litsy Challenge).

Linda castillo silence series