More for July! Released yesterday!
Thanks to Minotaur Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
SHAMED – Linda Castillo (out now!)
Check back for the #allthebookreviews thoughts.
My Thoughts: 4/5 stars!
This was my introduction to Linda Castillo and I heard that this was book 11 in her Kate Burkholder series. This didn’t really matter because I was able to follow along just fine and not feel lost. SHAMED is a police procedural that brings us to rural Ohio and into the Amish community. When a woman is brutally stabbed and her granddaughter goes missing the detectives are working against the clock to find her.
With this being my introduction to Burkholder and the small town she’s in (I kind of laughed at what was considered a small town when I’m in a town of less than 900), but I didn’t feel like I was missing vital information. Castillo did a good job giving the readers a good understanding of who she is as a character without bogging everything down with unnecessary info. That opening – the attack on the grandmother was intense! Talk about grabbing your attention immediately.
This is a slower mystery/suspense novel, exactly what you would expect with a police procedural. We get to dive into the community and really connect with the cast of characters. I also feel like Castillo really immerses you in the Amish community and into their lifestyle. The Amish fascinate me and I liked that Burkholder had a unique perspective considering that she left that lifestyle. I definitely want to go back and pick up some of the other books in the series and see what other cases Burkholder has faced!