FALLEN

4 stars out of 5

As of 2020, Ohio boasted the second largest population of Amish (sandwiched between the border states of Pennsylvania, which ranks first, and Indiana at third), according to multiple sources. There are plenty in my neck of the woods, and I've been to Holmes County, Ohio, the site of the Buckeye State's largest settlement and the setting for this book. I've always had an interest in Amish culture and beliefs; combine that with a good old-fashioned police story and a strong woman leading the investigation, and this book had me from the giddyup.

That woman is Kate Burkholder, who was born Amish but left the order and now serves as police chief in Painters Mill. With significant other John Tomasetti, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation officer, she lives in Wooster (yep, been there and no doubt passed their house several times). Serious crimes here are few and far between, but that streak comes to an abrupt end when Kate is called to a local motel room, where the badly beaten body of a woman has been found. Turns out it's Rachael Schwartz, whose nonconformist behavior got her thrown out of the Amish fold as a rebellious teenager. She hasn't returned home since, as far as anyone knows - so what brought her back and who would want to kill her?

As the investigation progresses, Kate gets help from her sweetie Tomasetti, the state and county cops, and the consensus is that Rachael's wild behavior made her far more enemies than friends (whether they be Amish or English). In fact, a local Amish woman seems to be the only person who can tolerate Rachael - and she claims to not have seen her for quite some time. Not long ago, Rachael wrote an expose book on life within her former Amish community; needless to say, it ruffled quite a few feathers, especially within a local splinter group that, for the most part, isn't much loved by the "regular" Amish .

With so many possible suspects - even Rachael's business partner wasn't all that fond of her, for goodness sake - it's hard for Kate to nail down solid clues. As she bounces around, though, it becomes clear that somebody wants her to stop - and just may be willing to go to great lengths to make sure she does exactly that. There's plenty of action in this, the 13th book in the series, as well as a couple of twists (one I pretty much saw coming and the other not at all). My only frustration, if you can call it that, is the (to me) excessive use of Amish phrases followed by English translations. On the one hand that's a much-appreciated feature for someone like me who wants to learn, but there were just too many and, Mein Gott, several that in context really didn't need an explanation.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book - and Kate - so much so that I plan to follow this series from now on. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. 

Fallen by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books, July 2021); 320 pp.