Welcome! In His Father's Footsteps by Danielle Steel will be available on September 4. I started reading her books when I was twelve (I liberated them from my mother's bookshelves) and have read them ever since. Hitting the books by Jenn McKinlay will published on September 11 along with Ours for a Season by Kim Vogel Sawyer.
A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo is the tenth A Kate Burkholder Novel. Kate Burkholder, the police chief for
Painters Mill, gets a late night call about a barn on fire at the Gingerich’s. Kate arrives and is told that Daniel Gingerich
is missing. It looks like an accidental
barn fire until Daniel’s body is found inside the locked and barricaded tack
room. Someone wanted to make sure that
Daniel did not survive the fire. Kate begins
her investigation, but the Amish in Painters Mill are less than
forthcoming. Despite being raised Amish
and having family in the community, Kate’s uniform and position holds her
apart. She is determined, though, to
find out who murdered Daniel and set fire to the Gingerich’s barn. The more Kate learns about Daniel, the more
unsettled she feels. Can Kate break
through the wall of silence to get the answers she needs?
I do not recommend reading A Gathering of Secrets on its own. While
it can be read alone, you will miss out on Kate’s backstory. Why she is no longer Amish, how she become the
police chief, her relationship with John Tomasetti, and how she gets along with
her family. In A Gathering of Secrets,
we follow Kate as she delves into Daniel’s life. She gathers evidence, interviews family and
friends, follows up on anonymous tips, etc.
Kate finds herself once again in a situation that endangers her
life. I am amazed that she allowed herself
to fall for the one incident. Kate has
enough experience to know better (I would say more but it would be a spoiler). A Gathering of Secrets contains good writing
and I like Kate’s character. She is a
strong, smart woman who does a difficult job.
It cannot be easy being English in a community where you grew up Amish. I would like to see Kate grow more as a
person. It is time for her to move
beyond what happened to her as a teenager (she will never forget it, but she
needs to find a way to deal with what happened to her so she can have a future). I was disappointed that A Gathering of Secrets is exactly like the nine books before it. The author seems to follow a formula for her
books and she is sticking with it. The
descriptions are the fire, the body and other crimes are vivid and explicit. There is an uncalled for amount of foul
language as well. I liked that the
author included different Amish sects (Beachy Amish and Swartzentruber) and explained
the differences. The mystery had depth,
but the solution was obvious. I kept
hoping there would be a surprise/twist that would shock me. I was amazed at the amount of violence from
non-violent people. My rating for A Gathering of Secrets is 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay).
While I was not enamored with A Gathering of Secrets, I will read the
next A Kate Burkholder Novel.
I appreciate you visiting today and reading my review. If you find my reviews helpful, please consider following my blog or adding me to your Google circle (upper right). On Tuesday, I will be sharing my thoughts on Dim Sum of all Fears by Vivien Chien. I will also tell you about the new books that have been published. May you have a whimsical day. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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