Saturday, July 14, 2012

Review: "GONE MISSING" by Linda Castillo


GONE MISSING is the fourth book in the Chief of Police Kate Burkholder series. A complex series that should be read in order and one that once again finds deep rooted evil hiding behind the pastoral beauty of Ohio’s Amish country. Long before she was Police of Chief of Painters Mill, Kate knew first hand that evil was present and could do horrible things. She knows that a missing child could mean several very bad things.

Agent John Tomasetti with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation also knows what evil can do from direct personal experience. He knows what it usually means when a child goes missing.  Tomasetti also knows that when the missing kids are Amish, he needs Kate’s help.

This two missing kids are not the only ones. As Burkholder and Tomasetti work to keep their relationship secret and stop the abductions, a nightmare is continuing to unfold for the missing and their families. Because of the secrecy of the Amish, the nightmare has been going on for years and only now is starting to come to light.

This latest in the series from Texas author Linda Castillo is another hard hitting mystery featuring a complex case, depravity at its worst, and the ongoing complex relationship between Burkholder and Tomasetti. These characters have been fleshed out in great detail over the preceding three books which leads to an obvious turning point in their relationship. That detail as well as the current ever widening case is handled well and with a skillful touch. 
 
This has been a powerful series since it began with Sworn to Silence. While Texas author Linda Castillo may have stepped away from the “silence” aspect of her titles, everything else readers of this series know and love remains fully present. Furthermore, this book continues the slow evolution of the Kate Burkholder character as she begins to feel a little more confident not just in her job, but as a woman who can have a real and positive relationship with a man. The bottom line is GONE MISSING is a complex, often very dark and extremely graphic mystery, that pulls no punches and will mess with your mind long after the last page.


Gone Missing
Linda Castillo
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
2012
ISBN# 978-0-312-65856-4
Hardback
277 Pages
$24.99


Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System. Again this year the summer reading challenge for adults and kids is now underway. For more information go to



Kevin R. Tipple © 2012

4 comments:

  1. Terrific review, Kevin. Love this series, and was interested in reading what you thought. Thanks!

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  2. Thank you, Lesa. I too love this series.

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  3. Great review! "Gone Missing" is definitely going on my TBR list!

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  4. Thank you, Patricia. I hope you like the book as much as I did. You could read it as a stand alone, but will get much more out of it if you have read the earlier ones in the series.

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