It is Fall as Hallowed Ground: A Kate
Burkholder Short Story by Linda Castillo begins and the annual Pumpkin Festival is just
days away. Eddie Chupp is harvesting his pumpkins when his dog finds an old
bone. A jawbone to be exact. He would have thought it was a from a long dead
sheep until he spotted the sliver in one of the molars.
That means this was a person.
It isn’t long before Chief of Police Kate Burkholder
and her fiancée, John Tomasetti, of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are
at the scene. A place known for pumpkins and its location next to the annual
corn maze is now a crime scene. The land frequently floods and that might be
how the odd jawbone wound up amongst the pumpkins.
There might be more bones. There is a victim to identify. There certainly is a lot to do and it happens in Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story. A fast moving read with a lot going on. This is a solidly good tale. It also serves as a nice way to introduce Linda Castillo’s upcoming book, An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel, coming out on July 11th.
My reading copy came via a purchase as my local library system was not picking this one up. Make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review of Hallowed Ground.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
Bones in the ground always intrigues.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we had a vegetable garden. Dad did not think we needed a rototiller, so yours truly had to dig it out every year. I think I was about twelve the year I found part of a jawbone. Parents freaked. Everybody thought it was human. Called the cops and soon we had four squad cars here. Then a homicide detective showed up, started cussing, and explained that we fools had a piece from a cow.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good story. I haven't read any of the series though. I do have the first on my shelf.
ReplyDeleteYou need to address that immediately. :)
ReplyDelete