When a young woman is found murdered in a Painters Mill motel, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is shocked to discover she once knew the victim. Rachael Schwartz was a charming but troubled Amish girl who left the fold years ago and fled Painters Mill. Why was she back in town? And who would kill her so brutally?
Kate remembers Rachael as the only girl who was as bad at being Amish as Kate was—and those parallels dog her. But the more Kate learns about Rachael’s life, the more she’s convinced that her dubious reputation was deserved. As a child, Rachael was a rowdy rulebreaker whose decision to leave devastated her parents and best friend. As an adult, she was charismatic and beautiful, a rabble-rouser with a keen eye for opportunity no matter who got in her way. Her no-holds-barred lifestyle earned her a lot of love and enemies aplenty—both English and Amish.
As the case heats to a fever pitch and long-buried secrets resurface, a killer haunts Painters Mill. Someone doesn’t want Rachael’s past—or the mysteries she took with her to the grave—coming to light. As Kate digs deeper, violence strikes again, this time hitting close to home. Will Kate uncover the truth and bring a murderer to justice? Or will a killer bent on protecting a terrible past stop her once and for all—and let the fallen be forgotten?
Release Date: Jul 6, 2021
Publisher: Macmillan
Imprint: Minotaur Books
Price: $14.99
Rachael Schwartz returns to Painters Mill, Ohio after leaving her hometown and her Amish family and way of life behind twelve years ago. Rachael intends to right a wrong, but never gets the chance. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of a brutal murder in a motel room and the victim is identified as Rachael. Kate also used to be Amish and was acquainted with Rachael before she left town. Kate calls for assistance from the bureau of investigation and the agent assigned is Kate’s boyfriend John Tomasetti. Both Kate and John are determined to get justice for the victim whose life has been cut way too short.
Fallen is the thirteenth book in the Kate Burkholder series. It is a gritty, suspenseful crime novel that will keep your interest from start to finish. I’ve read a couple of the prior novels and short stories that are in this series, but this book reads as a standalone. Kate is an excellent investigator and even though she has left the Amish faith, her background helps her to understand those still in that community even if many of them don’t accept her because of the choices she made. All the stories I’ve read in this series are well-written and give what seems to be a true look at what life is like for the Amish. Kate really identifies with Rachael, another young woman like her, who didn’t fit in with the Amish community, and this makes the investigation even more difficult. Although Kate and John are both working on the case, most of their work is done separately with them coming together to share information. This seems realistic, but I would have liked them to work together more.
Rachael enjoyed stirring up trouble, so Kate is able to uncover several viable suspects, some of whom are really despicable characters. I had seen one of the revelations at the end of the book which was supposed to be a bombshell from the first time the character was introduced and it’s hard to believe Kate didn’t, too. However, other twists that occur did take me by surprise. The biggest of all is the identity of the murderer. I appreciate being surprised in a mystery or suspense novel, but in this case I couldn’t reconcile the killer with the murder. Without spoiling anything, I find this part of the story hard to believe and that influenced my opinion of the book overall. It is still a good book and there are some truly terrifying scenes toward the end during which I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough, but it isn’t my favorite by this author.
~ Christine
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