She used to be Amish, and it gives her a rare insider’s perspective into a very secretive world. She has good reason to be worried: the Amish are notoriously secretive and distrustful of outsiders. It’s a horrifying scenario, and Kate knows that getting to the bottom of these events won’t be easy. He also reveals that he has broken fingers, which he thinks came from someone striking them while he was hanging from the side of the pit. In fact, he thinks it was caused by blunt-force trauma. Doc Coblentz points out a contusion on Solomon Slabaugh’s head that he believes was not caused by the fall into the manure pit. Kate must then take on the heartbreaking job of interviewing the children, and all clues, plus the children’s statements, point to a horrible accident-that is until Kate has a chat with the medical examiner. That’s when it hits me that these kids are alone. Another child falls to his knees, screaming for his mamm. In the smoggy haze of my thoughts, I’m aware of the teenage boy coming up beside me, looking down at his mother. The realization makes me want to slam my fist against the concrete. Filmy eyes stare back at me, and in that instant I know she’s gone.

It’s a horrific scene, and Kate is worried about the four children, who have now lost both their mother and father but also their uncle. They manage to haul the woman out of the pit, but she’s obviously dead, and the two men are too. The ambulance hasn’t arrived, and it’s up to Kate to act at her own peril. I can tell by their clothing that they’re Amish. There are two male victims and one female. Do you understand? Get some air in here.” “Open every door and window in this barn right now. Ten minutes.” He says the words through chattering teeth. The eldest male looks to be about seventeen years old.

“How long have they been down there?” I snap. When she arrives, she’s met by four very terrified children-the oldest of which is 17-and the situation doesn’t look good. It’s a dangerous situation because being down in that pit with the muck and the fumes that result from it can be fatal, so Kate’s in a race against time.

call informing her that three people are in a manure pit out at the Slabaugh farm. In this installment, the trouble starts with the senseless slaying of an Amish woman’s livestock, and boy does it get worse from there. It’s also my first read in this series-though it won’t be my last. Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo is the third book in the Kate Burkholder series, where Police Chief Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of a horrific tragedy on a peaceful Amish farm.īreaking Silence is the third book in Linda Castillo’s series featuring Painter’s Creek, Ohio, Police Chief Kate Burkholder, and it’s a doozy.

Linda castillo silence series