Outsider

Gina Colorosa was like a sister to Kate Burkholder after Kate had left her Amish family permanently. Gina gave help and encouragement as the two of them entered police work, until Gina's bad decisions as a rookie cop caused a rift in their relationship. Now Gina, in mortal danger from her colleagues in the Columbus, Ohio, vice unit because of what she knows, reaches out to Kate, police chief in the small town of Painters Mill, in the midst of a massive blizzard. Gina is hiding in the home of Amish farmer Adam Lengacher, and Kate is unsure about what to believe of Gina's account of the activities of her corrupt police unit, prompting Kate to call on her significant other, John Tomasetti, an agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, for advice. As weather conditions worsen and the Columbus police launch a search for Gina, Kate worries about the Lengacher family's involvement and Gina's probable future; then things turn deadly. This twelfth entry in the best-selling Burkholder series is another fast-paced, suspense-building ride, showing the character development and sensitivity to the Amish culture that mark Castillo's masterful crime fiction.

At the start of bestseller Castillo's suspenseful 12th Kate Burkholder mystery (after 2019's Shamed), young Amish widower Adam Lengacher, while out in his sleigh on a snowy day with his three small children, spots a car in a ditch. Nearby he finds an injured woman who's been shot and who asks for Painters Mill, Ohio, police chief Kate Burkholder. Adam takes the woman to his farmhouse and notifies the police. When Kate gets to Adam's house, she's shocked to discover that the woman is her old friend and fellow cop, Gina Colorosa, whom she hasn't seen in a decade. Gina is on the run, wanted for killing an informant, but swears she's being framed by fellow members of the Columbus vice-squad. A blizzard strands the two women on the farm with Adam and his family, and the dirty cops are on Gina's trail. In spite of Kate's desire to believe Gina is innocent, Kate knows her too well to trust she's telling the truth. Amid all the mayhem, Castillo presents a loving, realistic portrait of Amish life. Readers will hope Kate has a long career. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (July)

A white-hot case reunites old friends who'd been estranged for years. Leaving the Amish community behind, Kate Burkholder was struggling to survive in Columbus, Ohio, when she met ambitious Gina Colorosa. They became friends, shared an apartment, and graduated from the police academy together. But when Gina started accepting freebies and bribes, their friendship foundered, and Kate eventually left to take a job as police chief in Painters Mill. Now Gina's in trouble with fellow vice squad officers who think she stole a pot of drug money they were supposed to share. She barely escapes with her life when a no-knock warrant brings them to her house in the dead of night. The only person she can trust even after 10 years of silence is Kate. In the middle of a blizzard, Gina crashes her truck and almost freezes before she's found by Amish widower Adam Lengacher, a childhood friend of Kate's. When Kate arrives, Gina tells a sordid story of corruption at the highest levels and coverups concerning innocent civilians killed in a raid. The warrant out for Gina's arrest and her own doubts about Gina's incredible story put Kate in a tough spot. So she calls her boyfriend, Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent John Tomasetti, for advice. Snowed in, Gina tries to adapt to living in an Amish home with three small children and Adam, who's clearly attracted to her. While they wait for Tomasetti to mine his sources, several of the crooked cops plot to track her down and kill her in what will look like an arrest gone wrong. A pulse-pounding Amish thriller (really!) that's all too relevant to our time. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.