REVIEW: The Dead Will Tell

The Dead Will Tell
Author: Linda Castillo

The Dead Will Tell is the sixth book in the Kate Burkholder series. Kate is the police chief in Painters Mill, Ohio. She grew up Amish, but left the faith as a teenager. Now she's back, running the local police department. In The Dead Will Tell, Kate is investigating a string of bizarre murders. The victims were stalked first. All received notes accusing them of being complicit in a crime. The case somehow ties in with a break-in at an Amish farm 35 years before that resulted in several deaths. Kate races to track down a killer before anyone else dies.

This story is solid....a horrific crime that turns into a 35 year cold case, revenge, danger and uncovering long-time secrets. I loved the investigation portion of this story, but I have to admit the Kate/John Tomasetti love interest portion of the plot got a bit old. Both of them are cops....so they should understand the hours, risks and importance of each other's jobs. But, now that they are semi-living together Tomasetti seems jealous and petulant about Kate doing her job, whining about not spending enough time together and pretty much being a jerk. This change in the character surprises me a bit. It seems....off. And, it really is exactly the situation that Kate worried about when Tomasetti was pressuring her to live with him. She's investigating several homicides and her man is complaining about her not being home to drink wine and go fishing with him??? What a load of poo. I think in this story, the romance angle jumped into the forefront a little bit too much. The background theme of Tomasetti going after the men responsible for the death of his wife and children several years before just gets a bit old....as does the Daniel Lapp side theme for Kate's character. Just my opinion.....I wish both would just get resolved so those themes don't have to be constantly dredged up again and again. BUT....that being said, this is still a solid book. I'm just getting a bit tired of the brooding, troubled boyfriend angle. That sort of theme is exactly why I avoid the romance genre....too melodramatic. I want murder investigation, not domestic upheaval scenes. Kate is a strong, intelligent woman who runs a police department with skill.....why wouldn't she put Tomasetti nicely, but firmly, into his place? Instead she goes into romantic commentary about how much she loves him....  I just want to jump into the story and tell her: Love him....but stand up for yourself, woman!

Ok....my bit of a rant about strong women getting bogged down in relationships is over.....I love this series. Kate is an intelligent and driven character. She has a lot of baggage from her childhood, but she uses her experience in her job. She works with one foot in the modern world and the other in the Amish culture.....makes for a great book series!

The Dead Will Tell is the sixth book in the series. There are currently 10 books, with a new book, Shamed, coming out in July 2019. I have an eGalley waiting for me...so decided to read through the series from the start as a refresher before reading the new book. I'm glad I did. I had previously read the first three books and then lost track of the series while waiting for book 4 to be published several years ago. Glad I picked it back up and revisited this series. The stories are well-written, suspenseful and interesting. Very entertaining! Just wish Kate would get her love life under control!  lol

I listened to the audio book version of this story. Kathleen McInerney narrates. Her voice is pleasant and she reads at an even pace. She gives a great performance as usual! The audio is just over 8.5 hours long. I have partial hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand the entire book. Very entertaining! I love listening to these books while working out in the yard. There are some sexual scenes, but they aren't graphic so I don't have to hurridly turn down the volume on my phone to not traumatize the neighbors. ha ha.

On to book 7, After the Storm!