I’m in my Explorer idling down Hogpath Road when my dispatcher’s voice cracks over the radio.

“Chief, I’ve got a 10-54.”

I pick up my mike. “What’s the twenty on that?”

“Dogleg Road past the bridge.”

It’s a curvy stretch of asphalt with a fifty-five mile per hour speed limit and blind hills galore.

“Is that Ivan Hershberger’s place?” I ask.

“That’s affirm.”

I sigh. “I’m ten seven six.”

As I make the turn onto Dogleg Road, I spot officer Chuck “Skid” Skidmore’s cruiser and roll up behind him. An Amish buggy is parked on the shoulder. A huge Angus bull is standing in the road. Ivan is a portly man clad in dark trousers, work shirt and suspenders, and flat-brimmed hat.

“Guder nammidaag.” We shake hands. Good afternoon.

He grimaces, contrite. “I reckon I should have fixed that fence.”

I turn my attention to the bull. He stares back, chewing his cud, impervious to my displeasure.

“That’s Andy,” Ivan informs me.

“Do you think we can get him back into the pasture?” I ask.

Ivan scratches his head. “He’s not known for his cooperation.”

I try not to groan as I start toward Skid. “Looks like we have a fourteen-hundred-pound problem on our hands.”

“I told him I was packing heat.” Skid motions toward the bull. “He wasn’t impressed.”

“I got a couple of cowboys on the way,” Stutzman says.

I glance toward the road, uneasy with waiting because the bull is at the base of a blind hill.

“Let’s see if we can herd him back into the pasture,” I say.

“We can try.” But the Amishman’s voice is skeptical.

Skid motions toward the fence. “Looks like he got out there.”

Sure enough, ten yards away, the rusty wire is laid over and trampled.

Ivan goes to his buggy, returns with a buggy whip, and hands it to Skid. “This might help.”

“A little tap-tap on his rump ought to do it,” I say.

“What could possibly go wrong?” Skid mutters as he moves around so that he’s behind the bull. Raising his arms, whip in hand, he lets out a whistle. “Let’s go, T-Bone!”

The bull turns to us and tosses his head.

“Doesn’t like that whip much,” Stutzman says, unhelpfully.

Skid taps the animal’s rump. “Move it!”

Tail swishing, the bull swivels to us, puts his head down, and paws the ground.

Alarm rattles through me. “Look out!”

“Run!” Stutzman shouts.

The bull charges. Skid vaults the hood of his cruiser. The bull spins and comes at me fast, but I’m ready and join the men behind the cruiser.

“That went well,” I say beneath my breath.

The sound of horse shoes against the road draws my attention. I glance over to see two huge Percheron horses trotting toward us, riders astride. Draft horses are generally used for pulling heavy loads. It’s not often that you see someone riding them, certainly not two little girls who aren’t much older than ten or twelve years old.

Stutzman grins. “Ah, the cowboys.”

The girls are riding bareback. Homemade dresses tucked into pants. Bare feet dangling. Fresh green switches in their hands.

“Cavalry to the rescue,” Skid mutters.

The part of me that is a cop knows two minor children should not be dealing with a rank bull. The part of me that was born Amish and raised on a farm knows they’ve done this before.

The oldest girl nudges her horse toward the bull and taps the animal’s rump. “Kumma druff!” she shouts. Come on there!

The horses are undaunted by the bad-tempered bovine. One of them pins his ears and nips the bull’s rump. Suddenly, Andy isn’t quite so cocky and moves forward.

“Those horses raised Andy,” Stutzman tells us. “Taught him at a young age that he’d best behave or risk a nip.”

I watch, impressed, as the girls herd the bull through the opening.

“Dank, Katie.” Thanks. Pliers in hand, Stutzman starts toward the fence. “I’d best get to work.”

Skid and I look at each other.

“Never underestimate the pluck of an Amish girl,” I tell him.

We’re both smiling when we head back to our vehicles.

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The Burning, A Kate Burkholder Mystery Book #16
Genre: Police Procedural
Release: July 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates a gruesome murder that reveals a little-known chapter of early Amish history in this next riveting installment of the bestselling series by Linda Castillo.

Newlywed Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is awakened by an urgent midnight call summoning her to a suspicious fire in the woods. When she arrives at the scene, she discovers a charred body. According to the coroner, the deceased, an Amish man named Milan Swanz, was chained to a stake and burned alive. It is an appalling and eerily symbolic crime against an upstanding husband and father.

Kate knows all too well that the Amish prefer to handle their problems without interference from the outside world, and no one will speak about the murdered man. From what she’s able to piece together, Swanz led a deeply troubled life and had recently been excommunicated. But if that’s the case, why are the Amish so reluctant to talk about him? Are they protecting the memory of one of their own? Or are they afraid of something they dare not share?

When her own brother is implicated in the case, Kate finds herself not only at odds with the Amish, the world of which she was once a part, but also the English community and her counterparts in law enforcement. The investigation takes a violent turn when Kate’s life is threatened by a mysterious stranger.

To uncover the truth about the death of Milan Swanz, Kate must dive deep into the Anabaptist culture, peering into all the dark corners of its history, only to uncover a secret legacy that shatters everything she thought she knew about the Amish themselves—and her own roots.

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About the author
Linda Castillo is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Kate Burkholder mystery series, set in the world of the Amish. The first book, Sworn to Silence, was adapted into a Lifetime original movie titled An Amish Murder starring Neve Campbell as Kate Burkholder. Critically acclaimed as “the master of the genre” (People magazine), Castillo is the recipient of numerous industry awards including an Edgar Award, the Sue Grafton Memorial Award, a nomination by the International Thriller Writers for Best Hardcover, a nomination for an Audie Award for best mystery audiobook, and an appearance on the Boston Globe’s shortlist for best crime novel. Her books have sold over four million copies worldwide and been translated into fourteen languages. She lives in Texas with her husband and a menagerie of animals, and is currently at work on her next book.