A dark path : and other Kate Burkholder short stories / Linda Castillo.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

For the first time in print comes a collection of five short stories in the Edgar award-winning Kate Burkholder series, PLUS one new, never-before-published story, from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo.

When two young boys don''t return home from an innocent afternoon of fishing, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must track them down before the first winter storm of the season bears down on Painters Mill in THE PACT.

In DISAPPEARED, Kate races against the clock to find a two-year-old who has vanished during a violent thunderstorm. Was the little boy swept away in the rising creek waters? Or is his disappearance even more sinister?

In BLOOD MOON, a man is brutally attacked by a large beast in the woods. Throughout the night, reports of similar incidents escalate and Kate must confront the creature terrorizing the town before violence tips over into tragedy.

When a family dog brings home a human bone, Kate finds herself on a desperate search for answers to end the macabre rumors and ghost stories inundating Painters Mill in the Edgar award-winning short story HALLOWED GROUND.

In DARK STORM RISING, Kate must brave a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe. Will Kate reach her in time to save her life?

In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They''d recently been threatened by their granddaughter''s troubled boyfriend--and there''s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it''s too late.

wers to end the macabre rumors and ghost stories inundating Painters Mill in the Edgar award-winning short story HALLOWED GROUND.

In DARK STORM RISING, Kate must brave a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe. Will Kate reach her in time to save her life?

In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They''d recently been threatened by their granddaughter''s troubled boyfriend--and there''s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it''s too late.wers to end the macabre rumors and ghost stories inundating Painters Mill in the Edgar award-winning short story HALLOWED GROUND.

In DARK STORM RISING, Kate must brave a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe. Will Kate reach her in time to save her life?

In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They''d recently been threatened by their granddaughter''s troubled boyfriend--and there''s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it''s too late.wers to end the macabre rumors and ghost stories inundating Painters Mill in the Edgar award-winning short story HALLOWED GROUND.

In DARK STORM RISING, Kate must brave a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe. Will Kate reach her in time to save her life?

In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They''d recently been threatened by their granddaughter''s troubled boyfriend--and there''s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it''s too late.br>
In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They''d recently been threatened by their granddaughter''s troubled boyfriend--and there''s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it''s too late.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Castillo's latest (after Rage, 2025) is a collection of six short stories featuring ex-Amish, small-town police chief Kate Burkholder, whose tact, tolerance, patience, and mental and physical toughness have earned her the townsfolk's respect. While the focus is on Kate's police work, the stories feature enlightening descriptions of life in a small town where the "English" and Amish co-exist. The stories are diverse and absorbing, ranging from a missing "half-Amish" toddler who appears to have been kidnapped by his non-Amish father, to two missing adolescents--one English, one Amish--who run away after their parents forbid their friendship, to reported sightings of a terrifying "devil monster". One story has decades-old human bones being carried home by dogs; another story sees an elderly woman go missing after she and her husband refuse to sell their land. The final tale features an angry boyfriend bent on revenge when his Amish girlfriend breaks up with him. All six stories feature Castillo's trademark blend of twists, suspense, warmth, gentle humor, and sometimes violence, but with Kate Burkholder on the scene, readers can be assured of a satisfying and enjoyable read.

Kirkus Book Review

Half a dozen long stories, five of them written between 2020 and 2024, about formerly Amish police chief Kate Burkholder, who keeps watching cultural borders in Painters Mill, Ohio, shimmer and shake. In "The Pact," Kate seeks a pair of tween boys, the Amish Aaron Kuhns and the "Englischer" Kevin Dennison, who've defied Kevin's family, which has forbidden their friendship, in becoming blood brothers on a night of adventure that turns perilous. "Disappeared" asks whether Little Joe Kline, a 2-year-old who's vanished from his Amish family's home, has been taken by his birth father, Thomas McKee, a non-Amish man with a troubled past. In "Blood Moon," the locals are terrorized, and several of them attacked, by a shadowy beast. Is it a bear or a wolf, neither of them native to Ohio--or, still worse, a mythical chupacabra? Human remains originally buried in an Amish cemetery whose new owner plans to open a B & B turn up in three different locations in "Hallowed Ground." In "Dark Storm Rising," Kate's honeymoon with Agent John Tomasetti, of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, takes the newlyweds to the lakeside Sugar Maple Cabins, where Kate's fond memories of her childhood are seriously disrupted by a snowstorm, the disappearance of one of their hosts, and the torching of one of the cabins. The title story, published here for the first time, uses a series of roadway accidents involving cars, buggies, drivers, and passengers to upend an Amish couple's plan to spirit their granddaughter away from her unsuitable beau. Most of the stories aren't very mysterious, but they're so varied that many readers will put down the volume without noticing the lack of a single fatality. Castillo uses mystery tropes to explore the contact zones of Amish culture with nature, outsiders, and the dead. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.