Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo

by:  Linda Castillo
published by:  Minotaur Books
publish date:  June 2013

What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident  suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental.  But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young boy who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate.  He may be the only one who knows what happened that night.  Desperate to find out who killed her best friend’s husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer amid the residents of Painter’s Mill.  It is a search that takes her on a  chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and makes her question everything she has ever believed about the Amish culture into which she was born.

So I'm back to the Kate Burkholder series.  I'm obsessed, what can I say?  This one drove me a little crazy.  Not the central mystery, but the subplot of the Daniel Lapp.  In this book, Daniel Lapp's bones are found and of course Kate and her family started flipping out.  That's understandable.  However, the jumps that Kate's mind make are crazy.  Like she didn't tell the Sheriff about the missing person's case of Daniel Lapp when the bones were found....ummm that's because it's a 17 year old case.  Why would a 17 year old case immediately spring to anyone's mind?  And she's worried that she won't give the right details from that day when they question her.  Can anyone remember the specifics of a day 17 years ago?  No!  That stuff was getting a little ridiculous.

Otherwise, I really liked this book.  The mystery was different than the others in this series.  I love Painters Mill and the characters in the town.  This book also talked about the genetic problems within the Amish community and I thought that was interesting aspect.