Kevin Tipple caught my comment the other day that I didn’t really have anything to post until May 20, and he sent me a review of Linda Castillo’s latest Kate Burkholder short story, “Hallowed Ground”. I appreciate it, Kevin!
It is Fall as Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story begins and the annual Pumpkin Festival is just days away. Eddie Chupp is harvesting his pumpkins when his dog finds an old bone. A jawbone to be exact. He would have thought it was a from a long dead sheep until he spotted the sliver in one of the molars.
That means this was a person.
It isn’t long before Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her fiancée, John Tomasetti, of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are at the scene. A place known for pumpkins and its location next to the annual corn maze is now a crime scene. The land frequently floods and that might be how the odd jawbone wound up amongst the pumpkins.
There might be more bones. There is a victim to identify. There certainly is a lot to do and it happens in Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story. A fast moving read with a lot going on. This is a solidly good tale. It also serves as a nice way to introduce Linda Castillo’s upcoming book, An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel, coming out on July 11th.
My reading copy came via a purchase as my local library system was not picking this one up. Make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review of Hallowed Ground.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
