Linda Castillo 3: Breaking Silence

The Feels:

    We begin inside of the killer's mind, just before the murder. She did this in the first book as well and I liked it. It makes the book more exciting. It also instills a little fear in the reader; really sucks you in.

    I picked up on the number of police codes used in this specific book. That was fun to look at. Here's a chart I found if you're at all interested: https://copradar.com/tencodes/ 

    There were a lot of great twists in this book. I felt like my main reactions were 😲😳😱. Of these first three books, I would say this one has the best mystery. I've read this one before and this one has always sort of stuck with me. Very Agatha Christie. 

    One major idea that stuck out to me was the bigotry against the Amish. Having grown up in the rural Midwest, I could see some of it. Where I come from, I see Amish and Mennonites every so often. My experience has been only positive. I have heard some negative rumors about how "they" treat their horses that has been concerning to me, but I recognized that could just be a few isolated incidents. 

The Concerns:

   The main story starts off inside Pickle's head. He's the old guy, "reserve" cop. It was not fun being in his head. Talking sh*t about Mona and women cops. I f*ckin love Mona. Well, I guess Castillo is a good writer; she can even get inside that Macho Greatest Generation-Elder Boomer Gender B.S.

    Castillo's two favorite words; pump/pumping/pumped and staccato. Please😂, find better words. People also are constantly raising "a shoulder" then letting it "drop" and taking stairs "two at a time". Linda. Linda. You're a better writer than that. Or should be blame the copy editors on this one? They should have picked up on that.

    A bigger issue I have with this book is how the police handle suspects... In this post George Floyd era, I think crime writers need to be more mindful of how the police act, even if they are 100% the character has committed a crime. This is America, and even convicted criminals have rights, let alone suspects who have not been before a judge. Kate and Tomisettei got too far in this one. I know they both have trauma and PTSD they are working on. That is not an excuse for them to take that out on suspects. 

Overall, a great read! 

Plot: 9/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Meaningfullness: 8/10