num_pages: 302
description: Police Chief Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of a horrific tragedy on a peaceful Amish farm.The Slabaugh family are model Amish farmers prosperous and hardworking with four children and a happy extended family. When the parents and an uncle are found dead in their barn it appears to be a gruesome accident: methane gas asphyxiation caused by a poorly ventilated cesspit. But in the course of a routine autopsy the coroner discovers that one of the victims suffered a head wound before deathclearly foul play was involved. But who would want to make orphans of the Slabaughs children? And is this murder somehow related to a recent string of shocking hate crimes against the Amish? Having grown up Amish Kate is determined to bring the killer to justice. Because the other series of attacks are designated hate crimes the state sends in agent John Tomasetti with whom Kate has a long and complex relationship. Together they search for the link between the crimesand uncover a dark secret at work beneath the placid surface of this idyllic Amish community.
language: English
title: Breaking Silence
publisher: Minotaur Books