Ohio Amish central in top-notch mystery

Linda Castillo’s excellent series delves deep into the culture of the Amish who are a part of the Painters Mill, Ohio, community that police chief Kate Burkholder oversees.

A vital component of the series is the insightful way that Castillo respectfully explores the Amish traditions and rules while also showing the moral complexities that can arise in any community.

“Shamed” begins when Mary Yoder, an Amish widow, is murdered in an abandoned farmhouse, her 7-year-old granddaughter, Elsie Helmuth, is kidnapped and Elsie’s 5-year-old sister, Annie, is able to escape. Traumatized, Annie is able to tell Kate only that the devil took her sister.

The search for Elsie is complicated when Kate learns that the child has special needs.

Adding to the complexities is the difficulty keeping communications open with the Helmuths, who, like their Amish neighbors, do not have a phone or a motorized vehicle.

The investigation takes a different route when Kate learns that Elsie is not the biological daughter of the Helmuths and that her adoption is still shrouded in secrecy. Elsie has Cohen syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that is slightly more common among the Amish.

Kate and her fellow law-enforcement officers become more frantic about Elsie’s safety hour by hour, especially when other murders and attempted killings become linked to the kidnapping.

The briskly paced “Shamed” intensifies with each chapter as Castillo uses the plot to examine the Amish culture.

The intelligent, insightful Kate continues to be an appealing character, with Castillo delivering new sides to her persona with each outing. “Shamed” is an outstanding addition to this solid series.

• “Shamed” (Minotaur, 320 pages, $26.99) by Linda Castillo