Linda Castillo Books in Order (author of the Kate Burkholder series)
American novelist, Linda Castillo started her literary career writing romance and romantic suspense novels, but she’s mostly known today for the successful Kate Burkholder series. Crime thrillers that are set in Amish country, those novels are about Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as Chief of Police. Linda Castillo’s other passion is horses. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, three Appaloosas, and two feisty but loveable Blue Heelers.
How to read Linda Castillo’s Books in Order?
The Kate Burkholder series
Kate Burkholder is a former member of the Amish community but left her upbringing behind to pursue a career in law enforcement. However, her Amish roots continue to play a significant role in the series, as she often finds herself drawn back to her community and facing the conflict between her current life and her past.
Being the most successful series written by Linda Castillo, the Kate Burkholder series got its own page. For more information about the series, click here.
- Sworn to Silence (2009)
- Pray for Silence (2010)
- Breaking Silence (2011)
- Gone Missing (2012)
- Long Lost (2013, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- Her Last Breath (2013)
- The Dead Will Tell (2014)
- A Hidden Secret (2015, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- After the Storm (2015)
- Seeds of Deception (2016, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- Among the Wicked (2016)
- Only the Lucky (2018, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- Down a Dark Road (2017)
- In Dark Company (2018, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- A Gathering of Secrets (2018)
- In Plain Sight (2019, short story collected in A Simple Murder)
- Shamed (2019)
- The Pact (short story)
- Outsider (2020)
- Disappeared (short story)
- Fallen (2021)
- Blood Moon (short story)
- The Hidden One (2022)
- Hallowed Ground (short story)
- An Evil Heart (2023)
- The Burning (2024)
- Rage (2025)
The High Country Heroes Series
- Hero to Hold (2001) – She has no name, no memory, nothing but the knowledge that she’s pregnant and someone wants her dead. Her only hope is John-the rescue medic who saved her life, the Good Samaritan who vowed to keep her safe, the sexy stranger who’s stealing her heart. Her hero. Saving lives is his job, but John Maitland learned long ago the cost of personal involvement. Risking his life he could handle, risking his emotions-his heart-is out of the question. Until he rescues “Hannah,” battered, bruised and scared for her life, off the side of a mountain. Suddenly things are very, very personal….
- Just a Little Bit Dangerous (2002) – When Deputy Sheriff Jake Madigan was called to duty to bring in an escaped convict, he thought it would be a routine search-and-rescue mission. He was wrong. Turns out capturing Abby Nichols was a cinch compared to hauling her out of the Rocky Mountains during a treacherous blizzard. His pretty-as-sin prisoner was not the hardened criminal he had expected but a violet-eyed seductress who could almost make him forget his by-the-book ways. Jake knew that come hell or high water he would turn this woman over to the authorities once the storm passed. So why was he dodging bullets on her behalf and buying into her claim of innocence? Why was he so willing to warm her shivering body with his heated caresses?
- A Cry in the Night (2003) – Search-and-rescue leader Buzz Malone thought losing the only woman he’d ever loved was the worst blow life could deal. He was wrong. Finding out he has a son-a son his ex-wife, Kelly, had kept secret-is worse. Especially when that child is lost in the Rocky Mountains, pitted against a raging forest fire. Tirelessly trekking through the mountains with Buzz by her side, Kelly soon realizes that the wilderness isn’t the only thing on fire. The passion that has always flared between them now burns hotter than ever. If they ever make it through this ordeal alive, Kelly vows to face an even greater challenge-convincing Buzz to give their love another try.
The Operation: Midnight Series
- Operation: Midnight Tango (2005) – Taking gorgeous corrections officer Emily Monroe as his hostage, undercover CIA agent Zack Devlin was trying to escape with his life. But when he helped himself to Emily’s full, red lips and her body melted into Zack’s hard edges, she didn’t know if she was in danger or in love. Both harboring old secrets and heartache, Emily and Zack were forced to run from dark intentions; finding solace in each other’s body heat, they shared passion driven by pure adrenaline.
- Operation: Midnight Escape (2005) – Special Agent Jake Vanderpol swore he’d buried all tender feelings for Leigh Michaels. Until he learned that the arms dealer she’d testified against six years ago had escaped. Suddenly the memories were back…memories of urgent kisses in hiding. But after what happened, would she trust him to save her?
- Operation: Midnight Guardian (2006) – When a federal transport was ambushed and overturned in the wilds of Montana, MIDNIGHT agent Sean Cutter was given forty-eight hours to track down a desperate woman. But falsely accused, Mattie Logan didn’t want to be saved. It was Sean’s job to convince her otherwise. A former Department of Defense scientist now targeted by the terrorist known only as the Jaguar, Mattie couldn’t risk betrayal again. But neither could Sean.
- Operation: Midnight Rendezvous (2006) – Deep-cover operative Mike Madrid tracked Jessica Atwood with ease, but one look at her revealed her innocence. On the run with an orphan in tow, the spitfire called out to Madrid, stirring passions he thought long buried. But on this terrifying night, the secrets of Lighthouse Point would be exposed. And there were those who wouldn’t allow that to happen. Jess needed Mike’s protection from a desperate community, but could they reveal the truth about a dead mother without cutting to the heart of the growing attraction between them?
- Operation: Midnight Cowboy (2005) – All Bo Ruskin wanted was to forget his tragic past and to reclaim his quiet cowboy life. Instead, he had orders to protect Special Agent Rachael Armitage. Furious and frustrated, Rachael would rather die than abandon her dangerous mission. For even in the safety of Bo’s Montana ranch, an international crime lord was out to grant her wish. Drawn to this mysterious, hardened cowboy from her past, Rachael was certain Bo was hiding something. But first she’d have to learn the lay of the land if she were to live to learn the truth.
Other Linda Castillo’s Novels
- Remember the Night (Men in Blue) (2000)
- Cops and … Lovers (2001) – After nine years as one of Chicago’ s finest, Erin McNeal had come to sleepy Logan Falls for a second chance, not to be watched over by a man as infuriatingly overprotective– and disarmingly attractive– as Nick Ryan.
- The Perfect Victim (2002) – Despite a happy childhood, successful entrepreneur Addison Fox has always yearned to find her birth mother. And with the unexpected death of her adoptive parents comes a renewed determination to fill in the missing pieces of her life-to find her “other” family. But she’s too late…
- Midnight Run (2003) – Lean, edgy former police detective Jack LaCroix had forty-eight hours to clear his name and keep his freedom. To do it, the escaped prisoner needed attorney Landis McAllister, the woman he’d once thought would share his life. The woman who thought he’d betrayed her.
- The Phoenix Encounter (2003) – Robert Davidson thought he could handle returning to Rebelia, the war-ravaged country that nearly cost him his life–and had cost him Lily Scott, the passionate journalist he’d fallen in love with. But nothing could have prepared him for the shock of finding Lily still alive–with a child.
- The Shadow Side (2003) – Cases of random violence have erupted across the country-murderous acts committed by previously non-violent people. Detective Adam Boedecker, grieving brother to one of the suicide-murderers, has discovered that all the suspects had taken a new breakthrough anti-depressant, Valazine. Elizabeth Barnes has devoted her heart and soul to pharmaceutical research. She’s at the top of her game and slated to be awarded top honors for her latest breakthrough drug. Until a detective contacts her about a recent wave of homicides.
- Uncharted Waters (2003) – Hardened hero Drew Evans thought his tragic past was behind him, until the woman he secretly loves-his best friend’s widow-steps back into his solitary life. But single mom Alison Myers is in need of his help to save her ailing son-and quench her own hidden longings. Alison never expected to see devastatingly handsome Drew again, the one man who makes her feel the forbidden stirrings of passion. But can she trust him with the two most precious things in her life…her son and her heart?
- Fade to Red (2004) – After a childhood betrayal and tragedy, Lindsey Metcalf made a vow always to protect her younger sister, Traci. Although the two women have drifted apart, Lindsey’s worst fears are triggered when Traci mysteriously disappears from her home in Seattle. After filing a missing persons report, she learns that her sister has been hiding a lurid double life. Having had her fair share of run-ins with the police, Traci isn’t high on the department’s list of priorities. And the only man able to help Lindsey find the truth has his own trouble with the law…
- Dead Reckoning (2005) – Assistant D.A. Kate Megason is about to prosecute the case of her career-a senseless double homicide caught on video. But before she can bring it to trial, someone starts sending her terrifying messages. Someone who obviously knows Kate’s deep, dark secret… Eleven years ago, Kate and her seventeen-year-old twin sister were brutalized and left for dead. Kate survived, but her sister was left brain damaged, her life destroyed-and the perpetrators were never caught. Now, Kate needs the help of Frank Matrone-an investigator with his own shadowy secrets-to help her discover whether the maniac she escaped all those years ago is the same madman taunting her now.
- Depth Perception (2005) – Nat Jennings nearly died the night her family was murdered–and spent the next three years wishing she had. Now, she is returning to the sleepy bayou town of Bellerose, Louisiana, driven by cryptic messages only she can hear–messages pleading for her help…After serving six years for a crime he didn’t commit, Nick Bastille is back in Bellerose, mourning his precious son, who drowned while Nick was away at prison, unable to protect him. But when Nat approaches him with a shocking revelation, his denial slowly turns to a desire for revenge…
- A Whisper In the Dark (2006) – Until now, no one has suspected the truth about down-to-earth bookseller Julia Wainright. But the arrival of six threatening letters indicates someone has discovered her secret-and wants her to pay for her sins… Ever since he accidentally killed a fellow officer, ex-cop John Merrick has been tormented by the mistakes of his past. Now, called upon to repay a favor, he will do anything to keep Julia Wainright safe. To do that, though, he’ll first have to figure out what she’s hiding…
- A Baby Before Dawn (2007) – Chase Vickers never knew a day of fear. Then the blackout hit Boston and Lily Garrett, the woman he’d loved and walked away from eight months ago, was in danger. He needed to find her – but he didn’t expect to find her pregnant! Lily had always hated Chase’s dangerous life but, on the run in a dark city, he was her one chance for survival. This was one mission where he couldn’t fail. Not when his baby’s life was at stake…
- In the Dead of the Night (2007) – Sara Douglas watched as Nick Tyson emerged from the heavy rain, broken and battered. She’d returned to Cape Darkwood, and the cliff side mansion that held her family’s secrets, to research her parents’ murder-and stop the nightmares. As chief of police, Sara knew Nick could help. But his mere presence had always left her breathless…
- Overkill (2007) – A sadistic killer pushed Chicago cop Marty Hogan past her limits-and it was all caught on video. She lost her job, her sense of self, her entire world…until an open detective position in small-town Texas gave her a chance at redemption.
If you like our article about reading Linda Castillo’s Books in Order, don’t forget to bookmark it! Also, you may also want to see our guide for the Cassie Dewell series or the Stephanie Plum series.