Neve Campbell to Star in Amish Murder Drama on Lifetime

The movie is called Sworn to Silence. Campbell will play a character named Kate Burkholder, an Amish girl whose childhood was rocked by brutal murders in her quiet Amish farming community. Burkholder then returns to the community as the chief of police and investigates a new murder.

The plot is based on the book Sworn to Silence, written by Linda Castillo. An excerpt from the book can be found here [WARNING: PASSAGE CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE]. It essentially describes a scene of 21-year-old Burkholder being held captive by someone who had been brutally torturing her.

She eventually shoots the man, assumes that she killed him and survives the ordeal.

However, years later, as the police chief, Burkholder is confronted with a body that bears the signature of the murderer that haunted her youth. But to name [the murderer], she would betray both her family and her Amish past--and expose a dark secret that could destroy her, stated Costello's Web page for the book.

Lovers of suspense will find no better novel to read this summer than Sworn to Silence, wrote USA Today in a review about the book.

Others involved in the Lifetime project include Poppy Montgomery from Without a Trace, Stephen Gyllenhaal from Blue Bloods and Mark Malone from Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Growing our scripted programming remains a top priority for Lifetime and our longform strategy provides us with a strong stable from which to identify potential series. I've always admired Neve's work.  She is a proven talent who will bring a high level of intensity and presence to this role and Sworn to Silence, Lifetime president and GM Nancy Dubuc said in a statement.  

(Photo below from Reuters)