Karin Slaughter: The perfect name for a crime writer

A little bit of background📃

Karin Slaughter is a hugely successful American crime writer who has written 24 novels at the time of writing this post, selling over 40 million copies. If ever there was someone destined to become a crime writer, it would be someone called Slaughter!

I've read all of Karin Slaughter's books. I think she's a gifted storyteller and one of the few American crime and thriller writers I read and have stuck with through the years. I don't think I've ever guessed the outcome of any of her books, although it helps that the endings aren't bonkers (disturbing, but not bonkers). Slaughter paints a pretty dark picture of human behaviour so her books aren't an easy read. I don't tend to find the violence gratuitous, though, as it is an important part of the story. That said, Slaughter's books are VERY disturbing, in terms of their subject matter and in their graphic descriptions of terrible things people do to others. I think that's the point of what Slaughter does, to provoke a human response from the reader and create an emotional investment in the characters. Slaughter's books are a constant reminder of the worst of humankind and it's important that we don't forget that the psychopaths who haunt her books are out there amongst us.

Karin Slaughter grew up in Georgia (as in the American state, not the country!). She started a degree in literature at Georgia State University, but dropped out before graduation. She later founded Save the libraries, a non-profit organisation that campaigns to support public libraries.

Slaughter's collection of works includes a set of standalone crime stories and three series. The two series that she is probably is most known for are the Grant county and Will Trent books. The former includes six books (published 2001-2007) set in a small fictional Georgian town, Heartsdale. This series features Dr Sara Linton, the town's paediatrician and later Medical Examiner, her husband, Chief of Police, Jeffrey Tolliver, and local Detective, Lena Adams. The second series of 12 books (as I write this post) is set in Atlanta and follows Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Will Trent and his partner, Faith Mitchell. The two series merged in the second Will Trent book, published in 2008. You can read my post that reviews the series here.

The Will Trent books are now a television series. I haven't watched the series as, looking at the cast list, hardly any of the actors look like how I imagine their characters to be in the books. I know that is a weak reason not to watch the show, but after having read the books for so long, I just can't vibe with the mismatched actors.

There is now a third series underway with the publication of Pieces of her (2018) and Girl, forgotten (2022), featuring Andrea Oliver. We first meet Andrea as she uncovers her mother's secret past and in the second book, Andrea becomes a US Marshal. Pieces of her has been adapted into a Netflix eight-episode series, starring Toni Collette. It's fairly faithful to the book, and Collette is one of my favourite actors, but I didn't love Pieces of her as a book, so the television version doesn't do much for me, either. Girl, forgotten is much better! You can read my review of the Andrea Oliver series here.

There four standalone novels in Slaughter's repertoire to date, Cop town, Pretty girls, The good daughter, and False witness. Here are my thoughts on the four books, reviewed in order of publication.

False witness (2021)

The story📖

The book's protagonist is Leigh Coulton, a successful lawyer hiding a dark past. Leigh takes on a new case where she must defend a wealthy man accused of rape. The case turns out to be linked to her past, and there is only one person who can help her, estranged younger sister Calli.

My thoughts on the book💭

I persevered to the end, but that's all the only positive thing I have to say about this book. What didn't work for me? The entire book! It was published in 2021 and is full of COVID references, so much so that the pandemic overshadows the story. I can barely recall the details as I write this review some time after reading the book. I remember thinking the book was not well-written even without the constant annoying COVID references.

This comment from a Goodreads reviewer sums up my thoughts on the book:

What did I just read? Was that a suspense thriller or a pamphlet from the CDC about the importance of social distancing and wearing your mask? What should have been a riveting tale of revenge turned out to be a frustrating tale of virtue signaling and holier-than-thou preaching about Covid that completely removes the reader from the story.

In sum📝

I can honestly say this is one of the few Slaughter books that I haven't liked. At. All. It is 100% not up to her usual standard and all the pandemic preaching completely overwhelmed the narrative. I suggest you skip False witness so it doesn't put you off Slaughter's other quality work.

Rating: ⭐⭐

The good daughter (2017)

The story📖

There are two women at the heart of The good daughter: Samantha and Charlotte Quinn. Twenty-eight years ago in their small Georgia town, their home was broken into and their mother murdered. Charlie, the good daughter, has followed in her father's footsteps and become a lawyer. Charlie is a "good" defence lawyer, whereas her father, Rusty, defends thieves, drug dealers and murderers. When Charlie witnesses an horrific act of violence and her estranged sister, Sam, returns to the town, the Quinn family is forced to face up to what happened all those years ago.

My thoughts on the book💭

Slaughter's books, while disturbing, are strong character stories. The family dynamics and dysfunction in The good daughter create a compelling narrative if you can stomach the violence. It is dark, violent and disturbing. I'm used to that with Slaughter's books, but this one is particularly nasty. One does wonder what goes on in Slaughter's mind that she can conjure up these stories and write such graphic violence. There are a lot of topics (content warnings) that are explored in the book, so the narrative does become a bit crowded. It's also quite a long book that would have benefitted from tighter editing.

In sum📝

I admire Slaughter's storytelling, but The good daughter would work better by focussing on just one of the threads and going deeper into it. That said, the story is layered and complex and I was immersed in it, eager to find out how it would end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Pretty girls (2015)

The story📖

In Pretty girls, Claire Scott is still dealing with the trauma of the disappearance of her sister, Julia, twenty years earlier. No trace of Julia has ever been found. When Anna Kilpatrick goes missing in similar circumstances, Claire is convinced that what happened to Julia is linked to this latest disappearance.

My thoughts on the book💭

The book connects Julia and Anna's disappearances some twenty years apart. One part of the book is an in-depth exploration of the impact of Julia's disappearance on her family, all grieving in different ways. There are diary entries from Julia's father, Sam, and chapters told from the viewpoints of Claire and her other sister, Lydia, interwoven with the search for Anna. This part of the book showcases Slaughter's consummate storytelling and I felt the family's heartbreak deeply.

Pretty girls is hard to rate. It's an intense read, and very disturbing and violent. Slaughter tends to explain the violence in her books in detail, so be prepared for this if you intend to read her books. The graphic violence can be hard to read at times, and I found Pretty girls made me feel uncomfortable.

In sum📝

I can appreciate the power of the story of Pretty girls and that Slaughter pushes the envelope in her crime writing. Other reviews I have read call out Slaughter for the explicit violence in Pretty girls. as I noted earlier in this post, I think the point is that there are evil people in the world who do terrible, terrible things. These are ordinary people who walk among us, too, and we shouldn't become numb to the dark side of humankind.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cop town (2014)

The story📖

Cop town is set in Atlanta in 1974. The story follows young police officers, Kate Murphy and Maggie Lawson. It's a gritty exploration of what it was like for women in the police force back then and it is sometimes hard to read on that front. Both women are treated appallingly by their male colleagues. They experience sexual harassment, they are disrespected, and they are constantly left out of the action. The white male cops are violent homophobes, racists and misogynists. I wanted to see them all get their comeuppance as I ploughed through the story.

My thoughts on the book💭

While the police part of the story focuses on a serial killer case, the novel is essentially a story of searching for one's identity and place in the world at a time when that world is experiencing significant change. I admired the way that Slaughter explores the misogynist environment that female police officers were forced to navigate. It is a story that needs to be told and Slaughter tells it with complex and realistic characters at the helm. She breathes life into Kate and Maggie so I was rooting for them the whole way through.

The subject matter in Cop town makes it a tough read. The book made my feminist hackles rise on the regular. I struggled at times with the male characters' s****y behaviour. The way they treated Kate and Maggie made my blood boil. I felt my heart break for what women endured in that period of our recent history.

In sum📝

I highly recommend Cop town and I rate it as one of my favourite Slaughter books. The crime part of the story is well crafted and takes the reader on a wild ride from start to finish. It's a gritty read, provoking high emotions through the reading experience, but I love that Slaughter tackled the subject matter unapologetically.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐