Didn't See THAT Twist Coming

 

TITLE: We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1)

AUTHOR: Karin Slaughter

PUBLISHER: William Morrow

PUBLISHING DATE: August 12, 2025

PAGES: 448   

SOURCE: ARC 

FROM GOODREADS: Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. 

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. 

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home. 

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. 

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

MY THOUGHTS:  Karin Slaughter has quickly become one of my favorite authors and not only am I trying to catch up on her backlist, now she has created a new series I need to follow as well.  And let me tell you, this is a thriller you don't want to miss.

One summer during the July the holiday, two girls go missing.  Emmy and her father, the local sheriff, investigate and Emmy, who is best friend's with one of the girls' step-mother, never forgives herself for the outcome of the incident.  Now it's 12 years later and another girl has gone missing under similar circumstances.  Emmy and her father again are on the case with Emmy working extra hard to provide this girls' parents with a different outcome.

This author knows how to hit hard.  In We Are All Guilty Here, Slaughter tackles difficult family dynamics, physical abuse, sexual abuse and generational trauma.  The reader is introduced to all various townspeople and for a while, I have to admit I was suspecting everyone of something nefarious.  I really liked Emmy as a character, flaws and all.  And that's another thing this author does so well - create flawed characters, as well as some truly despicable ones too. The mystery elements were intriguing and complex and just when I thought I had things figured out, Slaughter pulled the carrot out from under my nose and told me to guess again.

If you like complex thrillers mixed with police procedurals, then I cannot recommend this author enough.  I was thrilled to discover this is the start of a new series and something happened at the end of this one and the next one can't come soon enough.  Maybe I can convince Slaughter to write a little bit faster.

MY RATING: 5 PAWS