This is one of those books that drags you in from the start – it’s by turns totally shocking, heart-breaking and brutal, but you’re never in any doubt that you’re experiencing storytelling genius. It’s so well-plotted, clever and eventful – Karin Slaughter is an author I need to read more.
This book is set in North Falls, one of those small American towns where everyone knows everyone else and generations of one family (the Cliftons) work in law enforcement. When two teenage girls go missing during the town’s big summer firework party, Emmy Clifton steps up to investigate, along with her father and son. Emmy’s close friend is one of the girl’s mothers and Emmy was one of the last to see the teen at the party.
However, what follows is far from a simple kidnapping, and has tragic repercussions that impact the town. As Emmy starts to uncover the secrets of the people of North Falls, it becomes really clear that everybody has secrets and nobody can be trusted. Her investigations – spanning a long period from the original disappearances to a trial and a new case – start to break down relationships in the town and in her personal life. Into this mess comes an investigator who has had considerable success in finding the bodies of murder victims – but is she going to help or hinder Emmy?
I loved the character of Emmy – a middle-aged woman with a responsible job who is also trying to navigate some tricky family stuff. As a character, I thought she was warm and likeable, yet also human and responding to some awful situations in totally understandable ways. I’ve heard that this might develop into a North Falls series and I’d be really keen to see what Emmy does next.
As I’ve already alluded to, Slaughter doesn’t pull any punches in her writing and some of the twists and turns in this book were genuinely really shocking. I wasn’t quite prepared for some of it! However, it’s all really cleverly woven together and the narrative is always credible. I found myself constantly guessing whodunit and I was always wrong – there’s so much going on and the real clues are hidden in stacks of red herrings!
I’d recommend this if you like your crime stories with grit and off-the-scale levels of tension. There were times I had to put this book down to take in what had happened – but I always found myself desperate to get back to North Falls!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy of this book – opinions, as always, are enturely my own. This book is due for publication on 19th June, 2025.
Header photo by Brad Switzer on Unsplash
