Publishers Weekly
06/03/2024
A honeymoon turns into a grisly locked-room mystery in Slaughter’s harrowing 12th outing for Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent (following After That Night). Will and his bride, medical examiner Sara Linton, plan to celebrate at McAlpine Lodge in northwest Georgia, but on the night they arrive, hotel manager Mercy McAlpine is murdered in one of the property’s cabins. Will and Sara jump into action, first turning their suspicion toward Mercy’s abusive ex-husband, whom Will knows from the time they spent together in an Atlanta boy’s home. As Will and Sarah continue to poke around, however, other suspects come into focus, including Mercy’s hot-tempered father and ice-cold mother, who hope to force a sale of the lodge, and a guest who has intimate knowledge of Mercy’s criminal past. After Will’s Bureau of Investigation colleagues show up, the body count rises, and Will unearths some unspeakable secrets within the McAlpine clan. The subject matter gets almost operatically bleak, but Slaughter saves the day with her gifts for suspense and characterization—Mercy, in particular, makes an impression. This long-running series still has gas in the tank. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
It’s funny, shocking, moving and filled with the sort of believable, grounded but still surprising twists that make Slaughter a master of the genre. Cozy? Hardly. Great fun, with great depth.” — Parade on This Is Why We Lied
“A honeymoon turns into a grisly locked-room mystery in Slaughter’s harrowing 12th outing for Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent…Slaughter saves the day with her gifts for suspense and characterization…This long-running series still has gas in the tank.” — Publishers Weekly on This Is Why We Lied
“This bar-raiser for the classic locked-room mystery is in good company with Sarah Pearse’s The Sanitorium (2021), Adrian McKinty’s The Island (2022), and One by One, by Ruth Ware (2020).” — Booklist (starred review) on This Is Why We Lied
“While fans wait for the show to start again, they can dive into this intense, disturbing, and fascinating story of depravity, betrayal, and hope. The surprise ending shocks and satisfies, and the next Will Trent novel cannot come fast enough.” — First Clue on This Is Why We Lied
“Intense, gripping, gutsy, multilayered and highly emotional, This Is Why We Lied is Karin Slaughter at her best. Highly recommended to fans of the series and all readers who enjoy a fast-paced, dark suspense thriller.” — Mystery & Suspense Magazine
“Grueling, pitiless, yet compassionate…. It’s a signal achievement of Slaughter that the climactic revelations add still another layer of horror to her tale.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on After That Night
“Slaughter’s fans will be avid for the latest in this bestselling series, while its costar, state investigator Will Trent, has inspired a show on ABC, further expanding Slaughter’s already vast audience.” — Booklist (starred review) on After That Night
“Never less than nail-biting…. The final twist—a touch of ironic genius—will make your jaw drop.” — London Times (UK) on After That Night
“Karin Slaughter raises her game with every book. After That Night is compulsive reading.” — Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go
“Karin Slaughter always keeps me hooked and Girl, Forgotten is no exception. Totally worthy of a no interruptions, read-all-day bingeathon.” — Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“[Slaughter] brings her trademark intensity to every relationship she lays bare. Like touching a live wire that continues across three generations.” — Kirkus Reviews on Girl, Forgotten
“Layer upon layer of mystery, a great cast of characters, and some genuinely startling twists. This is Slaughter at her best.” — Booklist (starred review) on Girl, Forgotten
“Slaughter skillfully leads readers on a thrilling journey into the past to solve the murder that a small town wants to forget, yet is still haunted by.” — Library Journal (starred review) on Girl, Forgotten
“Gripping.... Slaughter reliably entertains.” — Publishers Weekly on Girl, Forgotten
“Cunningly conceived and written . . . Deeply satisfying.” — Washington Post on False Witness
“[A] high octane story.” — Kirkus
"Slaughter has crafted an intricate, chilling mystery....a thriller much richer and more disturbing than your classic whodunit." — Oprah Daily
"The basic elements of escapist crime fiction: adroit scene-setting, vivid characterisation and (crucially) impeccable plotting are studded throughout Karin Slaughter’s 25-year career, and her latest is the author en pleine forme." — Financial Times
SEPTEMBER 2024 - AudioFile
Kathleen Early is almost too good at realistically voicing the abusive and sadistic characters who populate the latest Will Trent thriller. Listeners will feel their skin crawl. Audiobook 12 in the series revolves around a gruesome murder that occurs at a remote mountain lodge owned by a criminally dysfunctional family. As a counterbalance to Early's vocally distinct portrayal of each of the novel's loathsome suspects, she voices Georgia investigator Will Trent with a steady and solid trustworthiness. When Will's honeymoon at the lodge is interrupted by a murder, Early's pacing perfectly matches the audiobook's twists and tension. This is a binge-worthy listen. J.T. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2024-07-10
Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton honeymoon at a family lodge that includes breathtaking landscapes, varied guests, troubled family dynamics, and murder.
McAlpine Family Lodge manager Mercy McAlpine has been an outcast within her family ever since Dave McAlpine, an orphan whom her parents adopted, got her pregnant at 15. To her enduring shame, her relatives, from her aunt Delilah to her own brother, Christopher, took Dave to their hearts even as they squeezed her out, snatching baby Jon from her to be raised mostly by Delilah. Sixteen years later, when her father, Cecil, plans to sell the lodge whose operation Mercy’s poured herself into, she’s had enough, and evidently so have they. Hours after she announces her intention to ruin the lives of any family members who vote with Cecil to sell the place to Max Brouwer and Sydney Flynn for $12 million, Will finds her fatally stabbed near Lake McAlpine, and she dies in his arms. The half-dozen other guests are icing on the cake, since every one of Mercy’s relatives had a powerful motive to kill her. The honeymoon isn’t exactly over, but Will tells Sara he’d be committed to investigating even if Chuck, the fellow guest who tormented Will in the orphanage where they both grew up, weren’t on hand as Christopher’s lecherous best friend. The high-octane story inevitably lags when Faith Mitchell, Will’s partner in the GBI, arrives to question the suspects, but the shattering climax reveals that the McAlpine family is even more dysfunctional than you imagined.
One character nails it: This is “an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery with a VC Andrews twist.
