Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter Series: Will Trent #10
Published by William Morrow on August 4, 2020
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Atlanta, Georgia. Present day. A young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead. The police investigate but the trail goes cold. Until a chance assignment takes GBI investigator Will Trent to the state penitentiary, and to a prisoner who says he recognizes the MO. The attack looks identical to the one he was accused of eight years earlier. The prisoner’s always insisted that he was innocent, and now he’s sure he has proof. The killer is still out there.
As Will digs into both crimes it becomes clear that he must solve the original case in order to reach the truth. Yet nearly a decade has passed—time for memories to fade, witnesses to vanish, evidence to disappear. And now he needs medical examiner Sara Linton to help him hunt down a ruthless murderer. But when the past and present collide, everything Will values is at stake . .
I love this Will Trent series and I’m so happy I was able to listen to many of the previous books with the new audio recordings, all narrated by Kathleen Early. Even though I read The Silent Wife, I heard her voice. In any format, it is an excellent story.
Now on the 10th book of the series, I am totally enamored of the world and its characters. At least our main characters, Will, Sara, Amanda and Faith are precious to me. Amanda, and even Faith, felt less at the forefront, although they did provide some comic relief at times, just because of their personalities. With a serial killer on the loose, it would be pretty dark otherwise. The imperfect, complex characters feel very authentic.
I enjoy the police work and following the evidence and gathering information. There is a strong connection to Grant County, in both this case and personally, for Sara and Will, with flashbacks to 8 years ago when Jeffrey and Sara had been divorced a year. I hadn’t read the Grant County series when I started on the Will Trent series but I’ve since gone back and read all but the final one which I will go read now. I didn’t miss them until this book when I really wish I had read them all first.
There’s a duality to the story with personal and professional aspects. The serial killer began in Grant County when Jeffrey was the chief. With the case continuing, it brings into question whether he made mistakes. It also sends them back to get information on one of the deaths from Lena Adams. She truly is a “grey rabbit.” I’m not a fan of hers and Jeffrey isn’t winning with me either.
Personally, Sara has the painful view of watching as Jeffrey’s possible mistakes are examined. Will always has the difficulty of feeling good enough for Sara, and measuring up to Jeffrey. Will and Sara had a small misunderstanding which they don’t know how to fix, which is ongoing through the case. A relationship is work; while it may be uncomfortable to see them struggle to improve their connection, it is endearing. Their hearts are in the right place but communication is hard.
I loved this so much. I hated having to put it down to do anything else. I was afraid this might be the last of the series but was thrilled to see in the author’s note there will be more! I absolutely fist-pumped and squealed when I read that at 1 am.
About Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her nineteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated COP TOWN and the instant NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novels PRETTY GIRLS, THE GOOD DAUGHTER, and PIECES OF HER. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, Karin Slaughter lives in Atlanta. Her standalone novels PIECES OF HER, THE GOOD DAUGHTER, and COP TOWN are in development for film and television.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- COYER-20
There’s nothing better than finding out there will be more books in a series you love? This sounds amazing!
It’s gritty; all the books are about law enforcement taking down bad people and some of the LEOs are not good people either. It’s complex with not everything black/white with excellent characters.
karin is a fabulous writer and i love her work. i really wanted this, but i was denied a copy. i will be looking at the library.
I’m so sorry you didn’t get this one, it’s amazing. I got all the older ones at the library, mostly on audio. But I got denied for the audio for this one which is what I wanted.
I’ve got a little stack of her books on my shelf and have no idea what series they’re from. I’m be sure to start with the older series since it looks like this one eventually refers back to characters and situations there. I do enjoy when the characters and relationships are so developed like you describe in this one.
It’s an amazing series. It didn’t matter with the earlier ones so much but now I’m glad to be almost through with the first series. I would start there.
As you know I did read book 9 but I’m curious about the other novels now
I really love these two series. I’ve been going back to read the Grant County series which is before this one in timeframe. I finished it last night and now I want to read this Will Trent series all over again.
Woo hoo! Love that you gave it 5 stars, Anne? I haven’t read your review since it’s up next for me. Can not wait!
I hope you love it too!
I’m still one behind. The last one sounded so intense I put it off so I need to read it first. Glad to see your 5 stars! I’ll probably do the audio too.
I love love love this series. I really enjoy Kathleen Early too. I started this series and then I went back to read Grant Count which I finished last night, now I want to reread WT.
I’ve stayed away from the Grant County series because I know what happens at the end, but it must be really good anyhow if you’ve done a re-read!
Glad you enjoyed this so much, I am a fan of this author also and can’t wait to read this one. Great review!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy this; it’s complex.