The Silent Wife (Will Trent Series, Book 10) by Karin Slaughter

From the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping new crime thriller

Book blurb

He watches.

A woman runs alone in the woods. She convinces herself she has no reason to be afraid, but she’s wrong. A predator is stalking the women of Grant County. He lingers in the shadows, until the time is just right to snatch his victim.

He waits.

A decade later, the case has been closed. The killer is behind bars. But then another young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead, and the MO is identical.

He takes.

Although the original trail has gone cold – memories have faded, witnesses have disappeared – agent Will Trent and forensic pathologist Sara Linton must re-open the cold case. But the clock is ticking, and the killer is determined to find his perfect silent wife….

My thoughts

Will, Faith, Sarah and colleagues are sent to a prison to investigate a murder which happened whilst there was a riot. When interviewing various inmates they are told by one of them, Daryl Nesbitt, that he has been wrongly incarcerated and can prove his innocence.

Nesbitt was not convicted for the rape and/or murder of three women over a decade ago but for child pornography. However, he maintains that was as a result of an illegal search and police corruption. He alleges that there have been more recent killings.

This all happened over a decade ago in Grant County and Jeffrey Tolliver was the sheriff at the time. Nesbitt offers Will and Faith information on the prison murder and illegal phones in exchange for the GBI investigating these new cases. While they all believe Nesbitt has another agenda Amanda, Will and Faith’s boss, tasks them to look into these allegations.

This book moves between the current day Atlanta investigation and the earlier investigation in Grant County. Sarah, who had been married to Jeffery Tolliver (twice – you need to read the excellent Grant County Series) but wasn’t at the time of this case, was a part of that investigation initially helping and then practically taking over from the coroner, whose father had recently died.

Will and Faith follow up information whilst Sarah is tasked with retrieving records from the Grant County coroner and tracking down a women called Tammi who it was believed had survived an earlier attack by the perpetrator but would not speak ‘on the record’. This is quite a difficult process for Sarah given her relationship with Jeffery (please note: there are spoilers regarding the Grant County series in this book so if you intend reading them do be aware) and the earlier case. They are looking for information on these supposed new cases and whether they could be linked to those from Grant County – are these cases connected? Was Nesbitt wrongly accused? Was his subsequent arrest on the child porn by way of an illegal search? Or had he committed the murders as had been thought (insufficient evidence did not allow for an arrest)? The father of one survivor is convinced of Nesbitt’s innocence.

We go back and forth between the past and current events in clearly headed chapters.

Karin Slaughter has with this book not only written her usual excellent standard of hard hitting storyline and very difficult subject matter – rape and murder in this instance – for those who are reading her books she has brought her two major series in this cleverly constructed book to a point where we, readers and characters alike, can properly move forward. She has done this without loosing any of the investigative narrative of this book’s storyline and, indeed, gives us further insight into its characters and their history.

This is a terrific book with wonderful characters which is well written and brilliantly plotted. Karin Slaughter has a way of writing that builds and keeps tension even when more mundane tasks are happening because you always feel that something not so good maybe just around the corner.

Some of the scenes are difficult to read but Karin Slaughter writes in her authors note at the end of the book it’s often necessary and, indeed, important to have them. (Oh, by the way, please don’t read her comments before you finish the book there are spoilers – it’s at the end for a reason!).

The Silent Wife is a very good book and one which I certainly recommend.

Book: With thanks to Harper Collins for inviting me to read and providing an eCopy of The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own, I have not received payment for this review.

Previously read:

The Good Daughter | Cop Town | Pieces of Her |The Last Widow

This is my 14th book in the #20BooksofSummer20 so just 6 to go! I’ve added Closet Haikus and Rain Before Rainbows into my 20 as I have read (and reviewed them) them in the correct period. It’s still going to be touch and go on whether I’ll manage the full 20 this year but I’ll certainly get to 15 and maybe, just maybe, a few more! You can find out more about this challenge by popping over to Cathy’s blog – you’ll find lot’s of other wonderful book stuff there, too!

Information

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (23 June 2020) | (Paperback 15 April 2021)

Buy: From your local independent bookshop | AmazonSmileUK | Waterstones

Author

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.

Karin 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.

You can check out all things Karin Slaughter on Karen’s website or follow her on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Books

The Grant County series includes Blindsighted | Kisscut | A Faint Cols Fear | Indelible | Faithless | Beyond Reach (also called Skin Privilege).

The Will Trent series are Triptych|Fractured|*Undone|Broken|Fallen|Criminal| Unseen|The Kept Woman|The Last Widow. *Sara Linton from The Grant County Series joins the series. There are also two short stories featuring Will Trent, Busted**and Snatched**.

Stand Alone Novels

Cop Town|Pretty Girls|The Good Daughter|Pieces of Her

eBook originals

Snatched**|Cold, Cold Heart|Busted**|Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes| Last Breath|Cleaning the Gold (with Lee Child)

Novellas and Stories

Like a Charm (Editor) |Martin Misunderstood|Thorn in My Side|The Unremarkable Heart