The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter

The hardest part about reviewing a Karen Slaughter book is when you run out of superlatives to describe the experience. The Silent Wife is no different. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is called in to a state prison to investigate a murder. Investigator Will Trent, his partner Faith Mitchell, along with his girlfriend, medical examiner Sarah Linton, are called to the scene. While there a prisoner with important information is only willing to share it if they investigate the crime he was accused of and convicted of 8 years earlier in Grant county. A crime that was investigated by Sarah's now-deceased husband Jeffrey Tolliver.

While investigating the claim they discovered that there may be something to the prisoner’s story and that there may be a serial killer who has been raping and killing women for the last 8 years.

The story unfolds in parallel timelines, one in the present day and one eight years ago in Grant county. The investigation uncovers the heinous details of the crimes as well as the horrible toll it has taken on the survivors and their loved ones.

Slaughter doesn't pull any punches and her books are not for the faint of heart. Slaughter is open about her decision to write frankly about violence against women. Her brilliance comes in the way that she is able to connect the reader emotionally to the violence and the trauma.

Slaughter's characters are exceptionally vivid. They're both admirable and flawed individuals. Watching characters that you admire deal with some truly gut-wrenching circumstances is a powerful experience. She is skilled at interjecting light moments into the story to keep it from being continually dark. As Will and Faith - a single mother with young children - are driving, Faith offers him a Band-Aid for a cut on his hand. Given the choice of an Elsa or an Anna Band-Aid Will asks “There's no Olaf?” In another instance, she describes Faith as someone who looks like what she was " a single mother who spent ninety percent of most mornings asking a two-year-old how something got wet ". It is moments like these that are nearly universal in their banality and humor that contrast with the truly horrible things that these characters experience in the course of their investigation.

The story is especially important for Will and Sarah because of the strain it puts on their relationship. Reliving memories of Sarah's dead husband, the former Chief in Grant County. It is a painful memory for Sarah and leaves Will competing with a ghost.

In her 20th novel, Karen Slaughter delivers a powerful story filled with great characters and an ingenious, gut-wrenching plot. Reading this book is a cathartic experience as Slaughter puts all of your emotions through the wringer. It is also an exceptionally rewarding experience. There's quite simply no one better at this than Slaughter. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

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