The Silent Wife By Karin Slaughter

‘The Silent Wife’ is the latest book in the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter.

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. 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. 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….

It’s hard to believe but ‘The Silent Wife’ is the first book that I’ve read by Karin Slaughter. Even though, she’s been writing for twenty years and this is her tenth book in the Will Trent, I’m a novice to her books, and this latest book is quite the eye opener.

The story is written in the past and present tense over a ten year period whilst a serial murderer and rapist is preying upon poor women. Will Trent is investigating the cases with his girlfriend and pathologist Dr Sara Linton and in the past tense, Jeffery who is Sara’s ex husband is investigating the cases. During that time, Jeffery has died and Sara and Will are trying to piece the evidence before another woman is targeted.

Even though, I’ve never read a Karin Slaughter book, I’ve seen her speak at Murder One Crime Festival and she was fascinating to listen to. Karin works closely with police and their investigations and the disturbing thing about her stories is that they are based on true crime events and this latest story is horrific. Graphic scenes of sexual abuse, torture and gore made this book unsettling reading but also fascinating in an equal measure.

As the story is part of a series, Karin cleverly includes brief background on the characters, but not enough to give away vital information, should the reader want to delve into earlier books.

The story is thoroughly researched with police procedures and it’s obvious that Karin worked closely with the police to tightly hone the story and the flashbacks between past and present are all weaved seamlessly together to make it a thrilling story.

‘The Silent Wife’ is a gruesome crime thriller that makes for gory reading. Filled with graphic scenes of sexual abuse and murder, this book isn’t for the faint hearted and should maybe come with a warming as the descriptive scenes could possibly trigger a person. With shocking and brutal scenes, ‘The Silent Wife’ is a twisted and dark tale that delivers a story of savagery that will thrill and shock the readers in equal measure.

You can buy ‘The Silent Wife’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.