Skin Privilege

Whew! I finally got around to finishing the Grant County series. This last entry had much less Sara than I wanted, but it makes sense that Lena and Jeffery get more of the shine. If I could describe the book in two words, I would choose panic-inducing. It's not so much the mystery aspect that is pretty easy to figure out from the get-go; it's the classic Karen Slaughter downtrodden character arcs. Just when you think someone cannot suffer enough, more terse and unrelenting catastrophes are thrown their way.

The story is simple. A car is found engulfed in flames on the 50-yard line at the local high school. Lena, our tortured police detective, is involved, but she is not talking about the victim, who was trapped inside the vehicle. Jeffery and Sara come to the rescue. From here, we follow the investigation to the thrilling end. The pages flew by, and it touches on all the necessary small town happenings to the thrilling conclusion. It's not complex, but it's not supposed to be. We get to be a fly on the wall as certain character arcs end. Saying more would be a spoiler.

Overall, the series was exciting. It's incredibly dark and unsettling, but that's sort of Karen's brand of writing. I'd probably recommend starting with some of her stand alone novels (looking at you, The Good Daughter), but if you are in the mood for a police procedural with tortured characters that are injected into uncouth situations, this series is for you.

Question to anyone who has read the Will Trent series: Does it pick up after this and carry on? I feel like if I Google the information, it will spoil things.

The last book in the Grant County Series. It took me a few days shy of three weeks to read and I enjoyed them. Well except for the ending of this book. For several reasons.Again, it is the three main characters in a triangle involving a death at the beginning of the book. This time though Sara and Jeffrey of more of a team. Something I had hoped for but not in this way. Lena has come back to the force. She is strong but even more broken than ever. The setting is Lena's hometown, where Hank still lives. The bad characters involve swastikas, thugs, and drugs.Lena's hunt for the truth of her mother's demise continues and nothing is as it ever seemed. The resolution is so near but alas, Angie Adam's secret stays that way. I hated the way so many loose ends were not tied by the end of the book. The ones that were, did not satisfy me. Angie's final secret fell flat. I was so disappointed after this author surprised me so many times in previous books. The very end was unexpected for one sentence and then I felt, “Oh, well yeah, not a surprise.” And certainly not the big moment it should have been. A few paragraphs and that's it. So much stuff still to unpack. I would have liked two, maybe three more books with these main characters. I am waiting (on hold) for[b:Triptych 21717 Triptych (Will Trent, #1) Karin Slaughter https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442531921l/21717.SY75.jpg 2479325], the first book in the Will Trent series. I read online that I should read the Grant series before those so I am hoping to see or hear about these characters again.