Skin Privilege by Karin Slaughter

Lena Adams has spent her life struggling to forget her childhood in Reece, the small town which nearly destroyed her. She's made a new life for herself as a police detective in Heartsdale, a hundred miles away - but nothing could prepare her for the violence which explodes when she is forced to return. A vicious murder leaves a young woman incinerated beyond recognition. And Lena is the only suspect. When Heartsdale police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, Lena's boss, receives word that his detective has been arrested, he has no choice but to go to Lena's aid - taking with him his wife, medical examiner Sara Linton. But soon after their arrival, a second victim is found. The town closes ranks. And both Jeffrey and Sara find themselves entangled in a horrifying underground world of bigotry and rage - a violent world which shocks even them. But can they discover the truth before the killer strikes again? 'No one does American small-town evil more chillingly ... Slaughter tells a dark story that grips and doesn't let go' The Times 'Thoroughly gripping' Daily Mirror 'Beautifully paced, appropriately grisly, and terrifyingly plausible' Time Out Fiction www.rbooks.co.uk www.karinslaughter.com

Total 5 stars. what a way to end the Grant series. A lot of twists, some questions were answered and the ending what a shocker.

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.