Cover imagoes "Kisscut," a novel in the Grant County series

If life in the rural South is anything like the picture Karin Slaughter presents about the small towns of Grant County, Georgia, I have to count myself lucky that I live thousands of miles away. It would seem that it’s exceedingly difficult for even the most reserved, law-abiding citizens to avoid getting caught up in unspeakably nasty, violent crime.

Recurring characters in the Grant County series

In Kisscut, the second of five novels in Slaughter’s Grant County series, Dr. Sara Linton and her once-and-future husband, Jeffrey Tolliver, come face-to-face with the ugliness of pedophilia and child sexual abuse. Linton is the local pediatrician who moonlights as the county coroner for extra money. Tolliver is chief of police. The two are a good match, both attractive, intelligent, and well-respected by nearly all those around them. Together, Linton and Tolliver top the list of recurring characters in the Grant County series.

Kisscut (Grant County #2) by Karin Slaughter ★★★★☆

A violence-filled thriller

The action gets off to a quick start in this violence-filled thriller when Tolliver is forced to shoot and kill a thirteen-year-old girl who is brandishing a gun at a teenage boy, threatening to murder him. Meanwhile, we are introduced to the backstory about one of Tolliver’s deputies, detective Lena Adams, who has herself been the victim of a terrible crime from which she is struggling to recover. Adams, who is young, impulsive, and unpredictable, is another recurring character, a useful foil for the disciplined chief.

As Tolliver wallows in guilt over killing a little girl, his investigation and Linton’s parallel inquiry lead the pair into the depths of a huge criminal conspiracy. It’s not a pretty story.

About the author

Karin Slaughter is the author of six novels in the Grant County series, set in rural Georgia, and another five novels and three novellas in the Will Trent series, set in Atlanta.

For more great reading

For the full list of the books in this series, go to Karin Slaughter’s well-crafted series of Grant County thrillers.

You might also enjoy my posts:

And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.