Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Slaughter returns to North Falls, Georgia, for another 15 horrifying rounds of domestic violence. If everyone in Clifton County knows everyone else, that may be because half the people in North Falls, one of the county’s four cities, are named Clifton. Det. Allison Vickery doesn’t turn up for the funeral of acting sheriff Emmy Clifton’s mother, Myrna Joy Clifton, first because she’s fleeing her abusive husband, Bill Garrison, then because she’s shot dead. Her murder pulls Emmy, who inherited her job and all its headaches when her father, veteran sheriff Gerald Clifton, was killed six weeks ago, and retired FBI agent Jude Archer, the much older sister who ran off to San Francisco 40 years back, away from the funeral rites and into another of Slaughter’s matchless webs of intrigue inside and outside the Clifton clan. Allison wasn’t the only person shot in the house she was frantic to leave, and the evidence suggests that the shooter had also been targeting her teenage daughter, Mandy, all along. Working closely together even though their troubled family history puts them constantly at odds, Emmy and Jude thrash through a thicket of wrongdoing, from a thriving drug ring to a corrupt cop who’s rumored to have buried some crucial evidence, before they link Allison’s killing to an ancient murder trial that took a 180-degree turn after one of the jurors died. Every twist in the path to the truth is riveting—especially the final revelation, which puts all the others in the shade—but the most important relationship is between the two investigators, one of whom harbors a secret the other can’t imagine. Just like politics, all the crime in this corner of Georgia turns out to be painfully local. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

There’s no rest for the weary in Clifton County as acting sheriff Emmy Clifton campaigns against her lieutenant for the office she’s held since her father’s murder (in We Are All Guilty Here, 2025). She's conflicted over her sister, Jude’s, return and mourns her mother’s death. Emmy, her son, Cole, and Jude are en route to her mother’s funeral when they hear gunshots coming from Allison Vickery’s home. A former cop, Allison often confided in Emmy about her husband, Bill’s, abuse. So, when they find Allison dead and her teenage daughter, Mandy, clinging to life, he’s a clear suspect. Emmy’s challenger stokes flames, loudly criticizing her for not arresting Bill. But there are too many other leads to run down: Mandy was seeing an older man; Allison recently sued her former police chief; there’s a box of cash in her attic; and the county’s biggest drug dealer is somehow involved. Meanwhile, Emmy and Jude clash as they grieve their no-nonsense mother and struggle with the impact she’s had on their relationships. When they spot the trail Allison left for them, they find a decades-old cover-up that will shake up generations of those in power. Themes of motherhood, betrayal, and redemption are tied up in the final twist in Slaughter's gripping portrait of a painfully human small town.

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Slaughter’s satisfying sequel to We Are All Guilty Here sees North Falls, Ga., sheriff Emmy Clifton investigate a complex murder case with the help of her estranged sister. Emmy is leaving her mother’s burial with her sister, Jude, and son, Cole, when she hears gunshots. The trio follow the sound to the home of Allison Vickery, a retired North Falls detective turned PI, whom they find dead beside her barely breathing teenage daughter. The perp gets away, and Emmy ends up investigating the case with help from her officers and from Jude, a feisty retired FBI agent who left North Falls 40 years earlier. During Emmy’s inquiry, she discovers $300,000 squirreled away in Allison’s attic and learns she was trying to escape her abusive marriage to Bill Garrison, scion of one of the most respected families in North Falls. Bill swears he’s innocent, though his alibi is shaky. The evidence also points to other suspects including Allison’s violent ex, her former DEA colleagues, and a local drug lord. The combustible chemistry between Emmy and Jude lends this the friction its predecessor lacked, and Slaughter remains as skilled as ever at probing the darker side of life in Georgia. This bodes well for the future of the series. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders Assoc. (Aug.)