Karin Slaughter
Slaughter in 2012
Born	(1971-01-06)January 6, 1971 (age 54) Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Genre	Crime Fiction,Mystery,Thriller
Years active	2001–present

Karin Slaughter (born January 6, 1971) is an Americancrime writer. She is the #1New York Times bestselling author^[1] of more than twenty-five novels, including the Edgar-nominatedCop Town^[2] and standalone novelsPretty Girls andFalse Witness. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe.^[3][4]

Her first novel,Blindsighted (2001), was published in 27 languages^[5] and made theCrime Writers' Association's Dagger Award shortlist for "Best Thriller Debut" of 2001.^[6] Slaughter won the 2015CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for her novelCop Town.^[7]

Pieces of Her, based on hernovel of the same name^[8], debuted at #1 worldwide onNetflix as an original series in 2022.^[9] Her bestselling thriller series, Will Trent, is now atelevision series in its 4th season onABC.^[10]The Good Daughter will soon be a limited series onPeacock starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy.^[11]

She is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming.^[12]

Slaughter's newest series is set in the fictional North Falls region in rural Georgia, featuring Officer Emmy Cliffton and her family.

• We Are All Guilty Here, 2025

The first book in the series,We Are All Guilty Here, was a New York Times #1 bestseller.^[13]

TheWill Trent series, which takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, featuresGeorgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Will Trent and his partner, Faith Mitchell. So far, the Will Trent series includes:

• Triptych, 2006
• Fractured, 2008
• Undone, 2009
• Broken, 2010
• Fallen, 2011
• Criminal, 2012
• Unseen, 2013
• The Kept Woman, 2016
• The Last Widow, 2019
• The Silent Wife, 2020
• After That Night, 2023
• This is Why We Lied, 2024

Characters from Slaughter's two main series,Grant County andWill Trent, were brought together in her novelsUndone (2009), titledGenesis internationally, andBroken (2010). In these novels, Sara Linton and Will Trent work cases set in Grant County and Atlanta, respectively.

Slaughter first came to attention with herGrant County series:

• Blindsighted, 2001
• Kisscut, 2002
• A Faint Cold Fear, 2003
• Indelible, 2004
• Faithless, 2005
• Beyond Reach/Skin Privilege, 2007

Set in the fictional town of Heartsdale, Georgia, in the fictional Grant County, the narrative takes place from the perspective of three main characters: Sara Linton, the town'spediatrician and part-timecoroner; Jeffrey Tolliver, Linton's ex-husband and the chief of police; and his subordinate, detective Lena Adams.

• Cop Town, 2014
• Pretty Girls, 2015
• The Good Daughter, 2017
• Pieces of Her, 2018
• False Witness, 2021
• Girl, Forgotten, 2022

Pieces of Her reached #2 on theNew York Times Bestseller list, the week it was released in late August 2018.^[14]Pieces of Her was published throughHarperCollins and follows a young woman who learns about a hidden side of her mother, Laura.^[15] It was given a positive review byPublishers Weekly^[16] andKirkus Reviews.^[17]

Cop Town,Pretty Girls,The Good Daughter, andFalse Witness have all also beenNew York Times bestsellers.

• Like a Charm, 2004
• Martin Misunderstood, 2008
• Thorn in My Side, 2011
• The Unremarkable Heart, 2011
• Snatched, 2012
• Busted, 2012
• Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes, 2015
• Cold, Cold Heart, 2016
• Last Breath, 2017
• Cleaning the Gold, 2019

“Like a Charm” is ashort story anthology featuring several thriller authors, includingLee Child,Peter Robinson,John Connolly, andLaura Lippman.^[18] Each story is linked by acharm bracelet that brings bad luck to its owners. Karin Slaughter wrote the first and last stories.

Martin Misunderstood is an originalaudio novella narrated byWayne Knight.^[19] Both the story and the narration were nominated for anAudie Award in 2009.^[20]

The Unremarkable Heart won theEdgar Award for Best Short Story in 2013.^[21]

Slaughter's 2018 standalone novel,Pieces of Her, was adapted into an eight-episodeTV series of the same name, which premiered on March 4, 2022. StarringToni Collette andBella Heathcote,^[22] it debuted at #1 worldwide onNetflix. Between February 27, 2022, and April 3, 2022, the series was watched 227.5 million hours onNetflix globally.^[23]

Slaughter's bestselling thriller series, Will Trent, is now a television series starringRamón Rodríguez in the role of Will Trent andErika Christensen as Angie.^[24] Premiering on January 3, 2023^[25] onABC, the series has now been renewed for a fourth season slated to premiere on January 6, 2026.^[26]

Production began in 2025 onThe Good Daughter, a limited series forPeacock adapted from her novel of the same name and starringRose Byrne andMeghann Fahy.^[27][28]

Slaughter is a library advocate and founded Save the Libraries, a non-profit organization that campaigns to support US publiclibraries.^[29] The Save the Libraries fund has provided more than $300,000 to theDeKalb County Public Library in Atlanta, Georgia.^[30]

Slaughter has won or been nominated for many awards. In reverse chronological order, they are:

• 2025, Library Reads Hall of Fame Pick^[31]
• 2024, Amazon Editors Pick—Best Books of The Year^[32]
• 2023 & 2022, Winner of the Audiophile Earphones Award^[33]
• 2020,Ned Kelly Award^[34]
• 2019, Georgia Author of the Year^[35]
• 2019,International Thriller Writers Awards Finalist^[36]
• 2017, The Skimm Book Club^[37]
• 2017,Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Suspense^[38]
• 2017,AudioFile Best Book of the Year (AudioFile Earphones Award)^[39]
• 2017, Crime Writers' AssociationIan Fleming Steel Dagger Award Longlist^[40]
• 2016, International Thriller Writers Awards Finalist^[41]
• 2016,People’s Choice Award Winner^[42]
• 2015, Edgar Nomination, Best Novel,Cop Town^[43]
• 2015,American Association of People with Disabilities Image Award^[44]
• 2015, Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, Winner,Cop Town^[45]
• 2014, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award^[46]
• 2014, AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award Winner,Cop Town, 2013^[47]
• 2014, Crime Zone, The Silver Fingerprint Winner, Best Foreign Thriller,Unseen^[48]
• 2014,Anthony Bouchercon Nomination, Best Short Story,TheUnremarkableHeart^[49]
• 2014,Edgar Award Winner, Best Short Story^[50]
• 2013,Mystery Readers InternationalMacavity award nomination, Best Short Story,The Unremarkable Heart^[51]
• 2011, Crime Zone, The Silver Fingerprint Winner, Best Foreign Thriller,Fallen^[52]
• 2011, International Thriller Writers Silver Bullet Award Winner^[53]
• 2010,Suspense Magazine Best of 2010 Winner, Thriller/Suspense,Broken^[54]
• 2009,Le Livre de Poche Prix Lecteurs Winner,Faithless^[55]
• 2009, Crime Zone the Silver Fingerprint Winner, Best Foreign Thriller,Fractured^[56]
• 2009, Audio Publishers association Audie Nomination, Humor,Martin Misunderstood^[57]
• 2009,Left Coast Crime Hawaii Five-0 Nomination, Best Law Enforcement/Police Procedural,Fractured^[58]
• 2008, ITV Crime Thriller International Author of the Year Nomination, Best Fiction,Beyond Reach^[59]
• 2008, Georgia Author of the Year Nomination, Best Fiction,Beyond Reach^[60]
• 2007, Crime Zone the Silver Fingerprint Winner, Best Foreign Thriller,Beyond Reach^[61]
• 2007, Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger nomination, Best Thriller,Triptych^[62]
• 2003, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards Winner, Best Contemporary Mystery,A Faint Cold^[63]
• 2002, Mystery Readers International Macavity Award Nomination, Best First Mystery,Blindsighted^[64]
• 2002, International Thriller Writers Barry Award Nomination, Best First Novel,Blindsighted^[65]
• 2001, Crime Writers' Association Dagger Award Nomination, Best Thriller Debut,Blindsighted^[66]

The Grant County series

• Blindsighted (2001)
• Kisscut (2002)
• A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
• Indelible (2004)
• Faithless, (2005)
• Beyond Reach (2007),Skin Privilege (UK title)

The Will Trent series

• Triptych (2006)
• Fractured (2008)
• Undone (2009),Genesis (UK/Australia title)
• Broken (2010)
• Fallen (2011)
• Criminal (2012)
• Busted (2013, ebook novella)
• Unseen (2013)
• The Kept Woman (2016)^[67]
• Cleaning the Gold (2019 novella, co-written withLee Child)
• The Last Widow (2019)
• The Silent Wife (2020)^[68]
• After That Night (2023)
• This is Why We Lied (2024)

North Falls Series

• We Are All Guilty Here (2025)

Standalone Novels

• Cop Town (2014)
• Pretty Girls (2015)
• The Good Daughter (2017)
• Pieces of Her (2018)
• False Witness (2021)
• Girl, Forgotten (2022)

Short Stories and Novellas

• Like a Charm (2004, editor)
• Martin Misunderstood (2008)
• Thorn in My Side (2011, digital short story)
• The Unremarkable Heart (2011, audio short story)
• Snatched (2012, digital novella)
• Busted (2012, digital novella)
• Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes (2015, digital short story, prequel toPretty Girls)
• Cold, Cold Heart (2016, digital short story)
• Last Breath (2017, digital short story, prequel toThe Good Daughter)
• Cleaning the Gold (2019, digital short story, co-written withLee Child)

Slaughter was born inCovington, Georgia and grew up inLake Spivey. She has two older sisters. She attendedMorrow High School inEllenwood, Georgia. She then studied literature atGeorgia State University, but dropped out prior to graduating. She wrote her first novelBlindsighted in three months.^[69]

• Karin Slaughter website
• Interview with Karin Slaughter atThe New York Times
• Interview with Karin Slaughter at www.LiteraryWeek.com
• Karin Slaughter at Bookreporter.com
• Interview with Karin Slaughter at www.TheCrimeHouse.comArchived October 25, 2021, at theWayback Machine
• Save the Libraries
• Roger Nichols of Modern Signed Books interviews Karin Slaughter about her novel,The Kept Woman
• BlogTalkRadio interview about her novel,The Good Daughter

• 21st-century American novelists
• American thriller writers
• Living people
• Writers from Atlanta
• American LGBTQ novelists
• 21st-century American women novelists
• American women mystery writers
• LGBTQ people from Georgia (U.S. state)
• American women thriller writers
• Novelists from Georgia (U.S. state)
• 1971 births
• Georgia State University alumni

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