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A review by tani
Criminal by Karin Slaughter
4.0
I don't usually read mysteries, for the simple reason that I tend not to enjoy them as books. I find it much easier to digest a mystery if it's a TV show, though it's taken me a long time to really start to accept that, and it was only recently that I purged a bunch of mystery books that I'd picked up for free over the years. However, I continually have heard great things about Karin Slaughter, so I kept this one. And then, against every completionist bone in my body, I read it, even though I haven't read the first 5 books in the series. And actually, this warranted every good thing that I've heard about Karin Slaughter over the years.
First of all, the characters in this book are fantastic. All of them, even the ones that barely get a mention in the grand scheme of things. They all felt fully realized to me, which is a hugely important element to my reading enjoyment. In particular, I loved the portrayal of Amanda, who I started the book mildly disliking, and ended the book absolutely rooting for. Second, there's just so much attention to detail. This book is split between two timelines, the present day of Will Trent, and 1975, and I was very impressed with the 1975 section. I learned so much about that time period, from the role of racism and sexism, to the politics of the police force, to what the rest of society was like. It was really clearly meticulously researched, and as a result, the story came to life for me.
These two things combined to make a really great reading experience for me. I think sometimes the reason I struggle with mysteries, especially those featuring the police and detectives, is because there's no draw. It feels bleak and voyeuristic, and at the end of the day, I feel weird reading about the victimization of (mostly) women. Even when the bad guy gets caught, I don't feel like anything is actually better. This book was all those things as well. Women get raped, tortured, and killed, and even when the bad guy is caught, those things don't just disappear. But there's a balance, because we also see women coming into their own, fighting for what they want and learning important lessons about themselves. For me, that makes the rest of it easier to handle, as well as making the story compelling instead of merely depressing. And that's why, even though I'm not much of a mystery reader, I'd love to read more of the Will Trent series, this time starting from the beginning.
First of all, the characters in this book are fantastic. All of them, even the ones that barely get a mention in the grand scheme of things. They all felt fully realized to me, which is a hugely important element to my reading enjoyment. In particular, I loved the portrayal of Amanda, who I started the book mildly disliking, and ended the book absolutely rooting for. Second, there's just so much attention to detail. This book is split between two timelines, the present day of Will Trent, and 1975, and I was very impressed with the 1975 section. I learned so much about that time period, from the role of racism and sexism, to the politics of the police force, to what the rest of society was like. It was really clearly meticulously researched, and as a result, the story came to life for me.
These two things combined to make a really great reading experience for me. I think sometimes the reason I struggle with mysteries, especially those featuring the police and detectives, is because there's no draw. It feels bleak and voyeuristic, and at the end of the day, I feel weird reading about the victimization of (mostly) women. Even when the bad guy gets caught, I don't feel like anything is actually better. This book was all those things as well. Women get raped, tortured, and killed, and even when the bad guy is caught, those things don't just disappear. But there's a balance, because we also see women coming into their own, fighting for what they want and learning important lessons about themselves. For me, that makes the rest of it easier to handle, as well as making the story compelling instead of merely depressing. And that's why, even though I'm not much of a mystery reader, I'd love to read more of the Will Trent series, this time starting from the beginning.