Triptych - Karin Slaughter

 From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread - and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy. But unbeknownst to both of them, another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways - and who may be the key to breaking the case wide open.

I'm here trying to write a review of this book that I just read in one sitting, a whole afternoon for 557 pages, and one word keeps coming to mind - wow!!! I've been wanting to read Triptych ever since I finished Skin Privilege and found out that the next book in the Grant County series would include characters from the Will Trent series (there are only two books in this series of which Triptych is the first book). I don't know exactly what I was expecting but this story just blown me away. It has a very different feel from the Grant County series and I think it a great achievement by Slaughter that after writing 5 successful books in the same series she manages to sound completely fresh in this one.

It's a bit difficult to write a review without giving much away and part of the power of this story is precisely what you uncover as it develops. It opens with a murder. The rape and mutilation of a whore being investigated by the Atlanta police force. The main detective is Michael Ormewood but he is soon joined by Special Agent Will Trent who notices the similarities between this case and at least two others involving the same type of mutilation. The action then jumps to another man, John Shelley is a registered sex offender, at 16 he is convicted of the rape and murder of a 15 year old girl and her spent 20 years behind bars paying for his crime.

This is what we know at first but, as Slaughter makes us know them better, we soon realise that not everything is what it seems about the 3 men. Trent is definitely the most enigmatic character (and an undiagnosed dyslexic); hopefully we will get to know more about him in the next book. Regarding Ormewood and Shelley it was fascinating to follow all the twists and turns till we reach the conclusion. It was not an easy read though, it's a story about complex characters that all seem to have a lot of emotional baggage and some a really mean streak, and it deals with pretty horrible crimes so it might not be for everyone. As for me I loved how the author plotted it, how every detail is important and how it all makes sense in the end.

Grade: 4.5/5