Blindsighted - Karin Slaughter

Sara Linton is the towns pediatrician and coroner. Needless to say she leads a busy life and most of that is spent avoiding ex husband, Jeffrey Tolliver, who happens to be the towns chief of police. She is late for lunch with her sister and after placating her she heads to the bathroom. There she finds Sibyl Adams, a local college professor, on the toilet bleeding to death from deep knife wounds. Poor Sibyl doesn't survive and when a few days later another girl disappears Sara and Jeffrey believe they may have a serial killer on their hands.

So before Christmas I read the last book in the Grant County series (mistakenly). I enjoyed it and was glad that I had read the last one because of the ending. So this is me now starting at the beginning. I have to say that after the first few pages I had to double check that this was actually the first. Thanks to reading the last book first I got the impression that the divorce of Sara and Jeffrey occurred during the series. Actually they were divorced two years at the start. That's what I get for being smart I guess.

I said in the last review that I didn't particularly like Sara. I still don't. Despite the fact that she tries not to be condescending she still is and that's not exactly a likeable trait in a character. Although possibly a trait Doctors are well known for (I'm lucky that I have yet to come across that myself). She also is still very cold. There are reasons for it which we learn about during the book. However, in the last book she was cold too so I don't think she changes much through out the series. I have my doubts as to whether she will grow on me. I don't completely dislike her though and I do like her ex, Jeffrey so there are enough good main characters in there to keep me going. Besides, life would be boring if I did like all the characters.

It was well written too. Probably one of the better written crime books I have read. Despite all the background information we are given we are also kept going by the investigation which we discover is somehow linked to Sara's past. Enough is going on with that to make it an exciting read. Especially with events that occur about half way through the book. Most authors, I think, would leave this particular incident to somewhere near the end for the main character to come along and save the day not long after. It was refreshing that it wasn't done this way. There was also no way I would have guessed who the culprit was before I was supposed to. I don't think there were any real hints other than one which wasn't really enough for me to guess. It's always nice to be surprised so I see that as a good thing.

Martin Misunderstood - Karin Slaughter

Martin Reed is one of life's loosers. He was a nerd at school and picked on as a result. He is now 36 and still lives with his mum. He thought that things would change since he is now an accountant but alas no. The popular people are still there ignoring him or picking on him. His office is next to the toilets and his assistant bosses him around. Still, he has his crime books and he loves them. One day he goes into work to discover that one of his bullies has been mowed down in the street and all the fingers are pointing at Martin. Martin didn't do it but he can't actually tell anyone where he was that night.

Another library book I read in a couple of hours. This one was actually picked out by my mum but I ended up reading it first. It's supposed to be a funny read but to be honest I was a little bored by it and didn't find it funny at all. The only good thing about it was the constant references to other crime books and shows generally made by Martin.

Despite that I did actually feel sorry for Martin. For a looser he is actually quite eloquent in his speech but then that's probably further fodder for the bullies. Most of the time though I found the other characters rather annoying. Such as the detective on the case, Martin's mother and his assistant. Then of course Martin doesn't really help himself in the end all because he finally is someone.

I have read one other book by the author before and I liked it. In fact I am reading another just now. This one I think she must have wrote just for a bit of fun. We aren't meant to take it seriously. I just didn't enjoy it all that much.

Skin Privilege - Karin Slaughter

Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver has been called in to a nearby county to try to get one of police officers to talk. Lena Adams was found watching a burning car with a body inside and she's refusing to talk. The local police can only assume that she somehow has something to do with it. Tolliver and his wife are unable to get her to talk. Instead she becomes hysterical with fear and manages to escape so she can do her own investigating. Tolliver isn't scared off easily and he stays on to find out just what happened to his officer. The town though has other plans as they don't want someone else getting involved in their affairs.

This is the first book I have read by this author. Probably not the best book to have started with since it turns out this is the last book featuring these particular characters. It was obvious early on that this wasn't the first as the characters had so much history and there was a lot of references to things that had clearly happened in previous books. That didn't put me off in the slightest however. There was enough explanation that I knew what had happened before and it's relevance to the main story. Instead of being irritating it has me curious to read the others.

As I said the characters have a lot of history and so are well developed. It didn't feel like I was expected to know them and I managed to develop a connection the characters regardless of having only read this one. A good sign I think. Tolliver's wife, Sara, was the only one I couldn't take to. She seemed a little too cold for me. Still she had been through a lot in previous books and perhaps I will feel differently when I go back and read them. Lena seemed like one of those unpredictable characters. Always causing trouble despite good intentions. I can't wait to read more on her. As for Tolliver he just seemed like your typical role model. He's made his own mistakes but is a steady rock for his team and his wife. A good combination of characters.

I liked the story itself. A small town in Southern America with problems of bigotry and meth habits. It's told from each of these characters points of view (not in first person though) and this makes for a lot of cliffhangers. I was kept on edge quite a lot through out the book. I liked that for the most part. I think though that the book was a little too long. Whilst there was lots going on I was starting to get a little bored before it set up for the ending. Only a little though and it's my only real criticism of the book. I also had a hard time believing who was behind it all in the end. The character didn't seem anywhere near intelligent enough to have organised it all even with help. Still I wasn't expecting either that character or another's involvement. I was kept guessing right to the end.

What an ending too. The very end was completely unexpected and if you have read this book you will know exactly what I mean. I can't say with out spoiling it. What I will say is that the ending made me glad I had read this book first. I would have been seriously annoyed had I read this series from the start for it to end there. Instead I could appreciate it and I can't wait to go back and start at the beginning. A gutsy ending by the author I think.