Brilliant book. Sad, shocking and gripping story. Great main characters full of grit and guilt. Super writing bringing it all to life on the page. Story full of twists and turns.

Thank you to net galley, the publishers and Karin Slaughter for the early access to read We are all guilty here for my honest review.

I have read a lot of books by Karin Slaughter and I was over the moon to see she had written another book. And I am so glad I have read it, Karin has done it again!

I love her style of writing, the plot of the book and the characters. I hope we get to see these characters in another book, I loved the family relationships.

The plot was great, i was hooked from the first chapter. And I for sure was not expecting the twists at the end of the book. I was shocked and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I did feel as though the chapters were long as I prefer shorter chapters however that did not impact my overall love for this book.

Thank you so much for early access, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s another masterpiece by the amazing Karin Slaughter.

Karin Slaughter’s We Are All Guilty Here completely pulled me in and left me thinking about it long after I turned the last page. It’s set in the small town of North Falls, where two teenage girls, Madison and Cheyenne, vanish during a Fourth of July celebration. What starts as a routine missing persons case quickly unravels into something far more unsettling.

Officer Emmy Clifton is at the heart of the story, and I really felt for her. She’s determined to find the girls, but there’s also a deep sense of guilt weighing on her—Madison had tried to reach out to her before disappearing, and Emmy brushed it off. That guilt fuels her relentless search, making her even more compelling as a character.

As the investigation unfolds, dark secrets about the town and its people come to light. It’s one of those stories that makes you question how well you really know the people around you. The tension builds with every chapter, and just when I thought I had things figured out, another twist came out of nowhere.

Slaughter does an incredible job of bringing North Falls to life. The town feels real—both its small-town charm and the hidden tensions beneath the surface. The pacing is perfect, and every revelation hits hard.

By the end, I was left thinking about guilt, morality, and the weight of secrets. We Are All Guilty Here isn’t just a mystery—it’s an emotional, thought-provoking read that lingers. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next.

I very nearly dnf'd this. It was a bit slow to begin and I didn't really care much for the characters but decided to keep going for a bit longer. By the time Jude entered the story I was hooked and could not get to the end fast enough.

Slaughter continues to pump out bangers. Emmy Lou is a deputy in Clifton County. Her father is the chief, her mother and best friend are teachers, and her husband is a deadbeat. On the 4th of July, her best friend Hannahs stepdaughter, Madison, approaches her looking for help. When Emmy turns her away, distraught over her husband's awful behavior, Madison walks away and disappears. This book follows the investigation into Madison and her best friend Cheyenne's disappearance. With a broken bike, cracked smartphone, a puddle of blood, and a necklace chain, Emmy doesn't have hope she'll find them alive. This book was devastating (definitely tw for people sensitive to child abuse, grooming, and rape) but soo well written. This book does a great job of balancing actual police work with family/town drama. I wish there was more because the twist felt very unresolved. I can't wait to read more!

Set in the small town of North Falls in Georgia Deputy Sherriff, Emmy Lou Clifton is investigating the kidnapping of two girls during the 4th of July celebrations. One of the girls is the daughter of her best friend, Madison, who contacted her before her abduction. Emmy has previous experience of child abductions and knows that time it is critical in the first 24 hours or usually after that they end up dead With the help at first from her father Gerald who is the Sherriff she do all they can to find them until one of the girls bikes turn up near a pool of blood Emmy now knows that she more or less looking for their bodies.
We are all guilty here is the first book in the new series by Karin Slaughter and this is another fantastic read by the author. I have been a fan of her Will Trent series, so I was excited to read this for the bunch of new characters and I wasn’t disappointed. The is a captivating read by the author and the author doesn’t shy away from the grim details involved in the abduction and killings. But the emotions that are running high not only between the relatives and the people involved in the case but also Emmy’s trying to deal with it all.
I reckon this is going to be another best seller and I hope they will be more of Emmy Lou to come 5 stars from me.

Another cracker from Karin Slaughter - We Are All Guilty Here is Emmy Clifton’s story. Starting on Fourth of July, Madison - the daughter of her best friend - disappears along with her friend and is found murdered. Emmy was one of the last people with eyes on her. Years later another girl disappears in similar circumstances. Can Emmy save her before it’s too late?

In true Slaughter style the characters are interwoven, so many red herrings, more twists and turns than a country road. Emmy isn’t perfect, but she’s tough and determined, a great character.

Thanks to NetGalley for offering me this advance copy, I remain a firm fan of Karin Slaughter’s wonderful storytelling.

Karin Slaughter never disappoints!! After two girls disappeared during a firework show Officer Emmy is on the case! Well, trying to figure out what happens to the girls tragedy strikes between family, and the police trying to find them. There was so much packed into this book, and I loved every detail of it! Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

As to be expected, this is a riveting read with polished writing and textured characters - I think readers are always in safe hands with a Karin Slaughter book. We Are All Guilty Here revisits familiar themes from Slaughter's other books and portrays them brilliantly, particularly the sense of living in a very small community, dealing with not-so-progressive ideas, and the abuse and casual mistreatment of women.

The book begins with Madison, a seemingly surly teenager, waiting to meet her friend Cheyenne as the whole town waits for a fireworks show to begin. But when Cheyenne doesn't show up, Madison goes looking for her - and makes a grisly discovery. When both girls go missing, the town engages in a hunt to find them - and old friendships fray as the blame gets thrown around.

I like the fact that we begin with Madison as coming across as unlikeable. And both girls have clearly been involved in some dodgy activities. But as Slaughter - largely via the main character, cop Emmy - continually points out, they are still children. She has to continually return to this point as, along the way of the novel, various male characters insist on focusing on things such as what girls wear, and so on. It's refreshing to have a strong character insist on stressing that young women are not to blame for the violence that men subject them to.

The story unfolds with Emmy and her dad, sheriff Gerald, hunting for the girls. Madison's best friend Hannah, Madison's stepmother, rages at Emmy for failing to protect Madison. It becomes clear that her anger has been simmering for quite some time before this. Emmy is with a waster of a man, Jonah, and despite being assaulted and mistreated by him, she continues to 'put him first' as Hannah puts it.

Again, this element of the book makes for more nuanced and textured characters. Emmy is great and is confident and strong-willed in her job. Yet she still has ended up spending too much of her life tied to a man who drags her down.

The search for the missing girls ends with the discovery of their murdered bodies, but not before it has lifted a lid on the nasty characters of the town. Emmy discovers paedophiles and abusers, at times thinking she's found the killer, but it transpires that there's more than one disgusting man in the town.

The book then shifts to the same town 12 years later. The man jailed for Madison and Cheyenne's killings is being freed. A podcaster claims mistakes made by Emmy and her dad lay behind the 'miscarriage of justice'. Then another girl goes missing in similar circumstances to those 12 years previously, and Emmy has a second investigation to deal with.

The novel is full of characters who are believable from the first sentences. Emmy has a sprawling family that basically run the town, although the family is divided into 'rich' and 'poor' Cliftons, creating various tensions. Over the years her mother has deteriorated with dementia, and her father has grown more frail. She has had to come to terms with those changes while trying to improve her own life.

I found Emmy impressive because I feel like the reader gets a lot of 'sense' of her character while some of the detail is actually quite sparse. For instance (and without wanting to give too much away) we see her in a later relationship with a genuinely caring man, but she has walked away from him, citing too many pressures of caring for her parents. Without knowing much of the detail at all, the reader can understand the dynamic. Similarly we don't know exactly why she ended up with Jonah or what attracted her to him in the first place, but the situation and circumstances are so familiar that we can make sense of it.

She is a very likeable and relatable character, but Slaughter lets the reader fill in the gaps ourselves.

To get back to the plot, there's a great development in the novel where Emmy's sister Jude reappears, who Emmy had previously told was dead. Jude is fantastic - a brilliant investigator and they work well together. The twist, and the ending, are really well done. This is a very readable book that draws you in from the beginning, and has many layers of detail and plot. I'd highly recommend it.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it but it didn't grip me where I was putting off doing things to read it. It's a long book (came up at 9.5 hours for me on my kindle) and there seems to be a lot of unnecessary fluff in the writing but from what I've read this is Karin's writing style. I did feel emotion for the characters though and felt like I did know them well.

It's a solid 3.5 for me.

So this was my first Karin Slaughter book and what an introduction! 5 star read from me for this new crime series.

The book follows Deputy Sheriff, Emmy Lou Clifton, as she investigates the kidnapping of two teenage girls on 4th July from the small town of North Falls, Georgia. For Emmy the case is intensely personal, as one of the young girls, Madison, is the daughter of Emmy’s best friend. More than that, Madison had reached out to Emmy in distress immediately before being abducted…….

What follows is plot told over two separate timelines, 12 years apart. The subject matter is dark, gritty and harrowing to say the least, and Karin Slaughter does not shy away from a graphic and detailed portrayal that may be triggering to some. The character development is superb, with Emmy Lou’s resilience, strengths and vulnerabilities making her a compelling and highly relatable character. The plot twists were numerous, expertly crafted, and kept me turning the pages at pace, as the suspense builds to a cracking conclusion!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK | HarperFiction for the ARC - a brilliant read that is very worthy of my 5* honest review.

#AllGuiltyHere #NetGalley

Thank you netgallery and HarperCollins for the arc of we are all guilty I really enjoyed reading it I enjoyed the crime in it i don’t want to put spoilers in it which crime it was I enjoyed the paced and plot and the characters were good only thing I would change is i don’t think they was a need to repeat the same person full name I skipped reading the last name overall I was a good fully gripping thriller suspense emotional book 4 stars and will pick up more reads from the same author

Another brilliant novel by author Karin Slaughter, whenever I pick up one of her books I always know its going to be a good and gripping read.

I read We Are All Guilty Here in a few days and I loved it.

We follow the story of two missing young women, and are introduced to local police-woman Emmy who has an urge to find these women and solve what has happened to them especially as one of them is her friends daughter so she has a personal connection to this.

I really enjoyed Emmy as a character and the family dynamics that is show-cased in this novel. Karin Slaughter kept me hooked on this brilliant twisty novel and I devoured it.

Thanks to Karin Slaughter, the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Karen Slaughter has done it again! She has created another masterpiece. This is the first book in a gripping new crime series.

Set in the small town of North Falls, where everyone knows everyone and everything, well until at least now. Emmy Clifton has lived here all her life and works for the Country Sheriffs department, when two girls are abducted.

This story is gripping, emotional and captivating. From start to finish you will be left constantly guessing with all the twists and turns, that you won't see coming!

Karin slaughter is one of my favourite authors and this book does not disappoint. Her stories draw you in from early on. The characters are amazing and you really invest and them. The twists and turns keep you on your toes. I would highly recommend this book.

You can always count on Karen Slaughter for a no-holds-barred, gritty crime thriller. This is exactly that, in two parts set 12 years apart. The intensity in this novel is immense, the way that each step of the police investigation is laid out and we are kept at pace without being able to go too fast for fear of missing a step. It's genius storytelling and phenomenal drama.

I dare not say anything about the plot for fear of giving anything away. I just hope there are more books to come with these characters.

Another intriguing mystery by Karin Slaughter one with ever changing plots. A well written storyline leaving you guessing and in suspense until the very end. All I can say is that it is an excellent read and I hope there will be a follow up of the characters in a future book.

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter
Published by Harper Collins
Publication Date: 19/6/25

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
No spoilers

I’m a great fan of Karin Slaughters books, particularly the Will Trent series. This book does not disappoint. The new characters were immediately appealing and the story involving. It’s a real rollercoaster of a book with a lot of police procedural information which I really like. I couldn’t guess at the ending but it was very satisfying.
Definitely recommended to lovers of crime fiction.

Thanks to the author, publisher and to netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

Love , love love Karin Slaughter and this one is up there with her best.
This is Karin Slaughter at her very best
Brilliant characters and just what you've learnt to expect from the author with an exciting plot with many twists, she delivers everything you expect for great thrilling read.
Brilliant .

We Are All Guilty Here delves into the claustrophobic, frightening, and very often backward mentality that permeates the locals in so many small towns, especially those where the heat eats through your clothing and you can hardly breathe. That 'this here's ma brother Darryl, this is ma other brother Darryl' sort of thing. Unsurprisingly, North Falls is one of those towns.

So I haven't read a Karin Slaughter in a very long time, but I remember them always being very close to the bone. Good, but gritty, not shy to zero straight in on topics that many find distasteful or insensitive. The same can be said for this one, and although the subject matter was truly harrowing. it was handled fairly well.

I was a bit shocked on more than one occasion (trigger warnings galore) so be warned. I had an inkling early on about who the evil son-of-a-bitch was, but then discounted the notion. For reasons you'll soon discover.

The people in North Falls are, for the most part, dreadful. A lot of my reading material these days has me constantly asking myself if it's possible that so many people in one place can actually be so vile. The secrets, the lies, the bullying, the things they get up to, the horrors that lie just beneath the surface.... I shudder to think.

I liked Emmy Lou a lot, and Cole even more so. They are relatable and real. So is Jude.. Dylan and Hannah sort of soften the rough edges a bit.

I look forward to the next one.