While i enjoyed this book, i don't think it was as good as her last stand alone book Pretty Girls. There wasn't a lot of action and seemed more of a character driven story than an investigation which i wasn't expecting. It was very well written and there was a number of twists and turns i wasn't expecting.

I've been a big fan of Karin Slaughter since her first novel Blindsighted and my personal fandom continues on to her latest novel The Good Daughter.

Pre spoiler warning, there are no spoilers for The Good Daughter here but there may be a few for those who have not read the prequel Last Breath.

In Last Breath we meet Charlotte Quinn, defends lawyer, daughter of the notorious Rusty Quinn whose determination to defend all those who nobody else will, resulted in his wife and eldest daughter being shot. We follow the novella through Charlie's determination to help a young girl who seems likes she's in trouble, only for it to turn out that it is she who is the trouble. The story ends with Charlotte (Charlie) discovering she is pregnant to her loving husband Ben.

Imagine my surprise then on returning to the story in The Good Daughter to find that Charlie and her husband are estranged and there is no baby in sight.

Instead we are greeted by the harrowing story of the day that Charlie's beloved mother and sister were shot. It's really difficult not to give away spoilers for this one because there are so many things that are written into the story so well that everything is full of suspense throughout and you don't know what this novel is going to throw at you next!

In true Karin Slaughter style, nobody can be trusted, nothing is what you think it is and nobody is who you think either.

I really like the character of Charlie and feel that this will develop into an excellent series with her at the helm. Despite being feisty and determined she is likeable, you cry with her, you laugh with her and your heart aches for her as secrets of her past slowly rise to the surface.

I'm not going to lie that it's setting, so close to Atlanta is also giving me the vibe that maybe Karin plans to merge this series with the Will Trent series at some point. Which frankly, would be awesome!

A standalone from Slaughter where a brutal crime from 28 years ago is finally solved in the present, prompted by another act of violence.

In lots of ways, this is more about family relationships (sisters, father/daughter, mother/daughter) than about solving a crime in itself, though the two strands are intricately intertwined. This certainly gives an emotional charge to the text that kept me turning the pages so that I finished this in the early hours of the morning.

There are some problems with the pacing, though, with a blip in the middle where the protagonist changes and the narrative gets a bit repetitive before moving forward again. We also have a flurry of revelations at the end, not least a wholly unnecessary confession from not one, but two separate criminal perpetrators.

Niggles aside, this is certainly gripping with some excellent characterisation - not quite up to Slaughter's brilliant [book:Cop Town|18594594], but a compelling page-turner of a book.