The Book:
Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter (Grant County #6)
Published July 31st 2007 by Delacorte Press
Date re-read: November 14, 2022
The Characters:
Sara Linton, Grant County pediatrician and coroner
Jeffrey Tolliver, her ex-husband, chief of police
Lena Adams
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Sara Linton–resident medical examiner/pediatrician in Grant County, Georgia, –has plenty of hardship to deal with, including defending herself in a heartbreaking malpractice suit. So when her husband, Police chief Jeffery Tolliver, learns that his friend and coworker detective Lena Adams has been arrested for murder and needs Sara’s help, she is not sure she can handle the pressure of it all.
But soon Sara and Jeffery are sitting through evidence, peeling back the layers of a mystery that grows darker by the day–until an intricate web of betrayal and vengeance begins to unravel. And suddenly the lives of Sara, Lena, and Jeffery are hanging by the slenderest of threads.
The Twist:
Lena was going to Reese, her hometown, to check on her uncle Hank after a call from his neighbor, Charlotte.
Charlotte, Hank’s sponsee and confidant, was the body in the burnt car.
Jake the sheriff and Fred the dentist were the main players. They were running the meth trade in town. Lena realized when she saw Jake’s blood type tattoo when he cut himself at Hank’s house. They tied up Sara and Lena and started to set up the house to make it looked like Deacon (the body in Hank’s attic) had been cooking meth and Sara and Lena had arrived at the wrong time.
They had gotten Hank back on meth because he saw them dealing at the motel across the street from his bar. They had killed Charlotte as a threat to Lena and Hank.
Lena realized that Jake was setting Fred up to take the fall. She pointed it out to him, and Fred shot and killed Clint and shot Jake in the leg. He handcuffed Jake and Lena to each other (Sara was drugged in the hallway) and left to let the meth on the stove blow up the house.
Lena cut off Jake’s hand to get herself free. She got herself and Sara out just in time.
Jake’s wife Myra was the baby sister of the two brothers who ran The Brotherhood Of The True White Skin. He was so powerful because he married into their family.
Boyd Gibson was also working for Jake. He was in the burning bar looking for Hank’s money stash. It was Clint’s knife in her back.
The maid at the motel was Lena’s mom. She had been the one who hit and blinded Sibyl.
The Ending:
Sara and Jeffrey got approved for a baby. As Sara told him about it, Jeffrey opened the mailbox and a bomb went off and killed him.
The Title:
Skin Privilege title mentioned in Chapter 6 when Nick is explaining the skinhead gangs to Jeffrey.
Questions:
Why did Hank make up a story about Angela being dead?
The Review:
To come!
If you’re looking for a matching set of the Grant County books, most of them are included in this set, which I purchased recently and love!
Grant County books in order
Blightsighted
Kisscut
A Faint Cold Fear
Indelible
Faithless
Beyond Reach
After this book, the story proceeds to the Will Trent series. Please follow along to my review of the first book in the Will Trent series, Triptych.
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