The Book:
Kisscut by Karin Slaughter (Grant County #2)
Published September 30th 2003 by Harper
Date re-read: September 24, 2022
The Characters:
Sara Linton, Grant County pediatrician and coroner
Jeffrey Tolliver, her ex-husband, chief of police
Lena Adams, police detective
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton–the town’s pediatrician and medical examiner–finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy.
What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications. The autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse, of ritualistic self-mutilation, but when Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, they are frustrated at every turn.
The children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime, one far more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, detective Lena Adams, still recovering from her sister’s death and her own brutal attack, finds herself drawn to a young man who might hold the answers. But unless Lena, Sara, and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it’s going to happen again.
The Review:
Welcome back to my re-read of Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series. If you’ve already read Blindsighted, check out my review and spoiler discussion. If you haven’t, I do recommend starting at the beginning of the series to gain some important insight into the main characters. Kisscut could be read as a standalone if you’re just here for the police procedural, but the real joy in this series comes from the stories of the recurring characters. Kisscut also definitely includes spoilers for Blindsighted.
The case in Kisscut is just as grisly as Blindsighted, this time involving child abuse. Yes, her topics can be hard to listen to, but that is the point. I love that she isn’t afraid to put these topics out there. The reader is supposed to be uncomfortable with the case, because you should be upset that these things happen in real life. As always, I’m so impressed by Karin’s plotting and research. I can’t put these books down, and want to dive into the next one right away!
My lackluster opinion of Jeffrey has not changed since my reread of Blindsighted. He said some icky things about Sara at the beginning of the book: commenting on how she never shaves or makes an effort to dress pretty for him. Ugh. I’ve always been Team Will, but it’s little things like this that solidify it for me during my re-read! I’m wondering when he begins to grow on me…
This book is also where I began to dislike Lena: in Blindsighted, her actions could be excused by the fact that she just lost her twin sister. In Kisscut, though, she is clearly a detriment to the police force and badly in need of some therapy. She’s a loose cannon, and no one seems to care!
Head to my review and summary of the next book, A Faint Cold Fear, here!
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
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