Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent Series in Order

If you’re new here, you’ll quickly learn that Karin Slaughter is my favorite author of all time, and I adore her Grant Count/Will Trent series. I hated seeing people give The Silent Wife a poor rating not knowing it was DEEP into this series, so I made this list to help out future readers!

Can I read the Will Trent series out of order? 

Since Karin Slaughter develops all her characters throughout both series, I definitely recommend reading them in order of publication date. Some work better as standalones than others do, which I’ll comment on below.

Personally, I started with The Kept Woman and then jumped back to the beginning. I had to re-read it by the time I got back to it on the list, and it was much better the second time around with the right background.

My recommendation is to start with the Grant County books to meet Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver, but before you get to Undone read the first two books of the Will Trent series. From there, you can continue on with the Will Trent series in order. 

The Grant County/Will Trent series in order:

  1. Blightsighted, 2001
  2. Kisscut, 2002
  3. A Faint Cold Fear, 2003
  4. Indelible, 2004
  5. Faithless, 2005
  6. Beyond Reach, 2007 (also titled Skin Privilege)
  7. Triptych, 2006
    • If you’re here because of the Will Trent TV show, Triptych is probably where you’ll start. It’s the first book of the Will Trent series, but the Sara Linton/Grant County books take place before Triptych.
    • You’ll be shocked by the differences in the characters between the TV show and the books!
    • Triptych and Fractured can be read before the Grant County series, but I recommend you jump back to Blindsighted before reading Undone.
  8. Fractured, 2008
  9. Undone, 2009 (also titled Genesis)
    • This is where the two series converge. Everything before #9 should be read before you read Undone!
  10. Broken, 2010
  11. Fallen, 2011
  12. Snatched, 2012, a Will Trent short story
    • Note: none of the short stories are required to follow along with the subsequent books. They’re just fun while you wait for the next one!
  13. Criminal, 2012
    • This one is my favorite up to this point!
  14. Busted, 2013, a Will Trent short story 
  15. Unseen, 2013
  16. The Kept Woman, 2016
    • This was the first Karin Slaughter book I read. I could follow the story as a standalone, but it really made me want to go back to the beginning to get the full backstory!
  17. Cleaning the Gold, 2019, a Will Trent and Jack Reacher short story
  18. The Last Widow, 2019
  19. The Silent Wife, 2020
    • This book hinges on events that occurred earlier in both series. This is NOT one to read without the backstory! While you’ll be able to follow what’s happening, there’s a huge event in this book that doesn’t have the same impact without knowing the history.
  20. After That Night, 2023
    • After That Night also strongly depends on events in the Grant County series. You could skip the previous Will Trent books and be okay if you’ve read Grant County, but it’s better with the full history. Some events in Criminal are also important to this storyline.
  21. This Is Why We Lied, 2024
    • I just finished this one, review coming soon. This Is Why We Lied can easily be read as a standalone, so if you’re looking for a taste of Will and Sara without reading the whole series, this is a great one to start with. Hopefully it makes you want to go back and read them all!

Many of those contain links to my reviews, so be sure to check them out!

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!

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What do you think?

Did you read the whole Grant County series before starting the Will Trent series? Did you start in the middle and then jump back, like I did? Have you been with Sara and Will since book one? Or perhaps you’ve found your way here after watching the Will Trent TV show? Let me know in the comments!

I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the Will Trent series, and hope Karin continues to write about them for a long time.

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