“Welcome to North Falls. A small town where everyone knows everyone. But nobody knows the truth.
Emmy Clifton has lived here all her life. She thinks she knows her neighbours. She’s wrong.
She thinks it’s just another hot summer night: a night like any other. She’s wrong.
When her best friend’s daughter asks for help, she thinks it’s just some teenage drama. She thinks it can wait. She’s never been more wrong in her life.
As the town ignites in the wake of the girl’s disappearance, Emmy throws herself into the search. But then she realises: You never really know a town until you know its secrets.
Is Emmy ready for the truth?”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter. We Are All Guilty Here was published by HarperCollins on 19th June 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of We Are All Guilty Here but that has in no way influenced my review.
Karin Slaughter is a bit of a legend in my eyes. I’ve been a fan of her books for a very long time now. She’s one of those authors who never lets the reader down. You go in with high expectations (because it’s a Karin Slaughter novel!) and those expectations are always met, often surpassed. So, a brand new series from this author is a very exciting prospect indeed for us crime fiction fans. We Are All Guilty Here is the first book in the North Falls series. Still set in Georgia, but brand new characters, brand new murders and brand new investigations.
Deputy Emmy Clifton has problems of her own. So when her best friend’s daughter, Madison, tries to talk to her during the North Falls fourth of July celebrations, she just doesn’t have the time or the patience to deal with the teenager. A decision she later regrets when Madison and her best friend, Cheyenne, are reported missing. Leaving behind a broken bicycle and a large puddle of blood. The town turns out to search for the girls, but Emmy, weighed down by her decision to ignore Madison, is consumed by grief and regret. Determined to find the girls alive, despite what the evidence says, she throws herself into the investigation alongside her ageing Sheriff father. As her relationship with her best friend deteriorates, as her obsession to find the girls consumes her and as her marriage crumbles around her, will Emmy be able to find Madison and Cheyenne before it’s too late? Or will North Fall’s secrets be the death of her and all those she holds dear…?
Oh my goodness, you get your money’s worth with a Karin Slaughter novel! There is so much going on in this book, so much packed into the 448 pages. I loved it! The characters have so much depth to them, the setting comes alive on the page, and the plot is full of clever twists and turns. Emmy is a great character. Stuck in a marriage with a dead-end loser that she knows just isn’t working (and hasn’t been for years). It’s a complete contrast to the Emmy we see at work. As a Deputy she’s driven, determined and will go ten extra miles to solve a case. But her home life is the opposite. She puts up with Jonah and his cr@p because that’s what she’s done ever since they first got together in high school. However, Emmy is a Clifton of Clifton County. She’s surrounded by family, no matter how much she would prefer not to be. Cousins at every turn! The characters, as I have come to expect from a Karin Slaughter novel, are extremely well drawn. They felt real, believable, and I found myself invested in Emmy, in particular.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. We Are All Guilty Here is a dark, compelling and intricate crime thriller. The characters are all beautifully developed and contributed to the building storyline. The emotion is unflinching and intense. The small-town setting where everyone knows everyone else (or they’re related to each other!) was gorgeously claustrophobic and added to the overall feel of the plot. Secrets run rife in this small town, that’s for sure. The twists and turns were unexpected and in one particular case, really quite shocking. The emotion! This is one of those books where the blurb only gives you a tiny peek into the storyline. You really don’t know the half of it. I would advise future readers to try to avoid reviews that reveal all (you’re safe with this one 😉). I wasn’t aware of what was coming, and it knocked me for six! Gosh, this book was good. But then I’ve come to expect that from this author. Slaughter always, always delivers. All in all, We Are All Guilty Here is a compelling, tense, extremely well-written crime thriller. Complex but easy to read and follow. Where characters, plot and setting work in perfect harmony together. Lots of gorgeous suspense throughout, bucketloads of mystery and highly atmospheric. I lived this book alongside the characters, and I cannot wait for the next instalment. Recommended.
I chose to read and review a free eARC of We Are All Guilty Here. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter was published in the UK by HarperCollins on 19th June 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |
Karin Slaughter is the author of twenty-five instant NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated COP TOWN and standalone novels THE GOOD DAUGHTER, PRETTY GIRLS, and GIRL, FORGOTTEN. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. PIECES OF HER is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette. The Will Trent Series is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S and Disney+ internationally). THE GOOD DAUGHTER and FALSE WITNESS are in development for film/tv. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organisation established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.
