American country towns  (and indeed Australian ones, where I live) are often interesting and peculiar commodities. Outwardly at least, many are picture-perfect and idyllic hubs of laid-back and blissful living. They are places where everyone knows everyone’s business and secrets (or do they?) and docile harmony pervades (or does it) in these innocent (or are they?) utopias.

In reality, country towns in America (and around the globe for that matter) are microcosms of life in the bigger cities in more ways than one. People still often keep a lot hidden from their friends and neighbours and secrets sit bubbling away. Until they rise to the surface and lives are altered forever.

Stellar American author, Karin Slaughter, encapsulates life, relationships and misdeeds expertly in her latest spectacular novel, the crime thriller “We are all Guilty Here”.

 In the American south-eastern state of Georgia, Clifton Country (population 20 000) sits in the south-eastern section. Less than 1000 of these folk live in the town of North Falls, a “county seat”.

It is here that the highly respected and well thought of (or are they?) Clifton family have resided for generations. Elderly Sheriff Gerald Clifton rules North Falls and the surrounding area with an iron fist, and is the wise patriarch of the Clifton clan. At the Fourth of July fireworks celebrations one summer night, fifteen year old Madison Dalrymple thinks to herself that “Everybody was coming up to the sheriff like he was royalty, which was maybe true since the entire county had been named after his great-great – however many greats – grandfather.  Emmy (his fiercely loyal daughter) was one of his deputies. His wife (Myrna) taught at the middle school. His son (Tommy) taught at the high school. His brother ran the factory. His 200-year-old sister played the organ at the Second Baptist. There were tons of Cliftons all over the county, cousins and great-uncles and too many aunts. Madison’s dad joked that everybody who wasn’t a Clifton either worked for the Cliftons or had been arrested by the Cliftons”.

Madison is waiting on this oppressively hot July night for her best friend, Cheyenne Baker. “They had agreed to meet at the park under the oak tree by eight o’clock at the latest. But it was twenty past, and Cheyenne hadn’t shown up or called or texted and wasn’t answering Madison’s calls or texts, and the combination of heat and anxiety had put Madison into a full-on sweat”.

When Deputy Emmy Clifton-Lang comes across Madison, she notices Madison’s jumpiness. Madison forcefully tells Emmy that “I’m leaving this stupid town as soon as I can”. We are told that Madison and Cheyenne have secret plans to leave North Falls in a couple of months and “move to Atlanta and never have to deal with people telling them what to do ever again”.

Madison decides that Emmy is worthy of her trust. Madison reflects to herself that “Cheyene always said that Emmy was too pretty to waste her looks on being a cop, but the thing was, she was good at her job. She wasn’t like her father, who would call your parents at work if he saw you somewhere he thought you shouldn’t be. …….Emmy had caught Madison smoking a cigarette once and told her to put it out, and that was that. She hadn’t ratted her out to Hannah (Madison’s step-mom and Emmy’s best friend) or dropped by her dad’s shop for a talk, which would’ve been easy because it was right across the street from the sheriff’s station……..Which meant that Emmy could be trusted”.

When Madison goes to confide in Emmy, after Emmy has been fighting with her ‘loser’ husband, Jonah, Emmy, still seething from the row with Jonah, tells Madison “Not now”. These are words that will brutally haunt Emmy for the rest of her life. Because on that most joyful and seemingly innocent of nights, Madison and Cheyenne go missing, and Gerald and Emmy realise the teenagers have been cruelly abducted. 

Gerald and Emmy know that something terribly bad has happened almost immediately. That “Something was wrong. His cop radar was so much better than hers, but she felt it now, that electrical current in the air that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up….The tickle……Emmy called it a bad feeling. She’d heard other cops refer to it as a hunch or, instinct or, if the officer was a woman, intuition….No matter the name, what it meant was that either something really bad had happened or something bad was about to happen”.

Early on in the investigation, Emmy tells Hannah how she dismissed Madison at the fireworks and didn’t give Madison a chance to confide in her. Hannah then vows never to talk to Emmy again.

The girls’ discarded bikes are found and suspicious tyre tracks. Who could have taken them? Were they living lives that even their parents didn’t know about? Where did Cheyenne get all the cash from that Emmy finds in her bedroom?

Are there bad, nasty people in town or who have visited North Falls on the night of the fireworks? Is there more than one person involved?

Why does Adam Huntsinger keep up popping up on the police’s radar? (Hint, he is not the abductor).

Twelve years later, another girl, fourteen year old Paisley Walker, is taken from the area. Can the crimes be related? Have Gerald and Emmy missed something? When Paisley goes missing, Cole (Emmy’s son) is in his twenties and is now on the police force. Can he see something that his grandfather and mom haven’t seen?

Will any of the girls ever be found? How does Hannah end up in Jail? Why does Emmy’s long lost sister Jude (who has been working for the FBI) turn up in town after fourty-two years? Can Jude bring her expertise to the cases? Can she notice things the other police haven’t noticed?

Karin has written a crime thriller that exudes intelligence and wisdom. Karin’s insight into the human psyche and condition is exemplary. In addition, the police procedural depictions and portrayal of police interrogations are excellent.

Karin obviously poured her heart and soul into writing this book and the superb writing is evidence of this. She is an author who I will most definitely be reading again. This is a first-rate crime novel and Karin has earned her reputation as a writer of distinction.