Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter

 

Andrea Oliver is a newly qualified US Marshall. She is posted to protect a federal judge who has been receiving death threats. While there Andrea has also been asked to covertly investigate the unsolved murder of the judge's daughter 40 years ago as there are possible links to a prisoner about to be released.

The story focuses on two very different women. Andrea Oliver, newly qualified US Marshall, determined to pull her weight and Emily Vaughn, a seventeen year old who is murdered in 1982. The link between the women is that they possibly have the same father.

We jump between the stories of the two women, discovering that Emily was pregnant and had no idea who the father was as she was drugged and raped at a party. Being set in the early eighties in a tight-knit, conservative community this is seen as a disgrace. Emily is scorned by her friends, no-one believes her story so little interest is shown in trying to investigate the rape. The way that Emily is treated by almost everyone made me want to scream in anger and frustration

The suspects for the rape are small group, mainly focused on her clique of friends. As we get deeper into the story you are constantly wondering which one, if any, is responsible? Or could it be more than one? Are they covering for each other? Thanks to the excellent writing you are constantly second guessing and unable to pin down the person responsible early on.

As Andrea investigates we discover that misogyny is still rife in the small community, despite the progress of time. Some of the original clique are still around and despite tensions between the individuals they are still covering for each other, hampering the investigation.

The well plotted story keeps you in suspense right up to the end, with a satisfying conclusion. The author than made me gasp by throwing in one final little snippet to make you wonder where do we go from here?

Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter will be published on 23rd June 2022 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.