Let me tell you, it was worth the wait. Every year the new Karin Slaughter book releases in Dutch first before the English one is made available and I’ve read all those previous books in Dutch but I hated the way they translated it. It became more cringy to read and it wasn’t flowing. So, I had to wait a few weeks longer but I’m glad I did.

‘The secrets we hide’ is the second book in the new North Falls series with the first book being ‘We are all guilty here’ and I can confidently say that this new series has a lot of potential.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Allison is a retired cop and has been planning to leave town for a while now but something happened that kicked it in overdrive, packing like a lunatic to get everything they need and go. When Allison sees her purple dust bag that she keeps her pistol in so it won’t get lint on it when she shoves it in her purse, lying on the ground with the gun missing she panics. She always thought there would be possibilities for her being shot dead, but never in a million years did she think it would be done by a loved one.

Myrna, Emmy’s mother has just been buried and she takes the long way to cousin Taybee’s house. She’s in her cruiser with her sister Jude and son Cole when they hear shots fired. Emmy, being the sheriff, she calls it in and asks for backup and all three get out of the car to investigate. The house was located very soon, Emmy tells Cole to set the perimeter while she goes to the front of the house and Jude will look out back. When another shot is fired, Emmy breaks the door down and goes to investigate only to find her friend Allison dead in the kitchen, the last gunshot was from upstairs, the back door is open… She finds her sister with a head wound, they clear the upper area and stop at the bedroom where they hear something drip. Within seconds the ceiling comes down and with that, another body. It’s Allison’s daughter Mandy with a bullet wound to the head.

This whole investigation is a mess; A crime scene that doesn’t add up, it’s like something is missing. With help from Jude and knowing the victim personally Emmy ticks some boxes. Myrna always made these puzzles, where they hunted for the object, she hid. From a voicemail message from Allison, Emmy has the idea that that is how she should find answers. What was Allison working on? What could have gotten her this spooked that she was willing to pack up and leave? And who would want to hurt her and her daughter?

A whole box of shit surfaces; dirty cops; wrongful deaths and so on and so forth. To get the whole picture they have to tread lightly because there are a whole lot of bad people involved.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star read, I wish Karin wrote more books a year because I can not wait!