From New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter, the first novel in her acclaimed Grant County Series.

Interweaving knife-edge tension, superb characterization, and an evocative milieu, this thrilling novel of dark suspense, set in rural Grant County, Georgia, introduces engaging pediatrician and coroner, Dr. Sara Linton.

A sadistic rapist turned killer is terrorizing Grant County, and the chief of police, Sara’s ex-husband Jeffrey Tolliver, must find him. But he’s not alone. Lena Adams—the county’s sole female detective—wants to see justice done, since her sister was the first victim. Sara, too, cannot escape the terror. A secret from her past could hold the key to finding the killer—unless he finds her first.