There are only two things I’ll tell you about the plot of Karin Slaughter’s new, 
stand alone mystery Pretty Girls (no spoilers).
1. Claire’s younger sister, Julia, disappeared over 20 years ago. As a college student, she was last seen in a local bar. After she left, she was never seen again.
2. Claire was arrested for assault. Her sentence was reduced–all she had to do was wear an ankle bracelet for six months so that law enforcement would know where she was at all times. On the day the bracelet came off, she met her husband, Paul, for dinner. Feeling a little frisky, they left the restaurant after drinks, but instead of going home, Paul decided wanted to ‘have’ her in an alley behind the restaurant (he’d never shown any inclination to this in their 18 years of marriage). They were mugged in the alley and Paul was killed.
From this point, the story unfolds and the ‘sick’ side of Paul begins to emerge.
This is not my ‘type’ of mystery but it was Karin Slaughter (who I’ve read before and liked), so I thought I’d give Pretty Girls a try. Up until page 216, I was fine and the book pulled me in. But I started page 216 and unceremoniously bagged the book. One of my (hopefully) few rules is that if there is a big chance that characters I like will get brutally hurt, I stop reading. In addition, an unlikely event took place that made the book unbelievable…to me.
What amazes me is that I heard Karin Slaughter speak at a Library Journal/Book Expo dinner and she was hilarious. How such a funny mind could come up with such a perverted plot is beyond my understanding.
To conclude, if you’re into perversions, this book is tailor made for you. If not, skip it.
P.S. In all fairness, I must add an addendum. If you haven’t read Cop Town, Slaughter’s previous book, I highly recommend it.
Two Heads Together 