Karin Slaughter Books in Order: Every Book & Short Story

Karin Slaughter writes dark, sharp crime thrillers that don’t pull many punches. If you like crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, and mysteries that get under your skin, here is how to read the Karin Slaughter books in order.

The simplest way to read Karin Slaughter is by publication order, especially if you want the full Grant County and Will Trent crossover experience. If you only care about one series, you can jump straight to the series lists below.

Jump to:

• Karin Slaughter Books in Publication Order
• Karin Slaughter Books by Series
• Karin Slaughter Standalone Books
• Karin Slaughter Short Stories and Novellas
• Karin Slaughter Anthologies and Contributions
• Karin Slaughter Books-to-Screen Adaptations
• Who is Karin Slaughter?

Karin Slaughter Books in Publication Order

This list gives you Karin Slaughter’s major novels, novellas, short stories, story collections, and major anthology contributions in publication order. If you’re reading her books for the first time and want the full picture, this is the order I’d use.

1. Blindsighted (2001)
2. Kisscut (2002)
3. A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
4. Indelible (2004)
5. Like a Charm (2004)
6. Faithless (2005)
7. Triptych (2006)
8. Beyond Reach (2007) (also published as Skin Privilege)
9. Fractured (2008)
10. Martin Misunderstood (2008)
11. Undone (2009) (also published as Genesis)
12. Broken (2010)
13. First Thrills (2010)
14. Thorn in My Side (2011)
15. The Unremarkable Heart and Other Stories (2011)
16. Fallen (2011)
17. Snatched (2012)
18. Criminal (2012)
19. Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance (2012)
20. The Library Book (2012)
21. Busted (2013)
22. Unseen (2013)
23. Mystery Writers of America Presents The Mystery Box (2013)
24. Cop Town (2014)
25. Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes (2015)
26. Pretty Girls (2015)
27. Three Twisted Stories (2015)
28. Cold, Cold Heart (2016)
29. The Kept Woman (2016)
30. Last Breath (2017)
31. The Good Daughter (2017)
32. MatchUp (2017)
33. Pieces of Her (2018)
34. Cleaning the Gold (2019) (with Lee Child)
35. The Last Widow (2019)
36. The Silent Wife (2020)
37. False Witness (2021)
38. Girl, Forgotten (2022)
39. After That Night (2023)
40. This Is Why We Lied (2024)
41. We Are All Guilty Here (2025)
42. The Secrets We Hide (2026)

A quick note on the short works: some of Slaughter’s stories have been released as standalone digital shorts, while others are easiest to find inside collections or paperback editions. I’ve listed the main titles readers are most likely to look for.

Karin Slaughter Books by Series

If the full publication list feels like a lot, start by choosing a series. Grant County is the best place to begin if you want Sara Linton’s story from the start. Will Trent is the most popular entry point for many readers, especially after the TV adaptation.

Grant County Books

The Grant County books introduce Sara Linton, Jeffrey Tolliver, and Lena Adams in the fictional town of Heartsdale, Georgia. This is where Karin Slaughter’s crime-fiction world begins.

1. Blindsighted (2001)
2. Kisscut (2002)
3. A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
4. Indelible (2004)
5. Faithless (2005)
6. Beyond Reach (2007) (also published as Skin Privilege)

I’d read Grant County before the later Will Trent books if you care about Sara Linton’s full character arc.

Will Trent Books

Will Trent is Karin Slaughter’s Atlanta-set series about a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. I’m keeping this section simple here, but I have a full breakdown in my Will Trent books in order guide.

1. Triptych (2006)
2. Fractured (2008)
3. Undone (2009) (also published as Genesis)
4. Broken (2010)
5. Fallen (2011)
6. Snatched (2012) (short story)
7. Criminal (2012)
8. Busted (2013) (short story)
9. Unseen (2013)
10. The Kept Woman (2016)
11. Cleaning the Gold (2019) (with Lee Child)
12. The Last Widow (2019)
13. The Silent Wife (2020)
14. After That Night (2023)
15. This Is Why We Lied (2024)

Cleaning the Gold is a crossover short story with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. It is optional, but Will Trent readers may still want it on their list.

Andrea Oliver Books

The Andrea Oliver books begin with Pieces of Her. These are often grouped separately from Slaughter’s standalones, so I’d treat them as their own short series.

1. Pieces of Her (2018)
2. Girl, Forgotten (2022)

The Good Daughter Book and Short Story

The Good Daughter works as a standalone novel, but it has a related prequel short story. Read the short story first if you want the story in internal order.

1. Last Breath (2017)
2. The Good Daughter (2017)

North Falls Books

The North Falls books are small-town crime thrillers centered around Sheriff Emmy Clifton and the secrets buried inside her community.Several Karin Slaughter books have made the jump to TV. Will Trent is an ABC series and streams on Hulu. Pieces of Her was adapted by Netflix with Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote. The Good Daughter also has a Peacock limited-series adaptation.

1. We Are All Guilty Here (2025)
2. The Secrets We Hide (2026)

Karin Slaughter Standalone Books

Karin Slaughter also has standalone thrillers outside her major series. Some have related short stories or later connections, but you can read these without starting Grant County or Will Trent first.

1. Martin Misunderstood (2008)
2. Cop Town (2014)
3. Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes (2015) (short-story prequel to Pretty Girls)
4. Pretty Girls (2015)
5. The Good Daughter (2017)
6. Pieces of Her (2018)
7. False Witness (2021)
8. Girl, Forgotten (2022)

I listed The Good Daughter and the Andrea Oliver books above too because readers often search for them that way. If you’re reading every Karin Slaughter book, you only need to count each title once.

Karin Slaughter Short Stories and Novellas

Slaughter has written several short works. Some are connected to her major books. Others are standalone stories or pieces collected with other stories.

1. Martin Misunderstood (2008)
2. Thorn in My Side (2011)
3. The Unremarkable Heart and Other Stories (2011)
4. Snatched (2012) (Will Trent short story)
5. Busted (2013) (Will Trent short story)
6. Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes (2015) (related to Pretty Girls)
7. Three Twisted Stories (2015)
8. Cold, Cold Heart (2016)
9. Last Breath (2017) (related to The Good Daughter)
10. Cleaning the Gold (2019) (with Lee Child)

The Unremarkable Heart and Other Stories includes The Unremarkable Heart, The Blessing of Brokenness, Necessary Women, The Mean Time, Cold, Cold Heart, and The Truth About Pretty Girls.

Three Twisted Stories includes Go Deep, Necessary Women, and Remmy Rothstein Toes the Line.

Karin Slaughter Anthologies and Contributions

These are anthologies and shared projects that include Karin Slaughter’s work. You don’t need them to follow Grant County, Will Trent, Andrea Oliver, The Good Daughter, or North Falls, but completionist readers may want them.

1. Like a Charm (2004)
2. First Thrills (2010)
3. Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance (2012)
4. The Library Book (2012)
5. Mystery Writers of America Presents The Mystery Box (2013)
6. MatchUp (2017)

Karin Slaughter Books-to-Screen Adaptations

Several Karin Slaughter books have made the jump to TV. Will Trent is an ABC series and streams on Hulu. Pieces of Her was adapted by Netflix with Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote. The Good Daughter also has a Peacock limited-series adaptation.

The shows change things from the books, so I’d treat them as companion watches rather than substitutes for the novels. If you want the original character arcs and case details, read the books first.

Who is Karin Slaughter?

Karin Slaughter is an American crime thriller author from Georgia. She is best known for the Grant County and Will Trent books, along with standalones like Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and False Witness.

Her books are intense, violent, and emotionally direct. They often deal with murder investigations, trauma, family secrets, and the long aftermath of violence. If you’re sensitive to graphic crime fiction, go in prepared. Slaughter does not soften the hard parts.

She is also the founder of Save the Libraries, a project that supports libraries and library programming.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Thriller Books in Order index.

• Books in Order (Full Index)
• Lisa Gardner Books in Order
• Tess Gerritsen Books in Order
• Patricia Cornwell Books in Order