Chief Gerald Clifton is now 74 and still on the job, despite his bad knees and back and arthritis affecting his hands. With his time running out, he’s intent on teaching Emmy, his daughter and deputy, everything he knows. Working their way through a crime, Gerald will challenge Emmy with prompts like, “talk it out,” or “what do we know?” They have “cop speak” between them. “DFR” means “don’t feel right.” And having the “tickle” triggers a bad feeling. The events on July 4th will put both Gerald and Emmy to the test and, for Emmy, create a situation that will have her questioning her loyalties, skills, and messed up marriage.
Emmy, on fireworks duty, finds herself in a precarious situation when she unexpectedly runs into her deadbeat husband, Jonah. Virtually the entire population of North Falls has turned out to celebrate the nation’s birthday. Emmy finds out that Jonah, who is unemployed, has no time to babysit their eleven year-old son, Cole. She explains to Brett Temple, one of her officers, “it’s not babysitting when it’s your own kid.” Emmy’s anger with Jonah causes her to brush off a plea for help from Madison, the teenage daughter of her best friend, Hannah. When Madison later goes missing, along with her friend, Cheyenne, Emmy can’t help but feel guilty. And when she confesses to Hannah what happened, that she might have been able to help if she had stopped to listen to Madison, their friendship is over.
Two bikes belonging to Madison and Cheyenne are discovered, one badly damaged, and a pool of blood found nearby. There’s no longer any doubt that the girls have been abducted. Emmy and Gerald know that the clock is ticking. If the girls aren’t found within a short space of time, the search and rescue will turn into a search and recovery operation.
A search of Cheyenne’s school locker turns up pornographic photos of the two girls. Emmy focuses on Dale Loudermilk, a forty-something high school chorus teacher. When he’s seen inspecting Cheyenne’s locker, taking his time looking at the photos, Emmy wonders what he’s up to. She follows him back to his office where he reaches behind a file cabinet and pulls out a laptop. Sitting at a desk, he begins to open files when Emmy confronts him. The files contain dozens of photos of underage girls. Since he had easy access to both Madison and Cheyenne, he becomes their prime suspect.
Slaughter knows police procedure and We Are All Guilty Here is textbook as Emmy and Gerald find the suspect and close the case. But 12 years later, the case is reopened after the man arrested and convicted for the crimes is found to have a solid alibi. Another teenage girl is abducted, her bike found damaged and discarded. Emmy is forced to revisit what happened a dozen years ago. Now that the man has been released, has he committed another crime? Or did they arrest the wrong man all those years ago? If so, the killer is still out there and more lives are at risk.
This time around, Emmy will have help. Jude Archer, an FBI agent who solved a famous serial murder case in California, has just retired. But when she learns what’s happening in North Falls, she decides to take one last job, helping the local authorities, especially Emmy. Turns out that Jude has a connection with the small town in Virginia. And while many of Emmy’s team welcome the assistance, others want nothing to do with Jude. But as a psychologist and skilled interrogator, Jude doesn’t let that stop her, determined to help Emmy.
There are more twists and turns, gains and losses, as Slaughter skillfully weaves a complicated plot while revealing more about the Clifton family that has ruled over North Falls for two generations. And with Emmy’s son, Cole, now an officer – calling her “chief” at times and “mom” as others – we know this new series is just getting started.
We Are All Guilty Here
Karin Slaughter
Top photo: Bigstock
