As one of my favourite crime authors, with one of my favourite crime series, I was delighted to discover Karin Slaughter was giving fans something new, away from Grant County and Sara Lincroft. 'Cop Town' is still set in Atlanta but it's an Atlanta of the 70's, an era full of change, with new ideas clashing with the old, and Karin Slaughter focuses on the evolving police force. We meet Maggie and Kate, two very different women with very different pasts and up-bringings but both desperate to make their way as successful police officers. We meet Kate on her first day – nervous, apprehensive and Maggie struggling to escape the shadow of her family of fellow officers. Someone is targeting, shooting and killing police officers and Maggie and Kate are determined to prove themselves and find the killer. I love everything Karin Slaughter has written and 'Cop Town' was another gripping, enticing and satisfying read. The characters of Kate and Maggie are instantly likeable and I found myself championing their every step. This is not as gruesome as previous novels, but that doesn't take anything away from the book. This is perfect for already established fans or for new ones. I just hope that this isn't the last we hear from this crime busting duo!

Karin Slaughter steps away from her established series in this standalone novel, set in Atlanta in 1974. The different time period immediately sets this apart with a different feel to Slaughter's other books - with racism, sexism, homophobia and violence the norm, there is no sense of safety within the police force, and the two main female characters have to watch their backs with their colleagues as much as they do with the criminals out on the streets. It makes for a tense and absorbing novel. Karin Slaughter's police characters are never the standard (dull) heroic cop type - they are always flawed and interesting. It would be great to read more about Kate and Maggie in a future novel - let's hope she returns to them sometime!

This is a good fast paced crime thriller set in the mid 1970s that follows two female officers, one on her first day, as they get themselves involved in the investigation into a brutal serial killer that is terrorising the Atlanta police force, despite their male colleagues trying to keep them out. I loved Maggie and her no nonsense attitude to life but Kate was a somewhat annoying at times but in the end she does come out of her shell and make good on the glimpses of potential she occasionally shows. The story itself is gripping with lots of twists and turns and some earth shattering revelations that make the characters question their very sanity. Add to that the prevalent prejudices that were widespread in the 70s and there is a definite powder-keg feeling throughout much of the book.