Image via Rh723 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Karin Slaughter at the National Book Festival, Washington, DC, 2026.
On Thursday, November 12, all six episodes of The Good Daughter land on Peacock at once. It is the first time Karin Slaughter has written a screen version of her own book. She wrote every episode herself, and she runs the show.
That is a big deal for a writer who has spent 25 years letting other people adapt her work. Pieces of Her became a Netflix hit in 2022. Will Trent has run four seasons on ABC. This time Slaughter kept the pen in her own hand.
The story is her 2017 standalone novel. Two sisters, Charlotte "Charlie" Quinn and Samantha Quinn, played by Meghann Fahy and Rose Byrne, are still living with one violent night from twenty years ago. Then a new tragedy pulls them back to their small hometown. Brendan Gleeson plays their father, Rusty. Steph Green directed all six episodes.
A Georgia girl who wrote her first novel in three months
Karin Slaughter was born on January 6, 1971, in Covington, Georgia. She grew up in Lake Spivey, a small community outside Atlanta, with two older sisters. She went to Morrow High School in Morrow, Georgia, then studied literature at Georgia State University. She left before finishing her degree.
She wrote her first novel, Blindsighted, in three months. It came out in 2001. The book introduced Dr. Sara Linton, a pediatrician and part-time coroner in the made-up town of Heartsdale, Georgia. It was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Dagger Award for best thriller debut and went on to be published in 27 languages.
That book set the pattern for her whole career. Her stories stay close to home — small Georgia towns, Atlanta, people who know each other too well — and they do not look away from the dark parts.
| Quick Facts | Karin Slaughter |
|---|---|
| Full name | Karin Slaughter |
| Born | 6 January 1971, Covington, Georgia, USA |
| Age | 55 |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Author, screenwriter, showrunner |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Education | Morrow High School; Georgia State University (literature, left before graduating) |
| Best known for | Grant County and Will Trent novels; The Good Daughter |
| Books | More than 25 novels |
| Copies sold | More than 40 million, in 120 countries |
| Lives in | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Net worth | No verified figure exists (see FAQ) |
Two series, one Georgia
Blindsighted started the Grant County series. Six books followed between 2001 and 2007, built around Sara Linton, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver and detective Lena Adams. The books sold well in the UK and Germany first, then at home.
In 2006 she started a second series with Triptych. This one moved to Atlanta and followed Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent and his partner, Faith Mitchell. Trent is dyslexic, keeps his past close, and solves cases other people give up on. The two series crossed over in Undone (2009), when Sara Linton walked into Will Trent's world. The Will Trent books now run to twelve, the latest being This Is Why We Lied (2024).
Image via Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Slaughter at BookExpo, New York, 2019.
Between the series books she writes standalones. Cop Town (2014) is set in 1970s Atlanta and won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Pretty Girls (2015) is her darkest book, about two sisters hunting for a third who vanished years ago. Pieces of Her (2018) became her biggest Netflix hit. False Witness (2021) and Girl, Forgotten (2022) followed.
Her newest series, North Falls, started in 2025 with We Are All Guilty Here, a number one New York Times bestseller. The second book, The Secrets We Hide, came out on August 11, 2026.
| Year | Book | Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Blindsighted | Grant County |
| 2002 | Kisscut | Grant County |
| 2003 | A Faint Cold Fear | Grant County |
| 2004 | Indelible | Grant County |
| 2005 | Faithless | Grant County |
| 2007 | Beyond Reach (Skin Privilege in the UK) | Grant County |
| 2006 | Triptych | Will Trent |
| 2008 | Fractured | Will Trent |
| 2009 | Undone (Genesis outside the US) | Will Trent |
| 2010 | Broken | Will Trent |
| 2011 | Fallen | Will Trent |
| 2012 | Criminal | Will Trent |
| 2013 | Unseen | Will Trent |
| 2016 | The Kept Woman | Will Trent |
| 2019 | The Last Widow | Will Trent |
| 2020 | The Silent Wife | Will Trent |
| 2023 | After That Night | Will Trent |
| 2024 | This Is Why We Lied | Will Trent |
| 2014 | Cop Town | Standalone |
| 2015 | Pretty Girls | Standalone |
| 2017 | The Good Daughter | Standalone |
| 2018 | Pieces of Her | Standalone |
| 2021 | False Witness | Standalone |
| 2022 | Girl, Forgotten | Standalone |
| 2025 | We Are All Guilty Here | North Falls |
| 2026 | The Secrets We Hide | North Falls |
From the page to the screen
Hollywood came calling early, but Slaughter took her time. Pieces of Her reached Netflix in March 2022 as an eight-episode series starring Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote. It debuted at number one worldwide on the service, and viewers watched 227.5 million hours of it in its first five weeks.
Will Trent followed on ABC in January 2023, with Ramón Rodríguez as Trent and Erika Christensen as Angie Polaski. It is now in its fourth season, which premieres on January 6, 2026. The first four seasons reached Netflix on November 3, 2026.
The Good Daughter is different. This time Slaughter is not just the author of the book — she is the creator, the writer of all six episodes, the showrunner and an executive producer. She previewed the series at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 25, 2026, and talked about why she wanted to write it herself: nobody knows the Quinn sisters better than she does.
Image via Nbf2926 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Slaughter reading at the National Book Festival, 2026.
| Adaptation | Year | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces of Her (8 episodes) | 2022 | Netflix — debuted at No. 1 worldwide |
| Will Trent (4 seasons) | 2023–present | ABC; seasons 1–4 on Netflix from 3 Nov 2026 |
| The Good Daughter (6 episodes) | 2026 | Peacock — all episodes 12 Nov 2026 |
The library champion
Slaughter is a loud voice for public libraries. She founded Save the Libraries, a non-profit that backs library programmes across the United States. Its fund has given more than $300,000 to the DeKalb County Public Library in Atlanta, where she lives.
Her trophy shelf is full. She won the Edgar Award for Best Short Story in 2013 for "The Unremarkable Heart". Cop Town won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2015. She was named Georgia Author of the Year in 2019, won Australia's Ned Kelly Award in 2020, and was picked for the Library Reads Hall of Fame in 2025.
She has said her books come from the Georgia she grew up in — the small towns, the heat, the way everyone knows everyone else's business. Twenty-five years after Blindsighted, that is still where her stories live. Now, with The Good Daughter, she is telling one of them on screen herself.
For another star of a huge crime drama on TV, read the Mariska Hargitay biography. And The Good Daughter star Meghann Fahy is on The Tonight Show tonight with Pete Davidson.
FAQs
How old is Karin Slaughter?
She was born on January 6, 1971, so she is 55.
What is Karin Slaughter's net worth?
No verified figure exists. She has sold more than 40 million books, but her net worth has never been publicly confirmed, so any number online is a guess.
Is Karin Slaughter married?
She keeps her personal life private, and no marriage has ever been publicly reported.
What is The Good Daughter about?
It is Slaughter's 2017 novel about two sisters, Charlie and Sam Quinn, whose family was torn apart by one violent night twenty years ago. The Peacock series stars Meghann Fahy and Rose Byrne, with Brendan Gleeson as their father.
When does The Good Daughter come out on Peacock?
Thursday, November 12, 2026. All six episodes drop at once, and Slaughter wrote every one of them.
Where should I start with Karin Slaughter's books?
Start with Blindsighted (2001), the first Grant County book. Or pick up The Good Daughter as a standalone before the series drops.
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