Karin Slaughter reveals the cover of her new book 'We Are All Guilty Here,' talks replacing Jessica Biel in 'The Good Daughter' (exclusive)

At this moment, no matter the day or time, Karin Slaughter is probably writing something.

The bestselling crime author will be releasing her 25th book in 25 years, We Are All Guilty Here, on Aug. 12, 2025. Yahoo Entertainment has the first look at the cover, which launches a brand-new series for the Georgia-based storyteller.

“It's a new character and a return to my roots because I'm writing about a small town in Georgia,” she said. “I love the insularity and the familiarity of a small town, and the idea that you think you know everybody, but actually you don't. We all have this idea of big cities being scary and that bad things happen there, but the really bad things that crime writers write about happen mostly in small or medium-sized towns.”

Slaughter’s success as a suspense writer has spawned a second career as her novels have been adapted for TV. There’s ABC drama Will Trent, based on her most famous character, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, going strong in its third season. Slaughter is an executive producer on the show. She’s now spreading her wings further. Next week, shooting begins on her new Peacock series, The Good Daughter, based on her 2017 book of the same name, starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy. For the first time, Slaughter serves as showrunner in addition to writer and executive producer.

“I would say it's a delight,” she said of her broadened career path.

Here, we talk about her 25th book, being the “Wikipedia” for ABC’s Will Trent, finding a replacement for Jessica Biel in The Good Daughter, her “murder shower” and more…

What can you tell us about We Are All Guilty Here?

It starts with a family called the Cliftons, and we meet Emmy and her father, Gerald, who’s the sheriff of Clifton County, which is named after his family. It's my way of setting up what I think of as saga storytelling about family and connections. And obviously there's some murder. We have two young girls who go missing, and it’s a race to find out not just what happened to them but why. That's something that has always interested me — as horrific as these crimes are, and obviously we should acknowledge that, there's a greater question of why, and the value that we place on young girls when they are in jeopardy versus when they're just living their lives. I wanted to talk about that dichotomy.

You’re known for not shying away from violence in your books — and I read on your website it’s because it’s important to you to spotlight the violence that women experience.

Absolutely. I love [Jack Reacher thriller writer] Lee Child and guys who write crime … but I think with a female author bringing a female point of view, the violence feels more real. In some cases — not Lee obviously — it's more about the guy being a hero than the woman's journey. This isn't a blanket statement, there are exceptions. But I really thought that a voice that was missing was: How do women feel about this? Also, just explaining why women sometimes make the choices they do, and the fact that we live with this idea that violence can be visited upon us in a way that men don't live with. We tend to question women. If a man is murdered, we don't say: Well, what did you do to get murdered? But if a woman is attacked violently, it’s: What was she wearing? Why was she there? These questions haven't really gone away. … We need to treat men and women who are victims of these crimes with a little more grace.

With 25 books and three shows (including Netflix’s miniseries Pieces of Her in 2022), I wasn’t surprised to read that you never get writer’s block.

That’s true, but sometimes it’s a bad thing because my brain is always running 100,000 miles an hour. Sometimes stories just click, and sometimes I've written enough that I know that when I get to a point and something's not working, that it’s OK to stop, back away and take a nap or do whatever I need to do to reset. I actually called my shower my “murder shower,” because I'll take a shower and it's like: “Oh, I just need to murder this person.” It just comes together.

Are you surprised about this second act making television, especially the continued success of Will Trent?

I would say it's a delight. It's really just been amazing. I love Ramón Rodríguez, who plays Will Trent, and I won't list out the whole cast but they're just amazing. The writers have come up with such great stories. I'm in awe of them. We've got 18 episodes this season, and so they've got to start from scratch 18 times within a few months. They're not doing a formula, so each episode is its own thing. To me, that's just, Wow, how are they doing that?

How active a role do you have on Will Trent? Are you frequently on the set as EP, or do you just keep in contact from afar.

I’m their Wikipedia. They call or text and say, “Hey, what was Amanda's mother's name?” They’re great about inviting me to set and to cast dinners and things like that. I know everybody always talks about how well a particular cast gets along behind the scenes, but they honestly do and that comes from the top down with [creators] Liz [Heldens] and Daniel [T. Thomsen]. They are really all about, Let's tell the best story, do what we need to do and not be jerks about it. Ramón sets the tone for that as well. They're just a very friendly, happy group.

You have a bigger job with Peacock’s The Good Daughter, as showrunner, writer and executive producer.

I've written all the episodes — there's going to be six — and we actually start shooting [March 18]. So I’m working with the actors, who have been flowing into town. We’re shooting in Atlanta, which I really advocated for because we have a wonderful film world here. We did the table read, and it was just amazing watching these performers bring their best to these characters that I created 10 years ago in my pajamas.

What are the differences between writing books and a TV series?

Because I’m the showrunner for [The Good Daughter], I'm also looking at costumes and makeup and talking to the dialect coach and making sure they don't get steered in the wrong direction and sound like they're from Texas. It’s work, don't get me wrong, but it's also interesting to learn new skills and to be around a lot of people. It's very collaborative, as opposed to writing a book, which I just do by myself with my editor. Then to just sit down across from Meghann Fahy, who's playing Charlie, and it’s like she just walked out of the book. She so embodies the character, and she's such an amazing professional. The same with Rose Byrne. It’s exactly how I thought these characters would look and behave and act. It's fascinating to see it come together.

As the showrunner, you also have to deal with challenges like the exit of Jessica Biel, who was supposed to play Charlie but departed the series.

Jessica is lovely and I can't be really sad about her leaving because she went to my friend Alafair Burke’s show [The Better Sister]. She's just amazing and did a really great job on that, and Alafair has been my buddy forever. I've been in this business long enough to think, Well, things happen for a reason. I'm just glad it worked out and that my pal is going to have a great show too.

Have you ever been in an episode of one of your shows or want to?

I was in Pieces of Her [starring Toni Collette] for maybe three seconds. I had to walk — which I immediately forgot how to walk — past this gorgeous, 6-foot-tall Australian woman and was really self-conscious. I thought, If I mess up, they're gonna have to do this again and again. It was just too stressful. I thought, I'm gonna leave this to the professionals.

With 25 books in 25 years, can you think down the road and speculate where you’ll be when book 50 comes out circa 2050?

Oh, Lord, well, I hope that I am working on book 51.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.