Mystery
Readers Book Club March 2016
TripTych
by Karen Slaughter
“Will had found out the hard way that it’s nearly
impossible to go to sleep with a flatulent Chihuahua sharing your pillow.” Special
Agent Will Trent, Criminal Apprehension Team
This was one of the few lighter moments in the book.
Readers agreed that Slaughter’s book (her real name) was an excellent story with
all the elements of compelling mystery writing. The discussion focused on the
twists and turns the character driven story led them. Her skillful character
descriptions surprised readers with sympathetic identification with first one
character and then a turn of events to change opinions. The author used different
voices to tell the story and impressed readers with how the author set up the plot
with early and complicated clues.
Some readers said that the theme of the book was the
enduring love of a mother for her child and her protection and support for
them. Others thought that jealousy and psychopathology was a driving force for
certain characters. Readers also discussed issues of drug addiction,
family relationships, morality and unlikely friendships. The significance of
the title TripTych was discussed and readers had different opinions. There was
a religious aspect, a decorative aspect and the representation of the layered descriptions
of characters and plot. There was also romance but not enough to detract from
the gritty details of police work.
Have you read Triptych? What did you think? Please share your
thoughts in the comments.
