Triptych

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

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Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Character Analysis

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Background

Authorial Context: Karin Slaughter

Born and raised in Georgia, Karin Slaughter is a prolific writer of two highly successful series and numerous standalone novels in the thriller and detective genres. To date, she has published 24 novels that have sold over 40 million copies and been released in 120 countries. She has won several awards, most notably the Crime Zone Silver Fingerprint Award, the Edgar Award for Best Short Story, the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and the International Thriller Writers Awards, among many others. She has also been nominated for Georgia Author of the Year and the ITV Crime Thriller International Author of the Year.

Her most popular series is arguably the Will Trent series, of which Triptych is the first installment. This series primarily features Will and his partner, Faith Mitchell, who work for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and his complex relationship with Angie Polaski is also thoroughly explored throughout the series. As of December 2024, there are 12 novels in this series, and it has also been adapted into a police procedural TV show on ABC. While the show has largely received praise from critics, it does not closely follow Slaughter’s books, but Slaughter has famously indicated her acceptance of this fact, opining, “The show is the show and the books are the books. […] People should understand that [the show] is an interpretation of my work” (Mitchell, Erin. “Q&A With Karin Slaughter.” Crime Spree Magazine, 22 Aug. 2023).

Slaughter’s Grant County series (2001-2007) includes six novels told from the perspective of three main characters: pediatrician Sara Linton; her husband, Jeffrey, the chief of police; and detective Lena Adams. Sara later reappears in the Will Trent series and in several of Slaughter’s standalone novels, such as Undone (2009), Broken (2010), Fallen (2011), and The Kept Woman (2016). One of her standalone novels, Pieces of Her (2018), was adapted into a Netflix show starring Toni Collette and released in 2022.

Like the Will Trent series, the Grant County series features graphic descriptions of a range of violent crimes. When asked why she features so much violence in her novels, Slaughter asserted,

For so long, women weren’t expected to talk about these crimes, even though we were more likely to be the victims. I think it’s time we started talking about rape and violence against women. […] This isn’t to say that men are not capable of writing about these topics, only that women authors bring a different perspective (“About the Books.” Karin Slaughter).

In this way, Slaughter seeks to create a more thoughtful, nuanced view of a genre long dominated by male writers.

Medical Context: Dyslexia

According to the Mayo Clinic, dyslexia is a reading and learning disorder “that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words” due to “individual differences in areas of the brain that process language” (“Dyslexia.” Mayo Clinic, 6 Aug. 2022). The condition has a genetic component and often runs in families. In younger children, dyslexia first manifests as a difficulty with learning to read and discerning subtle differences between words such as “buck” and “back.” If the condition is left unaddressed, children with dyslexia often have trouble keeping pace with their peers due to the prevalence of written information in the classroom environment.

The insecurities that arise from these challenges can lead to broader social problems such as low self-esteem or a tendency to avoid certain activities (like reading). Because dyslexia causes difficulties with processing written information, other common manifestations of the condition include difficulties with spelling, telling left from right, learning unfamiliar words or a foreign language, summarizing written information, remembering dates, or following directions to a new place (“Signs of Dyslexia.” British Dyslexia Association). Handwritten information can also be a challenge to understand, as Will Trent demonstrates in the novel when he has trouble reading John Shelley’s name in Angie’s handwritten note. Similarly, Will—like many real-life adults with dyslexia—learns various workarounds and finds ways to accommodate his challenges, such as converting emails and other documents to audio rather than reading them directly.

Despite these challenges, people with dyslexia also have several unique strengths, exhibiting “excellent thinking skills” like “conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, and abstraction” and facility with more “conceptual” rather than “fact-driven” topics (Shaywitz, Sally. “Signs of Dyslexia.” The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity). In the context of the novel, Will demonstrates many of these strengths, such as when Angie praises his ability to fix her car and when he experiences sudden intuitive leaps in the course of his investigation. Due to the accuracy of Slaughter’s depictions of dyslexia, diabetes, and other conditions, she has been honored with the American Association of People with Disabilities Image Award.