First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if, instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

The Rules:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
• Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

“Madison Dalrymple leaned her shoulder against the giant oak tree and tried not to panic. Cheyenne was late. Later than late. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go down. They had agreed to meet at the park under the oak tree by eight o’clock at the latest. But it was twenty past, and Cheyenne hadn’t shown up or called or texted and she wasn’t answering Madison’s calls or texts, and the combination of heat and anxiety had put Madison into a full-on sweat.”

With first lines like these, I need to find out what this is all about to throw Madison into a panic. And where is Cheyenne?

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is the first book of a new mystery/thriller series.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It’s written by one of my favorite authors, Karin Slaughter.

The First Lines Friday book is:

We Are All Guilty Here.

About the Book:

• Title: We Are All Guilty Here
• Author: Karin Slaughter
• Page Length: 446 pages
• Publication Date: August 12, 2025
• Publisher: William Morrow

Synopsis:

The first thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and the Will Trent series.

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

Links: Goodreads     

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