Karin Slaughter’s thriller novel Pretty Girls (2015) chronicles a family haunted by the sudden disappearance and presumed murder of their eldest daughter, Julia. Almost 20 years later, the Carroll family remains fractured by the lasting emotional fallout, each member using different strategies to cope with their grief. Upon the death of Claire Scott’s (née Carroll) husband Paul, the family is dragged back into the spotlight, but with new information that situates Paul at the center of Julia’s disappearance. Yet another young woman recently went missing under similar circumstances, exacerbating their resurgent trauma. Slaughter is a well-known writer in the psychological thriller genre, and has written many best-selling novels, including False Witness (2021), Pieces of Her (2018), and The Good Daughter (2017).

Slaughter situates the story in a realistic portrayal of Atlanta, Georgia, in the present day, taking care to include all the law enforcement and gender politic influences that complicate missing persons cases and femicides in the American South.

Content Warning: This study guide contains mentions of violence against women, rape, torture, emotional abuse, murder, drug usage, and suicide.

Plot Summary

Pretty Girls begins with a letter from Sam Carroll, addressed to his deceased eldest daughter Julia. Sam’s perspective is sprinkled throughout the narrative via these letters, which provide insight into how the Carroll family fell apart after Julia’s disappearance. Chapter 1 introduces the main narrative and its primary protagonist, Claire Scott, who is meeting her husband Paul Scott at a local bar. Freshly off parole, Claire flirts with her shy, straitlaced husband, and they make out in an alley behind the venue. Claire is surprised when things turn overtly sexual and Paul takes aggressive charge. Suddenly, the two are robbed at knifepoint. Paul, attempting to fight back, is stabbed and dies.

After the funeral, Claire returns home to find her house was burgled. She is stressed from the numerous things she must take care of, like the police report and Paul’s leftover work files. She searches Paul’s computer for insurance documents but instead finds graphic porn involving torture and murder. One of the victims on video looks like Anna Kilpatrick, a missing local girl. After searching the house, Claire discovers many other videos, which indicate that Paul was involved in a snuff film ring. Claire brings this evidence to the police, who dismiss and patronize her, saying she’s probably sensitive from her sister Julia’s disappearance almost 20 years ago.

Claire ponders the complicated situation at Paul’s grave and runs into her estranged sister Lydia, who is attempting to urinate on Paul’s grave because he once tried to rape her. Lydia told this story to Claire and her mother Helen, but both women dismissed her immediately, which caused her estrangement. The sisters argue, but in doing so they rekindle a protective sisterly bond that keeps them together as they investigate Paul’s snuff video ring.

The sisters track down the Fuller house, a farm property Paul inherited from his parents. They find hundreds of VHS tapes filled with the same violent pornography, including tapes of Anna Kilpatrick and their missing sister Julia. Paul shows up to attack Claire and kidnap Lydia, revealing that he faked his death.

Claire is weary and despondent, unable to trust local police and the FBI. Because she and Paul were well-off and she didn’t work, she has no friends or coworkers to rely on, so she calls her mother Helen. Helen, once a checked-out widow ravaged by the grief of her daughter’s murder, immediately helps Claire secure a burner phone and other necessary tools to confront Paul. Claire picks up a gun Lydia has hidden at her house and tells Lydia’s bewildered boyfriend Rick to be careful of law enforcement and to protect Lydia’s daughter, Dee. Meanwhile, Lydia withstands intense emotional and physical torture, spurred by her resolve to protect Dee, whom Paul also threatened.

Claire sets the Fuller house on fire, luring Paul outside. She shoots him in the knee and runs inside to save Lydia. They confront Paul, who admits to torturing and killing Julia with his father. He also admits to killing Claire’s father and making it look like a suicide. Claire pins Paul to the ground and watches him die. The sisters find Julia’s bones in a well on the property and bring them home.

Claire exposes the international snuff film ring, which implicates many local police and politicians in vicious crimes. The Carrolls, including Rick and Dee, reunite to share good memories of the late Julia while cleaning her childhood bedroom for the last time before they move on for good.