Belladonna (Slaughter)
Belladonna (title of the original edition: Blindsighted ) is the debut novel by the American writer Karin Slaughter and marks the beginning of the Grant County series . The book Belladonna , published in the original in 2001 and in German in 2003, is the first case of the coroner Dr. Sara Linton, followed by Forget Me Not (2003), Don't Turn Around (2005), Shadow Flower ( 2006), Godless (2007) and Destroyed (2009).
Blurb
Sara Linton, pediatrician at the hospital in sleepy Heartsdale and if necessary also forensic pathologist, finds the seriously injured Sybil Adams with two deep cross cuts in her stomach in a restaurant toilet. All attempts to save the popular college professor are in vain. During the autopsy, Sara finds out that Sybil has been horribly mistreated. The fact that the victim was blind and thus almost defenseless makes the act even more appalling .
action
The novel “Belladonna” takes place in the seven days following Easter Monday . Pediatrician and forensic scientist Sara Linton has been separated from him after an affair with her husband, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver. She has arranged to meet her sister for dinner in a restaurant. In the ladies room she finds Sybil Adams, a blind professor at Heartsdale College. Sybil is the twin sister of police detective Lena Adams. She has become the victim of a brutal crime: she was brutally injured and mistreated in the toilet with a stabbing weapon. When examining the victim, it is particularly noticeable that the perpetrator scratched a cross on her stomach. The injuries and the associated blood loss are too severe, Sybil Adams dies on the scene. The results of the autopsy show that Sybil Adams was previously horribly raped and that she was given Belladonna . The investigators find out that the perpetrator presumably used the atropine of the deadly nightshade to intoxicate the victim and thereby cover up the pain during the abuse. In addition, the drug would have caused agnosia or blindness in the victim . Even at the autopsy, the corpse showed an increased body temperature, a typical effect of the agent. The dissection of the corpse suggests a ritual murder that was carried out with a bizarre technique and great depravity. The cruel act comes as a shock to Lena Adams, who had a strong bond with her blind sister after the early death of her parents. The investigation leads to the realization that Sybil was a lesbian and that there could be a possible motive for the crime. But the questioning of her homosexual roommate Nan Thomas, who runs the Grant Tech library, does not lead to any useful lead. The people of Heartsdale initially suspect a black man with a criminal record of domestic violence 15 years ago, and find it hard to stop them from lynching him. Days later, another woman is mistreated: Sara finds the naked victim lying on the hood of her BMW Z3 sports car, but is able to save her life. Little by little, gruesome details of the crime emerge. The perpetrator knocked out her front teeth to make fellatio easier. In addition, traces of feces are found in her vagina , which raises the suspicion of anal penetration. In addition, her mouth was rinsed with a disinfectant, her pubic hair was shaved off (so that forensics could not brush out the perpetrator's hair later) and a small handcuff key was pressed through her anus into her rectum . Julia Matthews, the assaulted student, testifies that the perpetrator overpowered and abducted her on the way home from the library. The severely traumatized woman kills herself during the subsequent interrogation because she can no longer endure her anguish. The same pattern of crime (rape, cross-carving, Belladonna) suggests that there is a connection between the two crimes and that it is probably a serial offender. Sara also makes inquiries in parallel with the police, which leads them to the pharmacist Jeb, to whom she is sexually attracted. Sara was also a rape victim years earlier, having had her uterus removed as a result of injuries and a complicated ectopic pregnancy . Jeffrey Tolliver tracks down her rapist at the time, Jack Wright, who is already well informed about the current events. However, Wright is treated with hormones that suppress his sex drive, so he is out of the question as the perpetrator of the murders. The murderer of Sybil Adams kidnaps her sister Lena, keeps her prisoner in a dark hiding place and tortures her. Then he meets Sara for a rendezvous . The forensic doctor finds out that her admirer, the pharmacist Jeb McGuire, is the culprit. He admits that Sybil Adams first asked him about a cough suppressant because of her sore throat. Jeb knew that she eats regularly at the diner and decides to kill the woman. To get her to go to the toilet, he gives her a laxative in tea. Also Belladonna, to make her submissive when she is intoxicated. He reveals repulsive details to Sara, for example that her blood would have been an "excellent lubricant" for the subsequent penetration. The harmless Jeb turns out to be a religious fanatic who kills women in his madness.
“ See, I have given you power to step on snakes and scorpions, and over all might of the enemy, and nothing will harm you. "
Jeb, son of a Baptist minister, admits that he raped his sister at the time and later had an abortion on her. He was also there when Wright raped her himself and felt inspired by this desecration for his further deeds. Sara is also in danger if she tries to escape by jumping out of the window. She wants to flee through the lake, but is followed by the killer in the boat. Jeb had an accident during the rapid ride and the non-swimmer was in danger of drowning. At the last minute he can hold on to the overturned boat. The ice-cold water paralyzes him and threatens to kill him. Sara realizes this, jumps into the water again and tries to force him to reveal Lena's hiding place. Jeb McGuire is killed in a scuffle that follows. Sara is saved by Jeffrey. The two finally find the tied Lena behind a simulated wall paneling.
main characters
- Dr. Sara Linton : The protagonist is a pediatrician and coroner by profession. After completing her studies and specialist training in Atlanta, she lives again in her hometown, the fictional Heartsdale in Grant County. For a while she worked at Grady Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the world, in Atlanta. There she is brutally raped by caretaker Jack Wright during one shift. She almost died as a result of this assault. Due to the long-term effects, she can no longer have children. Wright goes into custody, but mocks her and his other victims with a series of obscene postcards. She was married to Jeffrey Tolliver, the police chief, and has an on / off relationship with him. Since he is cheating on her with a local painter, she files for divorce the next day. Jeffrey doesn't know at this point that Sara was raped in Atlanta. The Sybil Adams murder brings the two back together. Because of their work together, she is unable to get away from him. Sara's character is not that of a typical “southern woman”. Sara is a lean but curvy person with auburn hair and green eyes. Your skin is described as pure. What is striking about her are her oversized feet. Sara Linton very intelligent and proud of her independence. Your character is considered controlled and self-controlled. She is a soft-hearted family person and spends her free time with her BMW sports car and greyhounds. Her other characteristics are that she cannot dance, sleeps very late, is a terrible housewife and cannot cook. She usually wears her clothes casually and comfortably.
Sara's family plays a major role in her emotional life and is her emotional anchor. The family lives on the shores of Lake Grant. The head of the family is her father Eddie Linton, owner of the plumbing company Linton & Daughters Plumbing. He was against his daughter Sara's medical school and would have preferred to see her in his company as his successor. Her mother Cathy is considered religious. Younger sister Tessa has numerous promiscuous relationships. During school, Sara was often jealous of Tessa because she plays on the cheerleading team.
- Jeffrey Tolliver : Jeffrey, a retired football player, is the Grant County Police Chief and Sara's ex-husband. His peaceful life is changed by a series of criminal cases. Jeffrey grew up in the small town of Sylacauga , Alabama , as the son of alcoholic couple Jimmy and May Tolliver. Jeffrey often had to protect his mother against the violent father at the time and therefore later decided to become a police officer. While his father dies in prison, the widow May spends her old age in the melancholy of alcoholism. As a child, Jeffrey had often felt ashamed of his simple background and poverty. As a teenager, the sporty young man is nicknamed “Slick” because he proves to be particularly daring towards the opposite sex. His football team makes it to the state championship and allows Jeffrey to attend Auburn University and even a chance to make it to the Sugar Bowl . However, his life path is different and he attended the police academy and the first ten years of his career as a patrol officer in Atlanta. While doing his duty, he was wounded twice by gunshot wounds. Eventually he is promoted to the position of Chief of Police in Grant County. Jeffrey Tolliver is tall, slim, athletic and very sporty. He looks good with his blue eyes and his toned figure and is considered an outspoken womanizer . He lost his “virginity” at the age of twelve. His character is described as stubborn, honest, and thoughtful. He is considered an “underdog” at the police station and feels responsible for everyone's safety. Sara describes him as "a good man whose kind it is difficult to find ."
- Lena Adams : The attractive Lena is a police detective. Her sister was the victim of a serial killer who also injured her. Lena Adams has an olive brown complexion and dark brown hair that she inherited from her Mexican grandmother. She is with the Grant County Police Force. She is considered to be an irascible, aggressive, and highly contradictory person who often rebels and has problems obeying orders. Lena and her twin sister, Sibyl, were born in the poor town of Reese in Elawah County, Georgia . Her father Calvin Adams was shot while doing his duty. Her twin sister Sybil goes blind in an accident. Sybil could forgive the perpetrator, but Lena never. Lena later went to the police academy in Macon and made the acquaintance of her future boss Jeffrey Tolliver. Because of her tenacity and tenacity, the young woman is pursuing a career and after only eight years in the service of a police detective, which was considered a special achievement for a woman at the time. In the course of the story she is kidnapped, raped and tortured by her sister's killer, which will have traumatic effects on her later life.
- Jeb McGuire : The handsome pharmacist of the small town. McGuire is Sara's admirer. Only late does he reveal his true motives.
linguistic style
“ Sybil Adams, a college professor, was in the bathroom. Her head was tilted back against the tiled wall, her eyes closed. Her pants were pulled down to her ankles and her legs were spread wide. She had a stab wound in the abdomen. Blood filled the toilet bowl, it dripped onto the floor tiles between her legs. "
Reviews
The 2003 novel “ Belladonna ” immediately brought Karinn Slaughter to the top of the international bestseller lists. Susanne Hogl criticizes the book as “ stir your elbows in the blood bowl ”. " The book is a mixture of southern states milieu study, a tricky murder search with often incomprehensible psychological depth and sometimes copied autopsy sequences ." In particular, the bloodthirsty details of the acts, especially the relentless portrayal of the rape, are viewed as marginal. The drastic and explicit portrayal of violence in “Belladonna” sparked a controversial discussion in the USA about the subject of “Violence in Literature”. It is of personal concern to the author to write about the use of violence against women. “ There is nothing more powerful than when women write about violence against women .” She sees her message in breaking certain taboos. " It has long been a taboo for women to write about such subjects, even though they are far more exposed to rape and domestic violence than men ." Booksection emphasizes the clear and precise narrative style as well as the subtle and exciting plot.
expenditure
- Karin Slaughter: Belladonna . Wunderlich, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2003 (original title: Blindsighted, translated by Teja Schwaner), ISBN 3-8052-0725-5 , DNB 965731332.
- Karin Slaughter: Belladonna . Audiobook edition, 2005. 5 audio CDs
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book presentation “Belladonna” by Karin Slaughter on www.buecher.de
- ↑ Depo-Provera preparation
- ↑ Liviato Summary Belladonna
- ^ Review of Belladonna (Karin Slaughter); Grant County Series Volume 1 on Readers' World
- ↑ state championship
- ↑ Figures of the Grant County series ( Memento of the original from March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Karin Slaughter: Belladonna, Krimi-Couch, review by Susanne Hogl
- ↑ Karin Slaughter is not for tender souls, by Katja Riedebusch, WELT, December 1, 2008
- ↑ The butcher takes a break from torture, DER SPIEGEL, June 4, 2007
- ↑ Belladonna on Booksection
