Where’s Sara Linton? Will Trent Star Mulls (Inevitable?) Introduction of Karin Slaughter’s Other Protagonist

Karin Slaughter fans can rest assured that Sara Linton is on Will Trent‘s radar.

Though it’d be premature to report that the ABC procedural is planning a trip to Grant County, series star/producer Ramón Rodríguez tells TVLine that Slaughter’s other book protagonist is frequently brought up in conversation with his fellow producers. More specifically, they discuss when (and how) they should introduce Sara.

“We’ve talked about it,” the actor confirms during an in-studio interview. “You know, it’s a big deal. We don’t take that lightly. It’s such a big character in the books, and would potentially be a big character in the series, so we want to be really mindful [about how we do that].

“We have an amazing cast, as well, so you have to interweave things in a way,” Rodríguez continues, alluding to the complexity of inserting Sara into a well-established ensemble. “Whenever you’re entering another piece, and it’s a big piece, you want to be really smart about it.”

For the uninitiated: The Will Trent book series was preceded by Slaughter’s Grant County series. “Set in the fictional town of Heartsdale, Ga., in the fictional Grant County, the narrative takes place from the perspective of three main characters: Sara Linton, the town’s pediatrician and part-time coroner; her ex-husband, Jeffrey Tolliver, who is chief of police; and his subordinate, detective Lena Adams,” according to the official description.

Sara Linton was first introduced in 2001’s “Blindsighted,” and would later cross over to Slaughter’s Will Trent series, beginning with its third installment, 2009’s “Undone.” Eventually, Will and Sara are romantically involved.

Now that Season 2 of ABC’s Will Trent has wrapped production — three episodes remain, which Rodríguez says culminate in a “really intense” finale — “we’ll actually start having those conversations about Season 3 — what that’s going to look like, and what those arcs are going to be, and I’m sure the [Sara Linton] conversation will come up,” he says. “How do you bring that character into this world? Who might play that character? I’m sure there are a lot of ideas out there, but it’s something we are definitely mindful of…. We just want to make sure that we do it right.

“Our showrunners, Liz [Heldens] and Dan [Thomsen], and all of the producers, want to be really smart about how you bring in such a big character and do it justice,” Rodríguez stresses. “If and when, the timing of that is key…. There are people who are fans of the books that want to see that [and] there are people who have joined the show who have never read the books, and are now maybe going to read the books. I know there’s a lot of chatter about it, though.”

Watch Part 3 of TVLine’s Q&A with Ramón Rodríguez — Parts 1 and 2 are also embedded below — then hit the comments and let us know if you’d like to see Sara Linton appear in the Will Trent TV series.