KindlePrintReviews

Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

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Following on from The Killing Hills and Shifty’s Boys, Mick Hardin is once again back home in Kentucky. The one-time US Army investigator is now discharged, recently divorced and, despite the familiarity of his hometown, suffering that subtle rootless confusion that affects a man when…
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KindlePrintReviews

Shifty's Boys by Chris Offutt

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Chris Offutt first introduced us to his taciturn, reluctant private detective Mick Hardin in last year’s The Killing Hills. Hardin is an army CID officer who went on leave to fix his marriage. His wife, perhaps sick of his absences abroad, was pregnant with another…
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News

On the Radar: Inside number 10?

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Times of turmoil and insecurity call for books. And more books. Crime books. And lots of them. We love debut novels, and we know cosy crime fiction is huge at the moment, so we’re going to start our report with a book that fits the…
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Features

Rough Justice: Top five books of 2023

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Every year, when I come to write this list, I fret about the books that didn’t quite make my top five. This year, for a change, I’ve found something different to nag at my conscience – the books that I loved but didn’t review. This…
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News

On the Radar: New books for June

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Just like last week, we’re starting our column with a book in the rural noir category and author Chris Offutt has become a favourite in the sub-genre. His third Mick Hardin novel is out on 13 June. We have crime in translation from Switzerland with…
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iBookKindlePrintReviews

Ozark Dogs by Eli Cranor

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The title of Cranor’s second novel refers to the snapping, snarling almost feral animals which protect Jeremiah Fitzjurls’ junkyard. It could easily allude to the two warring families at the heart of this extraordinary rural noir novel, whose conflict spans a generation. Joanna Fitzjurls will…
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