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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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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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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Features

Rough Justice: Top five books of 2022

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Picking my favourite crime novels of the year is always a double-edged sword. There’s great satisfaction in recognising some brilliant work, but also a little doubt, and guilt, about the books I leave out. I have to stick to five though, and after some consideration,…
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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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Features

Rough Justice: Top five books of 2021

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The world may go from bad to worse but the crime fiction scene just keeps getting stronger. My top five reflects this, including as it does a number of authors new to the field alongside some more established writers. 5 – Children of Chicago by…
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