rural noir

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

By RoughJustice

23 July, 2026

A gritty, enthralling depiction of life on an Indian reservation, Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden was an excellent book by any measure. Published in 2020, it won an Anthony, a Thriller, a Barry and a Macavity Award. It also won Editor’s Choice For…

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Blood River Witch by TJ Martinson

By RoughJustice

24 June, 2026

Alicia Moore is a deputy sheriff in a small, socially conservative, deeply religious town in rural Kentucky. She’s married to Bill and has a son, Bart, in the seventh grade. She’s also the daughter of a well-respected former sheriff of the town. In short, she’s…

Features

First Look: Backwater by James Sallis

By crimefictionlover

17 June, 2026

In January 2025, the crime fiction world lost one of its greats with the passing of the American author James Sallis. However, when he passed away of pneumonia aged 81, the author left behind one last manuscript – Backwater – and it’s coming out in…

Kindle Print Reviews

The Dead Ringer by Dane Bahr

By RoughJustice

30 April, 2026

In 2024, Stag put Dane Bahr firmly on the radar of crime fiction lovers – a retro serial killer thriller that mixed violence and dread with a poignant relationship between the two older protagonists assigned to investigate the murders. It was Bahr’s second novel and…

Kindle Print Reviews

Six Mile Store by AM Belsey

By Vicki Weisfeld

24 April, 2026

Six Mile Store, the engaging debut crime novella by AM Belsey, is narrated mostly by a young woman in her early 20s named Honey. The story at first appears to be almost a picaresque, as she colourfully describes her encounters with the customers of the…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary

By DeathBecomesHer

15 April, 2026

Sarah Hilary’s heady mix of razor-sharp characterisation and 4K-ready sense of place have stood her in good stead since 2014, when she debuted with Someone Else’s Skin and in the process introduced London-based DI Marnie Rome to crime fiction lovers. We reviewed that first novel…

Features

Meet the author: AM Belsey

By crimefictionlover

10 March, 2026

Sometimes, you’ve just got to write. Maybe other authors reading can relate. This is certainly how AM Belsey felt, and she’s the writer we’re going to meet today here on the site. On 19 March 2026, her debut crime novella – Six Mile Store –…

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The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt

By RoughJustice

8 April, 2025

Chris Offutt returns with his fourth Mick Hardin novel, and once again the unwilling investigator is working the author’s beloved eastern Kentucky hills. In Code of the Hills, last year, the way was cleared for him to lead Eldridge County law enforcement. Mick’s sister, the county…

Crime Fiction Lover

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Blood River Witch by TJ Martinson

First Look: Backwater by James Sallis

The Dead Ringer by Dane Bahr

Six Mile Store by AM Belsey

The Drowning Place by Sarah Hilary

Meet the author: AM Belsey

The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt

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