rural noir

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy revisited

19 October, 2023

While Cormac McCarthy is often hailed as the author who revived and reinvented the Western, some of his stories fit equally well within the genre we love most – crime fiction. None more so, perhaps, than No Country for Old Men, a book that sits…

Kindle Print Reviews

Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy

By RoughJustice

3 August, 2023

North Carolina author David Joy began his career writing about fly fishing, but we can be grateful that he changed his angle to become an acclaimed author of what’s often called rural noir or Southern gothic crime fiction. He captured the soul crushing effects of…

Kindle Print Reviews

Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

By RoughJustice

15 June, 2023

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…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby

By RoughJustice

7 June, 2023

Titus Crown is the first black sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. The previous incumbent ran a corrupt, racist department that Crown swore he’d clean up when he took the job. He’s determined that his officers will operate by the book, without fear or favour, and…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Back to the Dirt by Frank Bill

By Vicki Weisfeld

10 May, 2023

Imagine the full spectrum of crime, mystery and thriller stories. Over on the left you’d slot tidy Miss Marple and the cosies. But hang onto your hat now as we veer way off to the right where, literally at the other end of that spectrum,…

Kindle Print Reviews

Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt

By Sonja van der Westhuizen

8 May, 2023

Screenwriter, filmmaker and bar owner Eryk Pruitt is no stranger to crime fiction that depicts the dark side of the American South, and has a growing reputation in rural noir storytelling. Something Bad Wrong is his third crime novel and was partly inspired by the…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Ozark Dogs by Eli Cranor

By RoughJustice

25 April, 2023

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…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Exiles by Jane Harper

By DeathBecomesHer

6 March, 2023

It seems like 2023 is turning out to be the year of crime fiction farewells. First came the end, for the time being at least, of Elly Griffiths’ series featuring forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway; now, thousands of miles and continents away it is time to…

Crime Fiction Lover

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy revisited

Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy

Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby

Back to the Dirt by Frank Bill

Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt

Ozark Dogs by Eli Cranor

Exiles by Jane Harper

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