Mystery Fanfare: KENTUCKY DERBY MYSTERIES

Mystery Fanfare: KENTUCKY DERBY MYSTERIES: Kentucky Derby Day!  There will be people cheering, betting on the horses, women in big hats, and Bourbon tipplers all around as they...

Review: The Reluctant Sheriff: A Mick Hardin Novel by Chris Offutt

For those of us who have followed this series from the beginning in The Killing Hills, we know that Mick Hardin has not really felt at home since he came back as his time in the service was ending. After the events in the last book, Code of the Hills, we knew he was probably going to have to stick around awhile due to the fact that his sister, Linda, was shot and a few others things happened. The Reluctant Sheriff: A Mick Hardin Novel by Chris Offutt picks up a few weeks later and things for Mick are not easy at all.

 

For one thing, Mick Hardin is filling in as sheriff while his sister, Linda, the actual elected sheriff, is working on coming back from her line of duty injury. He’s wearing the uniform, driving her official car, living in her house, and doing the job while she is living at Shifty Kissick’s place, doing her grueling physical therapy, and going slowly mad from boredom and the chaos there. The Kissick home has never been known in the mountains of eastern Kentucky as a place of peace and calm and it certainly isn’t these days.

 

For another thing, the department is short staffed as the deputy known as “Johnny Boy” is on leave and gone for reasons detailed in the previous book. So, Mick is constantly responding to calls, both trivial and important. He hates family drama calls and the latest was a bit out there, in more ways than one. As bad as it was, the next family drama deal is going to smack close to home.

 

When he gets back to the station, he finds his ex-wife and the woman he still madly loves, Peggy, waiting in his office. She wants his help. Her new husband, Zack Jones, has been held with charges pending over in Rocksalt. It seems that the police in the city plan to charge him with murder of Marlowe Martin, known to all as “Skeeter.” He was the owner of the Ajax Bar and Grill. He was found dead, hours earlier, in the parking lot of the establishment by guys delivering liquor to the place. While the business itself sits just across the county line, the actual parking lot is in the jurisdiction of the city, and that means it is a city murder case under the jurisdiction of Chief Logan.

 

Fortunately, Logan and Mick Hardin have known each other for years and like and respect each other. They have no issues. So, Logan is willing to discuss the details of the case. Such as the fact that Zack is part of a band, played at the bar, and felt that he and his bandmates where being cheated out of their full pay for the gig. Zack and Skeeter had a very heated public argument in the preceding hours before Skeeter was found dead and has no real alibi. Logan is more than willing to provide copies of the crime scene, let Mick talk to Zack, and let Mick do whatever else he wants to do involving the case. For a man used to being part of Army CID and working homicides, this access gives Mick a solid starting point to do something productive as he awaits Linda’s return to work.

 

What follows is an interesting case that is the primary storyline accompanied by several secondary ones. As always, Mick’s loner mentality, his default setting, as well as the author’s love for the land and its people comes through loud and clear to the reader. So too does the fact that as always in this series, things come up just like they do in real life, often not in a clear cut and straightforward way. This series is not like a lot of the reads out there and you really notice the difference when you read one.

 

Those aspects of the read do not get in the way of a mighty good mystery. In fact, if anything, they enhance it. Then there is the fact that there is more than one mystery at work in The Reluctant Sheriff: A Mick Hardin Novel by Chris Offutt. This fourth book in the series, where every book builds on the preceding one and the series, is well worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/41UCFEL

 

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Grove Press, through NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Alan Maimon

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning by Al...:   Reviewed by Kristin Twilight in Hazard caught my eye because in 1949 my dad was born in Hazard. Actually, he was born in one of the t...

Lesa's Book Critiques: CODE OF THE HILLS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

 Lesa's Book Critiques: CODE OF THE HILLS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

Review: Code Of The Hills: A Mick Hardin Novel by Chris Offutt

 

As Code Of The Hills: A Mick Hardin Novel begins, it has been two years since the events of Shifty’s Boys (Mick Hardin #2) and Mick Hardin has retired from the Army. 39 years old now, he has come home to Rocksalt, Kentucky, and back to his sister’s house for a few days. He plans to move to France and has a place lined up for the next six months. There is not a lot of reason for him to stay in Kentucky as the only family he has, Linda, is the sheriff and they are not that close.

But, that plan does not survive first contact.

A legendary local mechanic, Pete Lowe, is dead. Pete was known as a cranky genius on the dirt tack circuit. As good as he was with engines, he was the opposite with people. It is not long before Mick, with nothing to do and far too many memories and regrets, gets pulled into helping investigate his murder.

As has happened before, things get violent quick after Mick Hardin is involved.

The third book in the series that began with The Killing Hills is a complex and interesting read that builds on the solid foundation of the first two books. The final fifty pages or so in Code Of The Hills: A Mick Hardin Novel significantly surprised this reader. One is left to wonder what the future holds for Mick Hardin. One hopes we find out soon as these reads keep getting better and better.

Make sure you read Lesa Holstine's review today here. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ktgqhR

 

My reading copy came by way of a digital ARC from NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: One for the Road by Mary Ellis

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: One for the Road by Mary Ellis: Reviewed by Jeanne Chicago based travel writer Jill Curtis’ newest assignment is to follow “The Bourbon Trail” in Kentucky, doing articles...

Review: Shifty’s Boys (Mick Hardin #2) by Chris Offutt

While this review did run last month, this is publication day, so I am running it again today. I am also adding the link to Lesa Holstine's recent review at the bottom of mine. 

 

Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt picks up a bit after The Killing Hills and begins with the local taxi driver, Albin, finding a body. At first, he thinks he has found somebody passed out from drinking way too much. Has happened before in Rocksalt, Kentucky, so he is not very concerned as he sees the odd shape up against the fence in the parking lot of the local Western Auto. It is only when he gets out of the cab and walks towards the male figure, he realizes that it is not mud on the man’s clothes, but blood.

Mick Harden is home on medical leave thanks to an IED attack that nearly killed him. It didn’t. Getting divorced, once he signs the paperwork, might kill him. The pain pill addiction he has might as well. Staying at his mom’s house, now owned by his sister, Linda Hardin, the sheriff, might also kill him. While she cares about him, they don’t get along that well in the best of times, With him home on medical leave and dealing with pain, grief, and trauma, and her running for election, these certainly are not the best of times.

He does not know it, but he really needs a project to do while he continues his painful rehab for his leg injury. Mick thinks too much and he needs something to do that will fully occupy his mind as he works to rehab the leg, wean himself off the painkillers, and deal with moving forward.

That project will soon be investigating the death at Western Auto on behalf of Mrs. Kissick. It was her son, Barney, who was found dead. While Mick and Mrs. Kissick, also known as “Shifty,” have history and were not on very good terms the last time they spoke, she needs help. She wants Mick because she knows that his being a miliary cop will come in handy as the case is stagnated.

Local police know that drugs probably were involved, but beyond that, they have zero clues or any ideas as to what happened. Shifty knows full well that drugs might have been involved as that is the family business. She also knows that it was not a drug deal gone wrong, like the local police think, as Barney never did business in the city. They had a rule about that.

The city cops figure a drug dealer got what he had coming and can’t be bothered to do much at all to find the killer or killers. Shifty is enraged, has money, and wants to hire Mick to find out who did it and why. She figures Mick, who grew up with her sons, will be able to do so. Mick agrees to poke around a little bit and soon figures out that there is a lot going on in Shifty’s Boys.

While this read does tie into the first book, The Killing Hills, this one easily could be read as a standalone. A complicated read full of interesting characters that are doing what they need to do survive, there is a lot of grey here in terms of morality and temporary alliances. As in the previous read, the author’s obvious love for the land and the people of the region comes through loud and clear.

Like The Killing Hills, Shifty’s Boys is well worth your time. 

For another take on the book, make sure you head over to Lesa's Book Critiques where Lesa Holstine reviewed it here. 

 

 

My reading copy came by way of a digital ARC from NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Lesa's Book Critiques: SHIFTY’S BOYS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SHIFTY’S BOYS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

Review: Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt

Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt picks up a bit after The Killing Hills and begins with the local taxi driver, Albin, finding a body. At first, he thinks he has found somebody passed out from drinking way too much. Has happened before in Rocksalt, Kentucky, so he is not very concerned as he sees the odd shape up against the fence in the parking lot of the local Western Auto. It is only when he gets out of the cab and walks towards the male figure, he realizes that it is not mud on the man’s clothes, but blood.

Mick Harden is home on medical leave thanks to an IED attack that nearly killed him. It didn’t. Getting divorced, once he signs the paperwork, might kill him. The pain pill addiction he has might as well. Staying at his mom’s house, now owned by his sister, Linda Hardin, the sheriff, might also kill him. While she cares about him, they don’t get along that well in the best of times, With him home on medical leave and dealing with pain, grief, and trauma, and her running for election, these certainly are not the best of times.

He does not know it, but he really needs a project to do while he continues his painful rehab for his leg injury. Mick thinks too much and he needs something to do that will fully occupy his mind as he works to rehab the leg, wean himself off the painkillers, and deal with moving forward.

That project will soon be investigating the death at Western Auto on behalf of Mrs. Kissick. It was her son, Barney, who was found dead. While Mick and Mrs. Kissick, also known as “Shifty,” have history and were not on very good terms the last time they spoke, she needs help. She wants Mick because she knows that his being a miliary cop will come in handy as the case is stagnated.

Local police know that drugs probably were involved, but beyond that, they have zero clues or any ideas as to what happened. Shifty knows full well that drugs might have been involved as that is the family business. She also knows that it was not a drug deal gone wrong, like the local police think, as Barney never did business in the city. They had a rule about that.

The city cops figure a drug dealer got what he had coming and can’t be bothered to do much at all to find the killer or killers. Shifty is enraged, has money, and wants to hire Mick to find out who did it and why. She figures Mick, who grew up with her sons, will be able to do so. Mick agrees to poke around a little bit and soon figures out that there is a lot going on in Shifty’s Boys.

While this read does tie into the first book, The Killing Hills, this one easily could be read as a standalone. A complicated read full of interesting characters that are doing what they need to do survive, there is a lot of grey here in terms of morality and temporary alliances. As in the previous read, the author’s obvious love for the land and the people of the region comes through loud and clear.

Like The Killing Hills, Shifty’s Boys is well worth your time. The book is currently scheduled to be released on June 7, 2022. 

 

My reading copy came by way of a digital ARC from NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Dark City Underground REVIEW: "THE KILLING HILLS" BY CHRIS OFFUTT

 Dark City Underground REVIEW: "THE KILLING HILLS" BY CHRIS OFFUTT

Review: The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

Mick Hardin, an agent in the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), is back home in the Kentucky hills as The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt begins. Home on leave with a family problem that is not going to get fixed by drinking himself to sleep each night, he is at his grandfather’s place. That makes it easy for his sister, the new sheriff, to find him.

 

Mike knows that Linda did not come out in full uniform, in the county vehicle, and waited around while he pulled himself together to face the new day, to pay a social call. He knows she wants something, and that whatever it is, it has to be important. She does and it is important.

 

She has a three-day old murder to solve. The big shots that run things don’t like having a female sheriff and are angling to use the murder to get rid of her. The investigation is going nowhere. Normally when somebody is killed in the local area, everybody pretty much knows who did it and why. Not in this case as the murder was not a drug killing, a vendetta, or a property dispute.

 

Veronica “Nonnie” Johnson was a 43-year-old widow who everybody liked. She wasn’t dealing drugs or using them. She wasn’t mixed up with bad people. She was doing everything right, it seems, and yet somebody killed her and threw her down a nearby hillside like she was a bag of trash.

 

Sheriff Linda Hardin wants Mick to act as an unofficial investigator. He has the skills thanks to being ARMY CID. He is good at his job. He also knows the people of Eldridge County better than she does. Here it matters who your kinfolk is and who you know. Mick Hardin knows a lot of people as well as how to navigate the land where addresses and roads are not always marked. The good Sherriff is well aware that folks will talk to her brother when they never would say a word to her or any other cop. The work might also force him to lay off the booze and address the marital problem at hand.

 

Many folks prove her assessment correct as Mick starts investigating while dealing with his own demons and personal problems in The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt.

 

Written in a sparse style in terms of dialogue and description, the author keeps sentences short while painting a vivid and intense picture of the land and its people. Some authors have the talent to clearly appreciate the land and its people. Tricia Fields does with the Big Bend region of Texas. Steven F. Havill does with southeastern New Mexico. Chris Offutt clearly does with Eastern Kentucky.

 

Part mystery and part crime fiction read, things get complicated and yet are simple as everything boils down to the concept of betrayal. Perceived or actual, the idea of betrayal drives nearly everything in this complex and very enjoyable read.

 

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt is a bit different than most such books you will read. It is also highly recommended.

 

For another take on the book, make sure to read Lesa Holstine’s review.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ifN5Gk

 

My reading copy came from my childhood library that looks radically different these days, the Audelia Branch, of the Dallas Public Library System. Then again, so do I. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

Lesa's Book Critiques: THE KILLING HILLS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

 Lesa's Book Critiques: THE KILLING HILLS BY CHRIS OFFUTT

Unlawful Acts for 9/9/2020: Warehouses, Kentucky, and S.A. Cosby

Unlawful Acts for 9/9/2020: Warehouses, Kentucky, and S.A. Cosby

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

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