The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt

 

First Line: The employment application had a section about alcohol consumption and Harley Bolin lied that he never drank.

Ex-Army CID officer Mick Hardin is supposed to be retired, and he certainly never wanted to be sheriff. However, when his sister, Linda, is shot in the line of duty, Mick has to step in as interim sheriff while she recovers. Now he's stuck in the east Kentucky town of Rocksalt-- a place from which he's always wanted to escape.

Weary of the petty squabbles of Rocksalt's townspeople, it's eye-rolling business as usual until the investigation into the murder of a local bar owner focuses on an unlikely suspect who threatens to stir up Mick's past. Two more bodies turn up, and although they appear to be unconnected to the first, Mick finds himself dealing with another case that's not so open-and-shut as everyone thinks.

~

Anyone who hasn't feasted upon one of Chris Offutt's Mick Hardin novels needs to rectify the situation. These lean mean books immerse readers in the world of eastern Kentucky and the ways of the people who live there. In The Reluctant Sheriff, we also watch Johnny Boy Tolliver (last seen in the previous book, Code of the Hills) adapt to life on the French island of Corsica.

The stories ring true, and they can be explosive. Moreover, Mick Hardin is a character who's always looked after everyone else while ignoring his own needs. This series of books shows Mick becoming more self-aware. Excellent, fast-paced stories, a nuanced main character, and in-depth knowledge of a culture most of us know nothing about... all these things make Offutt's series a must-read, but there is one key element that I haven't mentioned yet. What's that? The descriptions of the landscape and nature. Mick Hardin is firmly rooted in the Kentucky hills. He knows all the trees, the plants, the animals. He can gauge what's going on in the woods by which birds are singing. This inclusion of the natural world draws me right into the story. 

And another draw? Offutt's power of description. "...he was lonely as the last leaf on a tree in winter." "That woman is tough as woodpecker lips." I love those!

By reading these books, I've joined Mick Hardin in his journey to turn his back on the past and embrace the future. It's a privilege to be able to be a part of it.

The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt

eISBN: 9780802164049

Grove Press © 2025

eBook, 288 pages

Noir, #4 Mick Hardin

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

 

First Line: Janice drove slowly to avoid jostling the plastic containers of food on the floor behind her seat.

 

Mick Hardin has retired from the military. He plans to visit his sister in Kentucky and then head for a new life in Corsica. But plans have a habit of changing when you least expect it.

 

Mick's sister, Linda, is the recently reelected sheriff in Rocksalt, Kentucky. She and her deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver are investigating the murder of Pete Lowe, a talented mechanic at the local racetrack. Linda is shorthanded, so Mick reluctantly agrees to intervene in a family dispute. His intervention leads to his uncovering illegal cockfighting and another body that is somehow linked to Pete Lowe. 

 

Then Linda steps into harm's way, and Mick finds himself investigating the crimes himself.

 

~

 

I have been appreciating Chris Offutt's skill in characterization, in describing the landscape, and in acquainting his readers with the people and culture of the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky. There is such a thing as the code of the hills, and it's brought to life here, even in the smallest of details such as the proper chair to sit in when visiting the home of a deceased man. Mick knows all these things, and readers can trust him to lead them through each situation.

 

I love Offutt's descriptive and often poetic language that can bring rural life into sharp focus: "...it scratched around in the back of his mind like a rat in a corn crib" or "...the junk store had been run by a man who was legendary for locking customers inside until they bought something." Having grown up in a small farm town, I'm familiar with playing in corn cribs (after being told not to), and of the "colorful" characters that can be found in rural communities. (Just ask me about Maxine.) I've also grown accustomed to taking note of the birds that make appearances in each of his books: indigo buntings, sparrows, crows, blue jays, owls, mourning doves, meadowlarks... Offutt has a way of bringing me right into the landscape so that I'm walking the hills right along with Mick.

Code of the Hills has a strong mystery and an even stronger setting and cast of characters. If you're the type of armchair sleuth who enjoys learning about out-of-the-way places and other cultures, make the acquaintance of Mick Hardin.

Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

eISBN: 9780802161925

Grove Press © 2023

eBook, 220 pages

 

Noir, #3 Mick Hardin

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Shifty's Boys by Chris Offutt

 

First Line: At age eight, Albin decided to be a race-car driver when he grew up.

 

When the body of local heroin dealer Barney Kissick is found, the police mark his death as an occupational hazard and refuse to investigate. Barney's mother, Shifty, goes to someone she thinks she can trust in order to learn the truth about the death of her boy: Mick Hardin. Mick is an Army CID officer home on leave after an IED attack. He should be rehabbing his leg, weaning himself off painkillers, signing divorce papers, and staying out of the way of his sister's reelection campaign for sheriff. Instead, Mick tells Shifty he'll take a look. 

That look shows that there's more to the killing than it seems, so Mick keeps looking. And starts getting shot at himself.

~

After reading Chris Offutt's first Mick Hardin book, The Killing Hills, I looked forward to this second book, Shifty's Boys. Offutt has a way with language, setting, and characterization that I find impossible to resist.

Offutt's keen photographer's eye gives readers descriptive "snapshot" phrases that put them right into the Kentucky hills along with Mick Hardin and the rest of the characters. Readers see the flash of cardinals' wings and hear the breeze through the leaves of the trees. In fact, you could say that the setting is just as much a character in Shifty's Boys as the two-legged ones. The dialogue, too, makes me feel right at home, and comments such as "Them Ryans are so stuck up they'd drown in a hard rain" make me smile and think of my grandparents.

There's a bit of a Jack Reacher feeling to this book, as there was in The Killing Hills, and the plot often takes a backseat to the setting and the characters, but with the story's steady pace, I didn't mind a bit.  

 

I felt at home with the characters. After all, how can I turn my nose up at Mick who's let Roscoe the "house snake" live under his cabin's porch for ten years when I spent a summer sharing a poolside umbrella with a black widow spider? (Mick would probably think I was the strange one.) There are characters to love in Shifty's Boys. For example, Mick's sister, Linda, the sheriff who's up for reelection. She's known (and liked and respected) in the area for arresting her own brother. There's Jacky Turner, a genuine Mr. Fix-It with a penchant for inventing things "for the good of mankind." I also liked Albin the cab driver and was sorry to see him disappear once Mick's truck was repaired.

I even found a place that I wish I could visit: the "Coffee Tree, a bookstore that sold sandwiches and yarn." I figure my patronage alone would keep that place open. Chris Offutt's Mick Hardin books are centered around some of the real-life ugliness in a hard-hit part of Kentucky, but they're not just about the bad. Through reading his stories, readers also see the natural beauty of the landscape and the humor, heart, and resourcefulness of its people. Book three, here I come.

Shifty's Boys by Chris Offutt

eISBN: 9780802159991

Grove Atlantic © 2022

eBook, 272 pages

 

Noir, #2 Mick Hardin mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

 

First Line: The old man walked the hill with a long stick, pushing aside mayapple and horseweed, seeking ginseng.

 

Combat veteran and Army CID agent Mick Hardin is home on leave in the Kentucky hills to be with his pregnant wife, but some news has caused a strain in their marriage. Mick's sister Linda is the newly elected sheriff and is in charge of her first murder investigation. But when local movers and shakers want to take the investigation out of her hands and put it in someone else's, she turns to her brother for help.

 

With his experience and knowledge of the area, Mick is perfect for clandestine fact-gathering. While he avoids calls from his commanding officer, Mick delves into the dangerous rivalries lurking beneath the surface of his fiercely private hometown. And in the back of his mind, he knows he can't keep on avoiding his wife.

 

Mick knows the name of the game is betrayal, both on a very personal level and between the clans that live deep within the hills and hollers of the place he calls home-- and he is all too aware of how quickly betrayal can turn into violence.

 

~

 

The booksellers at my favorite indie bookstore are responsible for making me notice Chris Offutt's The Killing Hills, and I'm glad I paid attention. Offutt's book made such an impression on me that I can't wait to read more of Mick Hardin's adventures.

 

The setting in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky is pitch-perfect with its deep woods, steep-sided trails, and plenty of places to hide. The residents of those hills and hollers are also vividly drawn, with their clannish affiliations and long memories. They find any way they can to survive, and the choices can be on the wrong side of the law. Life is hard there. So much so that it's the only area in the United States in which the life span is shorter than it was twenty years ago. 

 

The colloquial dialogue with its oftentimes humorous turns of phrase made me feel right at home, although if you're like my friend in Minnesota you may not cotton to the southernness of the language (she says with tongue in cheek). Don't worry, though. Offutt doesn't layer on that southern talk with a trowel, so you shouldn't be a bit confused.

Mick is definitely the star of the show, and I loved following him around as he investigated the murder. His knowledge of the people and the area are so profound that, once he knew the identity of the dead woman, he knew which people to question and which ones to watch. His success in dealing with these clannish people is due in equal parts to skill, familiarity, and magic. Watching him avoid danger in the woods by using simple tricks like knowing which bird calls means all's well is a joy and put me right beside him on the page.

 

Setting, dialogue, characters, mystery... the icing on the cake was the compassionate, intelligent way everything was wrapped up, from the solution to the murder to the strain between Hardin and his wife. I definitely need to read more of Chris Offutt's writing.

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

eISBN: 9780802158420

Grove Atlantic © 2021

eBook, 225 pages

 

Noir, #1 Mick Hardin mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

 

First Lines: No. Nup. That wouldn't do. It reeked of PhD. This was meant to be read by normal people.

 

Horse is based on the true story of the record-breaking Thoroughbred, Lexington.

 

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay Thoroughbred foal form a bond that will determine the course of both their lives. When the Civil War breaks out, the painter who made his name by his paintings of this racehorse joins the Union army only to reunite with the stallion and groom on a perilous night far from any racetrack.

 

New York City, 1954. Gallery owner Martha Jackson becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century painting that has a murky provenance.

 

Washington, DC, 2019.  Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian find themselves connected through their shared interest in the horse-- one studying the stallion's bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the unsung history of the Black horsemen who were critical to the horse's racing success.

~

Geraldine Brooks has done it again: written a transcendent book that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Brooks is a must-read author for me, but Horse was made even more special by my teenage racehorse madness years. I read every book I could get my hands on about Thoroughbred racing and its stars. My mother indulged my obsession: when she went to Kentucky on a genealogy trip, I got to overdose on racehorses, meeting greats like Citation and actually seeing the grave of Lexington, the horse that Brooks centered her book upon.

In Brooks' Afterword, she says, "As I began to research Lexington's life, it became clear to me that this novel could not merely be about a racehorse, it would also need to be about race," and she does this in masterful fashion. Whether it's watching the years pass and Lexington's groom being known as one owner's Jarret after another to-- finally-- having his own name untainted by slavery (Jarret Lewis) or watching the unfolding relationship between the interracial couple Jess and Theo in 2019 and the differences in their experiences and outlooks on the world, the reader becomes totally engaged in the characters' lives. 

Horse is so much more than a fascinating animal story. It is also a powerful story of art, science, and-- above all-- race. It is a story to take in deep. It is a story to remember.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

eISBN: 9780399562983

Viking © 2022

eBook, 401 pages

 

Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah Woodworth

 

First Line: "I'm thirsty," seven-year-old Betsy grumbled, plunking her cracked white teacup on the ground.

 

Sister Rose Callahan is slowly acclimating to being the new eldress of her community of Believers in Kentucky, even though Brother Wilhelm, the elder of the community, would like nothing better than to see her thrown out on her ear.

 

However politics and emotions should take a backseat when two little girls are poisoned. All signs point to the medicinal herb shop and the group of Believers recently arrived from another community who work there. Something isn't right, and Sister Rose is determined to find out what it is in order to keep the community she loves safe.

 

~

 

Deborah Woodworth's historical series featuring Sister Rose Callahan is one that I've enjoyed from the first book, Death of a Winter Shaker. One of my cherished memories is of visiting Pleasant Hill, a Shaker community in Kentucky when I was sixteen. I found the history of the Shakers and their accomplishments fascinating, and I still do. The second Sister Rose Callahan starts walking the streets and paths of her community, I am immediately transported to Pleasant Hill.

 

Woodworth's research is impeccable, and she weaves it all seamlessly into her story. There's no feeling that you've been thrown into history class and are about to face a pop quiz. 

 

The mystery in Sins of a Shaker Summer is a good one. Readers are quickly drawn to the new group of Believers who arrived from another community. They're secretive, don't talk much, and they seem to be conducting strange experiments in the medicinal herb shop, which is one of the many ways the Believers earn money. But what exactly is going on, and which one of the newcomers is responsible? This takes some work to figure out.

 

But no matter how strong the mystery is or how wonderful the sense of place and time is, the story isn't going to shine unless the characters do. The characters shine in this book. Sister Rose is a conscientious, compassionate woman who wants everything in her community to run well and for everyone to be healthy and happy. She also is a first-rate investigator. Brother Wilhelm, the other person in charge is a rabid fundamentalist. He wants everything like it was in the Good Old Days, and he believes Rose is too modern and should be thrown out of the community. Wilhelm wants to ignore the outside world even though the Shakers must rely on non-Believers to buy their goods and for converts to their faith.

There are also other dynamics among the characters. Newcomer Sister Patience is causing concern and divisiveness with her visions and pronouncements, and it's up to Sister Rose to find out if the woman is a true visionary or a fraud. And... looming over the entire community is the outside world. Everyone is suffering through the Depression, and when any little thing goes wrong, there must be someone to blame. For those living outside the Shaker community, the best scapegoats are always the Believers. They're weird. They believe in celibacy. Their religious services sometimes look like a circus sideshow. Yes, the Believers are very easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, and it's this attitude that brings a very real sense of menace to Sins of a Shaker Summer and the other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that will transport you to another time and place, one with a strong mystery and even stronger characters, I recommend Deborah Woodworth's Sister Rose Callahan series. It's been one of my "go-to" series from the very first book.

Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah Woodworth

ISBN: ‎ 0739401394

Avon Books © 1999

Hardcover, 261 pages

 

Historical Mystery, #3 Sister Rose Callahan mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap 

The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C.W. Grafton

First Line: My secretary said that there was a Miss Ruth McClure to see me and I said that she could come on in.

Gil Henry may be short, chubby, and live at the YMCA. He may also be the youngest partner in a small law firm, but when a pretty young thing named Ruth McClure walks into his office and asks him to investigate the value of the stock she inherited from her father, he can't say no. Even when someone makes an attempt on his life, he continues his investigation because Gil smells something rotten and he's determined to get to the bottom of it.

Gil is beaten, shot, and stabbed. He's up to his neck in scandal, murder, and secrecy. He can't even look to his colleagues for help, so he teams up with Ruth and her secretive brother to find answers to the questions someone most definitely does not want him to answer.

I picked up this book on the recommendation of a trusted source and also because C.W. Grafton is the father of Sue Grafton. It is an honest portrayal of America on the eve of its entry into World War II and therefore may offend some readers occasionally. I choose not to become offended, instead deciding to be happy that we've moved away from that way of thought and behavior. (But honestly, there are not many such instances.)

What I found was a well-written, fast-paced mystery that kept me guessing. Wonder of wonders-- I enjoyed it. Any hardboiled or noir mysteries of this period usually bore me to tears. I find them pretentious and formulaic, but one of the main reasons why I didn't find The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope to be that way was due to Grafton's light touch and marvelous sense of humor.

This Library of Congress Crime Classic is packed with extras: a foreword, introduction, footnotes, something about the war, a reading group guide, a section on further reading, and a few pages about the author. I have to be honest and say that I didn't read all of them, but what I did read was informative, and I found the footnotes quite useful when I didn't quite understand certain terminology.

Yes, I did enjoy C.W. Grafton's first mystery. Am I going to start reading more hardboiled mysteries? I don't think so. They're not quite my cup of tea, although if I did find more written like this one, I just might change my mind.

The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C.W. Grafton

eISBN: 9781464212994

Poisoned Pen Press © 2020

Originally published in 1943.

eBook, 304 pages

Hardboiled/Noir, #1 Gil Henry mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

First Line: The librarian and her mule spotted it at the same time.

Life is hard for the people of Troublesome Creek, but thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, books can now brighten their days and give them hope. Cussy Mary Carter is one of the area's "book women," and she considers her job a true calling: bringing the light of literacy to people starving for it back in the remote hills and hollows where she lives.

Not everyone is keen on the Library Project or on Cussy Mary. She is a Blue-- her skin a shade of blue unlike anyone else-- and a Blue is often blamed for any hint of trouble. Cussy Mary's going to need every bit of gumption she has to fulfill her duties as Book Woman for she's got to confront age-old prejudice and suspicion.

Having read a non-fiction book about the pack horse librarians of Kentucky, I couldn't resist picking up a copy of Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. In a very few pages, I found myself lost in the hills and hollows of Depression-Era Kentucky. The author brings this world to dazzling life, and it's almost impossible not to become emotionally involved with Cussy Mary, her family and acquaintances, and her library patrons.

The work of a pack horse librarian was onerous. In this poverty-stricken area, "make do and mend" was the way life was lived. Old license plates were turned into bookends for the shelves that housed the donated books the librarians took out to the people. Cussy Mary's mule, Junia, is her stalwart companion as well as a character in the book, and the descriptions of the librarians' routes in the mountainous terrain make readers wonder how they ever got through regardless the weather.

Richardson has a way with her characters. Storylines involving Vester Frazier, fellow librarian Queenie, and a loner named Jackson didn't go the way I thought they would, and it was nice to be surprised. From our perspective, reading about the prejudice that Cussy Mary has to deal with is uncomfortable, and it made me extremely angry. As I said earlier, it's impossible not to become emotionally involved with these characters-- especially when people who are slowly dying of starvation are so grateful for the books Cussy Mary brings them that they give her food in thanks.

If you're in the mood for a beautifully written and researched piece of historical fiction, I urge you to get a copy of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. The story and its characters will stick with you for a long time to come.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

eISBN: 9781492671534

Sourcebooks Landmark © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

A Deadly Shaker Spring by Deborah Woodworth

First Line: We buried her this afternoon, my sister, my heart.

It's 1937, and much of the United States is still firmly in the grip of the Depression. Times are hard, and emotions are high, especially in the small community of Languor, Kentucky. People are tired of doing without, and they need a scapegoat to help them feel better. When people with ulterior motives and carefully planned agendas come to town, they play people's fears like a well-tuned orchestra.

As a result, ominous things begin to happen in the Shaker community of North Homage. A sister suffers a mysterious head wound, a sackful of rats is set loose in the schoolhouse, food is stolen, buildings are defaced, and hate-filled messages point to a very real threat of violence. It is up to Sister Rose Callahan to set everything straight, and the new eldress of the community begins to find clues in the journals of her predecessor. The threats come from within North Homage and from without, and they combine both old and new secrets. With that threat of violence hanging over the peaceful religious community, Sister Rose must work fast.

The trouble with reading so many series is the fact that some are bound to fall by the wayside. Before I began my book blog, I read the first Sister Rose Callahan mystery, Death of a Winter Shaker, and I really enjoyed it. As a teenager, I once visited the Shaker community of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, and learned how fascinating the Shakers were. Besides their gorgeous furniture, they were quite innovative in architecture, interior design, agriculture, and labor-saving devices. Since they were celibate, their communities depended on converts and orphans to survive and thrive. Woodworth's series is set when most Shaker villages had died out. The first book took up the topic of "winter Shakers"-- those homeless people who would convert to Shakerism during the winter so they would have food, clothing, and shelter, only to leave when spring came. This second book focuses on intolerance, a theme that is very pertinent today.

Sister Rose Callahan is a woman who was brought up as a Shaker but lived out in the world for a short period of time, so she's more than capable of dealing with non-believers. But with the shortage of members, she's had to assume the role of eldress-- caring for the spiritual health of the female members of the community-- as well as trustee-- the person who takes care of the financial side of things. This wouldn't be an easy task for anyone, but it's particularly tough for Sister Rose, since Elder Wilhelm is a thorn in her side, constantly harping about the good old days and completely unwilling to deal with the problems of the present in any real meaningful way.

As in the first book, A Deadly Shaker Spring has a marvelous sense of place and culture. You really don't need to know a thing about the Shakers to understand what's going on. If you do know about them-- like I do-- your knowledge will be enhanced. Since readers will know the person (or persons) responsible, this mystery isn't a whodunit, but a whydunit, and although I did find one character's conversion at the end to be too quick to be completely believable, I still found this to be an excellent read. Even after more than ten years between reading the first book and the second, I immediately fell back in with the characters, and that, to me, is a sign of how good Deborah Woodworth's writing is. I'm glad I have all the books in the series waiting for me. They are "reading money" in the bank.

A Deadly Shaker Spring by Deborah Woodworth

ISBN: 0380792036

Avon Books © 1998

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Historical Mystery, #2 Sister Rose Callahan mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Alibris.


 

Review-- True Bluegrass Stories

Title: True Bluegrass Stories: History from the Heart of Kentucky
Author: Tom Stephens
ISBN: 9781596295452/ The History Press, 2008
Genre: US History
Rating: B

First Line: Pristine and primeval in the mid-1700s, Kentucky first entered the consciousness of American colonists as an "Eden" or "El Dorado of the West," the next place an energetic young man could enter penniless and see his dreams come true.

It was at about this time that several of my own ancestors packed their wagons and moved to Kentucky. They did quite well there for about a century before the next itchy-footed generation picked up sticks and moved to Illinois, which is where I was born.

I've been to Kentucky many times and have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the state is indeed the Bluegrass, so I picked up this book fully expecting to (1) enjoy it and (2) learn something. Both my expectations were met.

This is a collection of stories from Stephens' Looking Back column in Kentucky Monthly magazine. I can certainly see why the column is popular. He covers a lot of history in these short articles, and he does so in an entertaining and informative manner. As many times as I've been to the Bluegrass, I still learned several things such as: why there are so many Shelbyvilles and Shelby Counties in the United States, just what makes bourbon different from whiskey, and the life of the woman "Hot Lips" Houlihan in M*A*S*H was based upon. I also got to revisit some favorite places such as Pleasant Hill ("Shakertown"), outside of Harrodsburg.

Anyone who's interested in United States history, and in particular the history of Kentucky, should add this book to their reading.

REVIEW: That Book Woman

Title: That Book Woman
Author: Heather Henson
ISBN: 9781416908128/Atheneum Books
KidLit, Ages 4 to 8
Rating: A

First Line: My folks and me--we live way up as up can get.

Cal isn't the reading type and has nothing but scorn for his sister, Lark, who always has her nose in a book. He'd much rather be out with Pap plowing the fields or bringing in the cows or hunting. He feels he makes important contributions to the family while Lark is worse than useless. When "that book woman" starts showing up, he has nothing but contempt for her until the snow starts flying. Then he allows that she's either plum foolish...or braver than he thought.

That Book Woman is a wonderful tribute to the pack horse librarians of Kentucky. Cal's voice is crystal clear in my mind and David Small's illustrations bring depth to a story that put a tear in my eye by book's end.