Description

** LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER ** Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren’t getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take the case. Are they convinced she can’t handle it, or is there something else at work? She calls on Mick who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer’s increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders. And he needs to talk to his wife.

The Killing Hills is a novel of betrayal – sexual, personal, within and between the clans that populate the hollers – and the way it so often shades into violence. Chris Offutt has delivered a dark, witty, and absolutely compelling novel of murder and honor, with an investigator-hero unlike any in fiction.

Publisher Review

Quite aside from being one of our finest storytellers, in his first crime novel Chris Offutt reminds us as always of how much we've pushed away from us - the natural world, kindness, community - and that the time will come when we reach again and it's no longer there for the asking -- James Sallis Loyalty and betrayal slide back and forth in this tightly plotted, immaculately paced novel... The Killing Hills probes the darkness in both land and families, along with the limits of forgiveness. It's not just a fine and unforgettable crime novel. It's a heartbreak and a bond * New York Journal of Books * Deftly plotted chapters, fast-moving story line... It's difficult to write about marginalized regions of America without sounding inadvertently condescending, or, worse, contemptuous; Offutt... navigates this sensitive terrain with skill and a measure of respect -- Joyce Carol Oates * New York Times * The Killing Hills is as poignant and powerful as they come * Crime Reads * The Killing Hills is a potent mix of magnificent prose and uncompromising honesty. It has the resonance of a murder ballad and the deeply existential themes of an epic poem. Its voice will linger in your mind long after the final page is turned -- S.A. Cosby