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.
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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
What a great setting for this series, Cathy! Hardin is quite a different writer from Julia Keller, but your description here reminds me of the way she writes her West Virginia stories. There's a similar deep sense of the place and people. I'm glad you enjoyed it this well.
ReplyDeleteI do need to give these books a try!
ReplyDeleteI just picked this one up from the library, and am looking forward to it for all of the series characteristics you describe. It's quickly become another fictional place I like to visit, to see what's going on.
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