Chris Offutt – författare

** 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.

Mick Hardin is an Army CID officer home on leave, recovering from an IED attack, when a body is found in the centre of town. It's Barney Kissick, the local heroin dealer, and the city police see his death as an occupational hazard. But when Barney's mother, Shifty, asks Mick to take a look, it seems there's more to the killing than it appears. Mick should be rehabbing his leg, signing his divorce papers and getting out of town - and most of all, staying out of the way of his sister Linda's reelection as Sheriff - but he keeps on looking, and suddenly he's getting shot at himself.A dark, pacy crime novel about grief and revenge, with surprises hidden below the surface, Shifty's Boys is a tour de force that confirms Chris Offutt's Mick Hardin as one of the most appealing new investigators in fiction.

FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRIS OFFUTT.'Excellent Kentucky noir — Offutt's third Mick Hardin novel is the best yet.' — KirkusAn explosive return to the mayhem of the Kentucky hills, Code of the Hills is a harrowing novel of family — of what we’re willing to do to protect and avenge the ones we love.Mick Hardin is back in the hills of Kentucky. He’d planned to touch down briefly before heading to France, marking the end to his twenty-year Army career.In Rocksalt, his sister Linda the sheriff is investigating the murder of Pete Lowe, a sought-after mechanic at the local racetrack. After another body is found, Linda and her deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver wonder if the two murders are related.Linda steps into harm’s way just as a third body turns up and Mick ends up being deputised again.The dark, gripping, and propulsive thriller of murder and secrets in Rocksalt, Kentucky where little is as it seems.'This is a marvellous series… These have become must-reads for me and I enjoy every minute of the reading experience' Deadly Pleasures'Beautifully descriptive... Offutt’s Mick Hardin novels are powerful books that feature characters with questionable ethics.' Library Journal'Righteous Kentucky noir... I gulped it down, relishing the burn' — Ian Rankin on Shifty’s Boys

FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRIS OFFUTTA dark and fierce return to the Kentucky hills, where nothing is what it seems.Mick Hardin returns to the trials and tribulations of local sheriff duties, whilst the previous sheriff, his sister Linda, recovers from a gunshot wound sustained in the line of duty.Living in Linda’s house in Rocksalt, Mick finds himself entwined in the trials and tribulations of being a sheriff in the perturbing Kentucky community. Unable to retire from a world of dubiousness and violence, Mick Hardin is back with determination to deliver retribution.

FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRIS OFFUTTA dark and fierce return to the Kentucky hills, where nothing is what it seems.Mick Hardin returns to the trials and tribulations of local sheriff duties, whilst the previous sheriff, his sister Linda, recovers from a gunshot wound sustained in the line of duty.Living in Linda’s house in Rocksalt, Mick finds himself entwined in the trials and tribulations of being a sheriff in the perturbing Kentucky community. Unable to retire from a world of dubiousness and violence, Mick Hardin is back with determination to deliver retribution.