Shifty's Boys

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Description

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.

'Pitch-perfect in its tone and dialogue, this is what Jack Reacher wants to be when it grows up.' - Times (Thrillers of the Year)

'Wonderfully atmospheric thriller.' - Mail on Sunday

'A delicious slice of hillbilly noir.' - Irish Times (Crime Book of the Year)

'A riveting example of Rural Noir.' - Times & Sunday Times Crime Club (Pick of the Week)

'One hopes Offutt will bring Hardin back; he is a hell of character!' - Crime Time (Book of the Month)

'More than just a murder case, it's a voyage into rural backwoods Kentucky that doesn't shirk from the darkness to be found there, and unfolds with drive, noir style and wry humour.' - Herald

Reviews

The writing is top-notch, shot through with menace and melancholy * New York Times *
Chris Offutt's mastery of sense of place is still in full bloom * Times (Thriller Book of the Month) *
Another wonderfully atmospheric slice of Appalachian noir * Times & Sunday Times Crime Club (Pick of the Week) *
In elegant, economical prose, Shifty's Boys is an accomplished addition to the ranks of country noir -- Val McDermid
Offutt loves his characters enough to give them life. With them, we can grieve or laugh... Offutt's novel is replete with details that brand the humanity pictured within as real, because you can't make this stuff up -- Cathy Downs * Reviewing the Evidence *

Author Bio

Chris Offutt is the author of the short-story collections Kentucky Straight and Out of the Woods, the novels The Good Brother, Country Dark and The Killing Hills, and three memoirs: The Same River Twice, No Heroes, and My Father, the Pornographer. His work has appeared in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays, among many other places. He has written screenplays for Weeds, True Blood, and Treme, and has received fellowships from the Lannan and Guggenheim foundations.