The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

Hill people in Kentucky have a biblical sense of law and order when it comes to family, vengeance, and family honor. An eye for an eye, a life for a life, a balancing act that some say never ceases. A murder investigation is not always required as the suspect is known as soon as a body is found BUT in the case of this story…an investigation is required and that has more than one person involved with people potentially stepping on one another’s toes. The local sheriff has politicians, the FBI, local residents and, others to wade through and a brother Mick, a CID officer on leave, to call in for consultation. This is a who done it, police procedural, and dive into small town dynamics filled with politics, , drugs, infidelity, and more.

What I liked:
* Mick Hardin: military veteran, CID officer, husband, brother, native to the area, home on emergency family leave, worried about his wife and their relationship, intelligent, capable, lethal, cunning, strategic thinker, and has a lot to think about and come to terms with.
* Linda Hardin: Mick’s sister, sheriff, loves her town and job, seems a bit at loose ends, wonder if she is truly capable if she had to call in her brother to assist.
* Johnny Boy: deputy sheriff, talker, detail oriented, smarter than he appears
* Mr. Tucker: elderly gentleman, harvester of ginseng, military veteran of Korean War, more than he appears to be.
* The writing and plot
* The sense of local culture and use of dialect
* The realness of the conflict Mick was facing in regard to his wife and the issues they had to face
* Jojo the mule (poor animal),
* Wondering if this might be the first book in a series…though whether it would be a series about the community and Linda as she does her job OR about Mick and his military jobs is still a mystery. Perhaps it is a one and done.

What I didn’t like:
* What Joe found out when he went home and talked to his wife
* The way the local politicians put their own interests first
* Not knowing for sure what will happen to some of the characters I invested in while reading this story

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Published by ‎Grove Press on June 15, 2021

Notable for its sense of place, The Killing Hills takes the reader to Appalachia and to families that hold a grudge for generations. Chris Offutt goes beyond the stereotype of feuding hillbillies to tell an intriguing story of crime and corruption in an insular community.

Mick Hardin is a CID officer. After serving as a paratrooper, Hardin became the Army’s top criminal investigator. He comes home to Kentucky on leave after he learns from his sister that his wife is pregnant. He has always imagined growing old with his wife, “finishing their days side by side on a porch, quietly enjoying the birds, trees and flowers. He wanted to measure time by the growth of trees.” Yet Mick soon learns that his wife had a reason not to tell Mick about the pregnancy. That bit of domestic drama sends Mick into an alcohol-fueled haze and causes him to overstay his leave, making him AWOL.

Mick’s sister Linda is the county sheriff, having been elevated to that position by default. Linda gives Mick a reason to regain his sobriety after Nonnie Johnson is murdered. Linda needs Mick’s skills as a homicide investigator. Since Mick grew up in the community, he knows how to speak to people as a good old boy. Nobody opens up to anyone, but they’re more likely to talk to Mick than they are to answer Linda’s questions.

Mick wants to find the killer before Nonnie’s family takes the law into their own hands. Revenge killings are a local tradition, “an inbred conviction of vengeful purpose.” Unfortunately, the desire for revenge often sparks the killing of innocent suspects. A man who made his money in coal uses his influence to have an FBI agent arrest “the Dopted Boy,” an adopted boy named Tanner who was “personally liked but never accepted. In a culture that elevated blood family above all, the community never trusted Tanner.” Mick decides that the FBI’s arrest of a potentially innocent suspect won’t end his investigation.

Mick is a sympathetic character. He conceals his intelligence because that’s what smart people in the hills need to do. He approaches potential witnesses with patience, always introducing himself as “Nick Hardin’s boy,” talking about family connections to establish his credibility.

The murder has no obvious motive. Nonnie was a well-liked middle-aged woman who didn’t make trouble. Suspects include a heroin source, the source’s local dealer, and a man who searches the hills for ginseng. The mystery’s resolution isn’t flashy or shocking. On a superficial level, The Killing Hills is a murder mystery, but the story is really about the quest for the truth in a tight-lipped community. The truth that Mick discovers is almost secondary to the story of the hills and its population.

A character laments that everywhere else in the country, “folks live a little longer every year.” In the hills, the average life span is getting shorter. “The hills are killing us,” the character says. Violence and poverty, alcohol and drugs, decades of manual labor and poor health care. That’s the noir atmosphere that makes the story special. Coupled with Mick’s personal problems, The Killing Hills is very much a novel of place and characters. That the story is good is a bit of a bonus.

RECOMMENDED

I had heard some very positive reviews of this and prior novels from Chris Offutt and was very pleased to have the opportunity to sample his writing. Right off the top, Offutt presents a picture of the back country, the small communities and hollers of Kentucky and the variety of people who live there. And then the area-specific behaviors that dictate actions and outcomes. Certain behaviors are not only matters of politeness on a lonely hilltop; they are meant to keep you alive. Unlike in the city, don’t mount the stairs and knock on a door to announce your presence. Instead, stop your truck at a small distance, perhaps honk. Don’t get out unless/until someone comes out of the house and you’ve talked comfortably

Enough of this background! In the foreground, Mick Hardin is on leave from his military CID job, which he both enjoys and excels at, and back in Morehead, Kentucky where he and his wife have a home and his sister is sheriff. His sister has requested his help with solving a local murder, one that doesn’t fit the usual profiles involving drugs, alcohol or beating by bad beaux. Mick agrees to help, combining the skills he’s honed in the military with the knowledge of the country he was raised in.

This is an exciting and fun book to read. It’s also sad due to the evidence of the blight of opiates so casually present. I enjoyed the descriptions of the natural world contrasted with the people in it. The descriptions of manners and mores were enlightening since I live in an area where few know anyone else’s relatives.

I recommend this book highly for those who like crime novels especially with a lot of character and a strong sense of place. Rating 4 to 4.5*

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Killing Hills is the first novel I've read by Chris Offutt, but I can see from other reviews that he is quite popular and this latest book is getting a lot of positive buzz. The novel's protagonist is Mick Hardin, who is with the Army CID. He's back home in the backwoods of Kentucky because his wife is pregnant, but while he's there, he gets a request for help from his sister Linda, who is a sheriff. A woman has been murdered, and Linda needs Mick's help to catch the killer. Aside from Mick and Linda, the third major character is the Appalachian territory where the action takes place. Offutt does a fantastic job of bringing the area and its inhabitants to life.

This is a very short novel, one that you can finish in a few hours. It's a formulaic procedural that is well written, but it didn't ever really capture my attention or my empathy. To me it was a simplistic version of a Jack Reacher novel (by novelist Lee Child). We have a taciturn loner, a career military man, whose capabilities are oversized. If you enjoy this genre, definitely pick up The Killing Hills. I'll stick with Reacher.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A murder mystery, introducing a new hero, Mick Hardin, a combat veteran and army criminal investigative officer, on leave helping his sheriff sister investigate a murder and dealing with his troubled marriage.The plot is good, but the real star of the book is the Kentucky Appalachian area. Offutt, a native Kentuckian, vividly paints the beauty, the poverty,the loyalty and treachery, the unique language nuances, and the blood feuds and revenge murders that span generations. A good read.

Ein 81-jähriger Ginseng Sammler findet auf seiner Route die Leiche der 43-jährigen Veronica Johnson, die seit dem Tod ihres Mannes mit ihrem Sohn bei ihrer Schwägerin lebte. Der Bürgermeister und andere Würdenträger wollen Sheriff Linda den Fall wegnehmen, da sie die Aufklärung einer Frau nicht zutrauen. Da bittet diese ihren Bruder Mick Hardin um Hilfe im Fall, der aber selbst gerade eine schwierige familiäre Zeit durchmacht. Er ist Mordermittler bei der Army. Schnell unternimmt er zur Unterstützung seiner Schwester erste Schritte zur Aufklärung.
Der Autor führt die Protagonisten und die Ausgangslage geschickt und schnell schon auf den ersten Seiten ein, Linda und Mick sind einem spontan sympathisch. Es tauchen interessante Nebenfiguren auf.
Chris Offutt entwirft für Mick einen außergewöhnlichen Hintergrund mit seiner speziellen naturorientierten Erziehung durch den Großvater und seinen Erfahrungen aus den Kriegsjahren bei der Army.
Seine letzten Einsätze bei ausländischen Mordermittlungen haben ihn sehr lange von seiner Frau Peggy getrennt. Der E-Mail-Kontakt wurde die letzten Monate immer weniger, bis er zuletzt von seiner Schwester erfahren musste, dass seine Frau hochschwanger ist. Nach seiner sofortigen Heimkehr musste gestand diese ihm, dass sie einen Fehltritt begangen hat und das Kind eventuell gar nicht seines ist. In zwei Wochen steht die Geburt bevor. Er will umgehend einen Vaterschaftstest von ihr und bezieht so lange die alte Hütte seines Großvaters.
Der Roman hat ein spannendes Ende, das überraschen kann. Mick hat Seine Ziele nicht erreichen können, aber steht nun mit klarem Blick vor einem Neuanfang. Man könnte sich auch gut eine Fortsetzung vorstellen.
Die Gegend, die Menschen und ihr Regeln werden lebendig. In dem Buch sind kein Wort, keine Seite zu viel das schätze ich!

My all-time favorite television series is Justified, and reading The Killing Hills made me feel as if I were in the hands of Elmore Leonard. Almost everything about this book is spare -- dialogue, emotion, interpersonal connection. The exceptions are the interwoven passages about the natural world, which are quite lush.

Mick is an army CID investigator who comes home to Kentucky to deal with a fraught family situation. His sister, Linda, the sheriff, asks for his help on a murder case. Author Chris Offutt skillfully layered his plot vectors with personal and cultural history and plenty of family dynamics (from multiple clans!) into this brief tale.

As a refugee from a rural mountain setting (albeit a far distance from Applachia) I recognized Mick's and Linda's "code-switching" pattern: when they are speaking with their "native" neighbors and kin, they flip into quite a rustic vernacular. When dealing with outsiders/officials, suddenly they sound quite mainstream.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for an advance readers copy.

A short, gripping and intense story that kept me hooked. I loved the style of writing, the excellent characters and the atmosphere.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The characters were interesting and well-developed, especially considering how short it was. I actually wanted it to be longer, which is rarely, if ever, the case, and I’d love to see Mick and/or Linda again in another book. The rural Kentucky setting was one I’ve read about before, but usually in a memoir about someone’s horrible childhood or oxy addiction or whatnot - it was different experiencing it in the context of a fictional murder investigation. Recommended for anyone looking for a gritty but often funny mystery.

A beautifully-written short novel set in Eastern Kentucky, in hollers near Morehead. A woman is found dead in the woods; who's responsible? The local sheriff gets help from her brother, who is home from the wars to see his pregnant wife. He's a skilled military police investigator, and he knows the area. A local politician (crooked, of course) brings aboard an FBI agent from Lexington to mess up the investigation, and an innocent young man is arrested - but the brother and sister are able to bring the case to a resolution of sorts.

A few things that didn't work for me - the FBI involvement seemed implausible and a little slapstick-y. The pregnant wife who had an affair was a bit of a cipher and not always well-integrated into the story. The hero is a bit too good at his job. And it was short! I suddenly realized it was nearly over, and that was a disappointment.

What was really great about the book, though, was the loving and authentic picture of a place where family relationships mean everything, where you know who you're dealing with based on who their kin are. (The one sad character, the Dopted Boy, was an outcast because he wasn't blood-related to anyone in the area, being adopted.) The sense of place extends to the natural world, beautifully described. The town of Morehead, too, is depicted in a way that shows the old town and the old ways dying off and being squeezed out and replaced by a university and a medical center. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I will definitely read his work again.

Much like Australian-noir before it, Appalachian-noir is having a moment and I am a fan. This short, intense novel checks a lot of boxes -- rural Kentucky setting among the hollers, family feuds, cascading acts of violence and revenge -- so many boxes that, at times, it didn't feel terribly original. Some characters feel real, others feel like characters from central Hillbilly casting. I often struggle with colloquial speech in novels and this title did not prove an exception. Characters speak in complete, grammatically correct sentences and then throw out heavily accented slang and it did not feel authentic, only jarring. The plot is fairly basic and well paced. But, in the end, after all the shooting is over, there is no examination, no rumination, no consideration of this geographically-specific area and its propensity for mindless violence and generations of familial acts of revenge.

The writing brings the Kentucky hills and families to life.
Mick arrives home from a tour- to his extremely pregnant wife. After a short affair, Peggy is unsure of the baby's paternity.
Mick moves into his grandfather's old shack in the hills, needing space to think. His sister, the newly appointed Sheriff, asks for his help. Linda has a murder to solve - a local woman found on a hill.
With Mick's help, they work to earn the trust of the community to share what they know.
Enjoyable quick read, short and doesn't waste words.

Mick Hardin, U.S. Army, is called home by his sister, Linda, the new sheriff in a small town in the Kentucky hill country. His wife is in the final stages of her pregnancy (but she is not the one calling Mick home). The new sheriff is confronted by her first murder case, but the local power brokers are pushing for someone other than the local police to handle the investigation. Linda forges forward, enlisting Mick who has CID experience and is familiar with the countryside to help. His investigation works through the clans of the area filled with violence, both past and present as well as betrayal on several levels. Offutt’s book is a trip into these backwaters, fairly well written but my rating is generous - this book was just not my cup of tea. My thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel.

Grit Lit or Country Noir is not my normal read, but I enjoyed The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt enough that I'll be checking out his other books. Mr. Offutt has an amazing voice, and he surely does seem to know my home sweet Appalachian home.

Mick, born and bred in the hollers of Kentucky, joins the service and is a criminal investigator for the Army. On an emergency leave home he finds himself enmeshed in local crime and in "hill-bred conviction of vengeful purpose." The initial death is being investigated by his sister, the local sheriff, and he lends her his experienced assistance while being distracted by a family situation involving his wife. This is not as much a mystery or crime novel as a visit to appalachia and examination of one man's soul searching. There are moments of true hilarity (one account of a solution to a construction problem brought tears to my eyes), but also there are solutions to family and tribal problems that make a kind of sense. This is the first of Chris Offutt's books I've read, but I'm not stopping here, and I hope that Mick shows up in future books.

Another great book by Chris. I love reading his books because they are so familiar and cozy. Can a suspense/murder mystery be cozy? Yes, if it describes the hills, the scenery, the people of the town so perfectly, that you are literally right there with them. I am from eastern Kentucky, have lived here all my life. My son lives in Morehead ( the town in this story) and went to college there. When you know that an author either HAD to have lived in an area as well, or really did his research, it makes you appreciate the story that much more.
I hope that this may just be an beginning for the main character, Mick. I'd love to read more books following him and his sister. His character reminds me a lot of myself. I found his whole childhood backstory and how he turned out, very relatable. Please Chris??? Write more with these two!!
I will read anything Offutt writes. He's talented and I am NEVER bored. Read this book in exactly 3 1/2 hours.
Excellent work again Mr. Offutt! Hope you come to Morehead for a book signing soon! I will be there with bells on!

Offut never fails to deliver. This is a great story about crime, love , and the power of place. Set in the hills of Kentucky , Offut proves again that at heart he is a great storyteller who write lyrically and economically. And speaking of economically, this is a shorter book-which is a good thing. It gets to the point and the story in not waylaid with bloat like so much of contemporary literature. Highly reccomended.

As country noir goes, this masterfully crafted novel by a talented author who writes across genres goes further and deeper than most He knows the backwoods and hollows of Kentucky like a native, which he is, and when on a brief trip home to settle the state of his marriage,CID investigator Matt Hardin is asked by his sister to help out on a murder investigation,he can't refuse. Hardin's understanding of the deep and twisty roots of violence in the hills and among the people he knows so well, serves the story well, as do Offutt's literary skills.

This was a dry thriller to be honest. I liked the descriptions of nature and creatures in the forest..but apart from that...it was dragging and dull..struggled to finish it

For some time now, I have been quite fond of the genre often identified as “Southern Lit,” “Grit Lit,” “Country Noir,” or “Rural Noir.” In reading these novels, I have noticed there are several common aspects often contained in such writing.

These aspects include wonderfully descriptive narratives of the environmental surroundings, which includes everything from localized flora and fauna to that of roadways and homesteads. Further aspects include food and eateries and of course, detailed descriptions of citizens, both in current and historical ways.

One last aspect is how Southern writers are so adept at stringing their words together in such a careful and artisan way that makes the writing seem so complete and instinctive. Words are not used in excess, with the chosen ones often reductionist in nature, but at the same time, so descriptive of environment, people, time, and place. Surely, these writers would disagree words come so easily, but that is what makes the writing of the great ones so enjoyable – the words come together in such a natural melding and seamless way that the interlocking of words appear so naturally formed and as if by magic.

Chris Offutt’s The Killing Hills, except for the food part, certainly meets all of these aspects and more. His writing gently places the reader into the presence of the lands and people he describes. While reading his novel, one can easily hear the crackling of gravel roads beneath vehicle tires or the slapping of tree branches and weeds against the exterior body as these same vehicles travel over narrow dirt roads and through hollow paths. It is even easy for the mind’s eye to imagine seeing the broken shadows of leaves cast upon the windshields of moving vehicles while being driven beneath the canopy of tree-lined roads.

The Killing Hills opens with the discovery of a woman’s corpse by an elderly, retired school janitor searching for ginseng in the hills of Kentucky. Sheriff Linda Hardin is tasked with investigating the murder of Nonnie Johnson and how her body came to be in the Kentucky woods. Quickly on, it is made clear to her powerful figures in the county feel she is not up to the task to complete this investigation. Because these same people appear to have other unstated ulterior motives, she enlists the help of her brother Mick Hardin. Not long before the murder, Mick Hardin, an army criminal investigator based in Germany, had abruptly returned to his hometown for personal reasons. He at first reluctantly agrees to help his sister but is soon drawn completely into the investigation.

As Mick Hardin burrows deeper into the murder investigation, he finds not only must he deal with others that may not want the murder correctly solved, but is also reminded of the importance of the mores and traditions of rural folks. This includes how history and past offenses linger for generations and should never be forgotten and how those with long memories can be both helpful and dangerous.

With The Killing Hills, Chris Offutt has spun a tale with lush writing, complete character development, and no need to suspend belief in order to enjoy the story, plots, and writing.

Readers who enjoy the current crop of Southern writers are encouraged to add Chris Offutt to that list and should also read his other writings, especially his previous novel, Country Dark.

NetGalley provided a copy of this novel for the promise of a fair review.

This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspense.com