Shifty’s Boys is a follow-up novel to Chris Offutt’s previous novel, The Killing HIls, and picks up a year later after the ending of The Killing Hills.

Though Shifty’s Boys contains the same main characters as in The Killing Hills and refers back to previous events, it is not necessary to read The Killing Hills first, but reading it will enhance the story found in Shifty’s Boys.

Barney Kissick is a low-level heroin dealer in the mountains of Rocksalt, Kentucky and after he is found murdered in an abandoned parking lot, authorities of that jurisdiction appear determined to write his murder off as some sort of internecine turf war when a number of small baggies of heroin are found littered around Barney’s corpse.

Barney’s mother Shifty, the widowed matriarch to the Kissick family and mother to two other Kissick boys, is a stern, proud woman and more dangerous than a mere elder. Shifty is also with strong ties to the history and customs of the past, and after souring upon the lack of progress of the investigation into the murder of her son, requests Mick Hardin’s help in finding out who killed Barney and why.

Mick Hardin, a criminal investigator with the United States Army and brother to county sheriff Linda Hardin, is back home recuperating after a combat zone injury and agrees to meet with Shifty and agrees to her request more so out of a sense of what is right than anything else.

Soon, Mick is learning more information about the murder leading him to believe the murder of Barney was not just a drug dealer on drug dealer murder and involves others even more capable and dangerous as Mick can be.

Offutt’s writing in Shifty’s Boys is remarkably smooth and engaging, with the pages of the novel turning with hardly any missteps. His writing also continues to illustrate how many Southern writers are so capable of decorating their tales with descriptive regional environments of both the physical and cultural world.

Shifty’s Boys is highly recommended to readers that enjoy “rural noir” and the writing of authors such as Brian Panowich, David Joy, and Tom Franklin and is set to be published in June of 2022.

Shifty’s Boys was provided by Netgalley with the promise of a fair review.

This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspense.com

Mick Hardin is back, and this time he helps investigating the murder of Shifty's son Barney, the local drug dealer. But the case is not the simple drug business gone wrong someone wants to make the police believe. Soon Mick uncovers a secret far more dangerous than Barney's business, and suddenly he finds himself in the line of fire as well.
Another engaging thriller starring Mick Hardin and, of course: Kentucky. I love the down-to-earth writing and characters, and while the story sometimes does linger with small details of the moment, it never digresses or loses itself. Though I did rush through the comparatively short volume, it didn't really feel 'fast' - there was a comfortable sense of ease while reading the book and I was sad to realize it was over too soon.

This was my second book by the author and I hope to read many more. I loved the previous story and think this book would be fine as a stand-alone. Mick is recovering and still lives with his sister when his former classmate and drug dealer ends up dead. The mom asks Mick to look into it. I loved how the story proceeded and tied everything up. The books was very well written and added some elements of like in a rural area and the trust issues that arise and helped make the story great. Thanks for the DRC for my honest review.

Rating: Starred Review

Summary: The second stunning novel featuring a Mick Hardin who is still recovering from a wound suffered during a IED blast. Set in the rolling hills of Eastern Kentucky where someone might say Hidy to you as a fine greeting. Mick is asked by a local woman who’s son is found dead in an apparent bad drug deal. Th local cops don’t care and Micks gotta find something to do before is return date with the army.

Comments: The second splendid crime novel with Offutt featuring Mick Hardin and equally important Linda, and super organized character Johnny Boy. Superior dialog places you deep in the Kentucky hills with plenty of scenes starting or ending with song birds. Robbins being the most spectacular North American bird. Since I like a birds this was a great setting for me. Highly highly recommended. I hope to see more Mick Hardin. This is an incredible series.

Side Note. I once traveled this area and still remember it’s beauty and deep rolling hills and twisting curves. Incredible.

Rural dynamics and "politics" for sure - complex characters with history, obstacles, and for some, a mission. Throw in drug distribution and murder - Solid read!

Lots of action in a story that is good because of its locale and the personalities provided for the characters by an author who really puts the reader in a realisitic-feeling setting. The action is fast-paced.

Chris Offutt pulls you in and refuses to release his grip. Can’t ask for more in a writer and novel. This is hardscrabble country noir with heart. Set in the hills of Kentucky, we have Mick Hardin, CID with the Army, home to heal wounds not only physical but mental. He’s living with his sister, the sheriff. When two local brothers are killed, though, their mother calls Mick to get to the bottom of it. And he does in a violent, blood soaked fever dream of a final confrontation with the perpetrators. In between that, he possibly starts up a new relationship and ends an old one by signing divorce papers from the wife he still loves. Heart. Highly recommended.

I’m the first to review this on GR. My third read by the author. An author I apparently like more than remember.
I was reading this book with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It reminded me so much of something…and, now with GR handy, I realized that what it reminded me of was likely its predecessor, which I read less than a year ago and apparently almost completely forgot about.
This is odd, because I really like Offutt’s writing, so much so I’ll even read his rural noir or country crime or whatever it is exactly that he writes. I’ve heard both, but for me noir just doesn’t stretch quite that far, so let’s stick with country crime drama set in the author’s beloved Kentucky, a place he tends to get all hillbilly elegiac about.
Not at all my scene, not at all a place I’d normally want to visit even at the safe remove of an armchair, and yet Offutt makes it worth a trip. There’s such ease and humor to his writing, such innate likability to his characters…it just draws you in.
And so, there you go, once more to the hills and small towns of Kentucky with its gun-toting English language manglers. It’s all about the family in them there (one Kentuckiasm and WORD is freaking out) hills and so when not one but two sons of a local matriarch Shifty get killed, justice needs to be served. And since the local sheriff is too busy trying to get herself re-elected, it’s up to her brother, an army investigator on leave, to figure things out.
Which he does, oddly enough at his own not inconsiderable expense, all while trying to stay sober and contemplating signing divorce papers.
From what it is I can possibly remember from book one, this is very, very similar. In tone, in themes, in subject matter, etc. And the actual crime here is solved in so much shooting, it’s almost like it’s trying to compete with the new Matrix movie.
But the thing is, this book for me isn’t about the crime or the scenery, I just really enjoy Offutt’s writing. It’s so engaging, so dynamic, so fun. It goes by very quickly, and even if it’s apparently not at all memorable, it’s still plenty entertaining for the duration. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.