Morehead, KY. East of Lexington on the downhill side of the Appalachian escarpment, still with plenty of backwoods hollers where blood, family, and cousins do their darndest to scratch out a life. Places where an unannounced visitor is likely to be greeted by an armed resident, at least until the proper pleasantries are exchanged. Places where children go by childhood nicknames into adulthood. Mick Hardin and his sister Linda are from here.

 

Marrying a Hardin wouldn’t be anyone’s perception of ‘marrying up’. Mick got married to his high school girlfriend, started out OK, but he soon joined the Army. The initial adventure was fine for them, but Peggy soon wanted home more than living overseas. Mick moved up from infantry to Airborne to the Criminal Investigations Division. And he's a pretty good CID investigator.

 

Sister Linda got a job working in the sheriff’s office and soon secured the needed training to become a deputy. Some indiscretions by the sheriff resulted in an early termination. The politically correct thing to do was to promote Linda to fill out the term. Turns out, the new responsibilities suited here, but still there are movers/shakers who'd rather see someone else in the position. But she's good at it. Law enforcement must run in the family.

 

Mick is stationed in Germany. Has been for a while. Peggy contacts him about something personal prompting a short-term leave of absence. Upon arriving, Mick seeks out his sister and she has her first ‘big’ case. Nonnie Johnson has been found dead up in a holler - she's a sister to 3 brothers and given the attitudes of the locals, one of them could be lining up to avenge her killing. Linda could use Mick’s experienced eye to see through the cobweb of loyalties tied up in the hollers.

 

Peggy’s ‘issue’ is that she is pregnant. Counting backwards, it might be that Mick is the father . . . but maybe not. Her infidelity weighs heavily on Mick.

 

It is with this backdrop that Chris Offutt takes us into the insular world of rural Kentucky with all the misconnections that are inherent when betrayal, rivalries and loyalties lock horns. A place where retribution means far more than justice as set down by politicians. The good book says. ‘an eye for an eye’ and words like that are the foundation of family honor. Within the outlying hollers and alleys in Morehead, murder and reckoning are explored on an almost primal level.

 

Chris Offutt’s “Country Dark” was reviewed very favorably on MRB so I won’t revisit Offutt’s history. Just know that he is an award-winning essayist with novels and collections of short stories in print, most of which were published some time ago. He sort of came out from hiding with Country Dark and thankfully he has stayed active with this elegantly prepared story (can a book about hill people be called ‘elegant’? I think so). Quick read, not just because his writing style is so comfortable, but also because it comes in a bit over a compact and thorough 200 pages.

 

But sorry, you’ll have to wait on this: Publication date: June 15, 2021. Mark your calendar. This guy is an artist with his prose.