The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt

MRB returns to the Kentucky hills where author Chris Offutt sets his Mick Harding books.

Mick has returned home to Rocksalt, KY to help family. His sister is the county sheriff now convalescing after being wounded in her leg in the line of duty. She deputizes Mick (and he then deputizes another Army buddy). Along with a couple others in the Sheriff’s office, Mick takes on the day to day minutiae that waddles through the door – vagrant in a barn (actually a deer), missing pets, noisy neighbors.

He's not without skills. He’s former Army CID but wasn’t interested in getting back into law enforcement until his sister was shot. Actually there are two parallel stories going on. The minor story involves Johnny Boy who killed someone. Mick quickly sent him off to Corsica to stay with an old MI6-type Mick knew from Afghanistan to help him get over his PTSD. The primary story involves a series of murders that may or may not be connected. Part of the connection is that a person of interest is his ex-wife’s current husband not to mention a bunch of Deliverance rejects. Outside business interests are trying to establish a foothold in the hills and are doing their best to muscle their way in.

Offutt is a widely respected southern writer who skillfully takes the reader into a world most of us never experience. This is the 4^th Mick Hardin novel reviewed by MRB and he has developed a loyal following. Solid books. Compelling storylines, Smoothly paced and written. He is also the author of Country Dark that I thought was downright spectacular. Offutt may not be a household name, but he is certainly worth checking out.

Thanks to Netgalley for the Advance Reviewer Copy. Estimated publication date is 25 March 2025.

East Coast Don

 

#1507. Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt

Mick Hardin left his old Kentucky home 20yrs ago after high school. Got out of the hills by joining the Army. Did his 20 and is retiring from his service as a military police investigator. His plan is to retire to Corsica and live with an Army buddy. But first, he feels the need to head home first before completely turning his back on Kentucky.

His sister Linda and he have an OK if not close relationship. She sort of followed in his footsteps by becoming the county sheriff leading a small staff of subordinates, mainly her primary, if still green, deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver.

Pete Lowe is/was a local resident. ‘Was’ because he went and got himself killed. In a small town like Rocksalt, KY, when someone gets killed, everybody knows who did it and why. Not this time. Linda and Johnny Boy start with what few clues they can find, and Mick goes along for the ride.

Most every clue is at the end of some long, curvy, dirt road that creeps deep and up into the Kentucky hills. First ‘break’ is when a local calls up wanting the sheriff to evict a squatter who’s taken up residence in his hen house. Linda would also have to evict the squatter’s wife but she already up and left. Can't imagine why. Guy is sharing the hen house with a bunch of hens and a couple roosters, one of which really isn’t native to the area.

Another guy, a local legend when it comes to dirt track car engines, also turns up dead. When Linda starts trying to shake a few limbs, she ends up getting shot in leg. Pretty bad wound, too. She’ll be ok, but she’s out of any primary investigation that would put her on her feet. So Johnny Boy is now the acting sheriff and temporarily deputizes Mick.

This rather dark tale of the KY hollers and hills takes a number of turns and Offutt deftly directs our attention in multiple directions between Rocksalt and Detroit involving drugs to liquor to money laundering to extortion and even cock fighting before finally leading Mick to the source of the murderous goings on.

Offutt isn’t new to us as we have favorably reviewed two earlier books, Country Dark and The Killing Hills. Personally, I like Country Dark the best. But don’t let that turn one away from this or his other books. Offutt knows how to deal up country/redneck/hick noir with the best of ‘em. If that kind of story trips your trigger, you'll need to make sure you run down anything by Chris Offutt.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to an advance reader copy.

Release date: June 13, 2023

 

East Coast Don

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.

Country Dark by Chris Offutt

1954

In the early 1950s in the hollers of eastern Kentucky, to escape his family, Tucker lies about his age to join the army. His skill with knife, gun, fists, and forest survival gets him a shot at an early version of special ops. Being a short teenager means many an opponent mistakenly underestimates him. Serves a tour in Korea mostly behind enemy lines surviving by his wits and backwoods-honed skills. 

And all of a sudden, it’s over. War yesterday. Peace today. He’s mustered out, stuck on a train in San Diego headed back east. An 18yo war veteran with a fistful of medals is heading back to the hills of home, but not to his family.

A trainload of over-testosteroned soldiers was no fun so he ditches the train near Cincinnati and starts to walk home, going overland instead of following the roads. Does get a ride from a traveling salesman who is prepared for problems, but Tucker relieves him of his pistol. Next sign of people he sees is a big and powerful car with an older man driving and a teenage girl passenger – a 14yo girl at that. Dressed nice and not even a Sunday. Coming or going to either a wedding or a funeral. The man tries to force himself on the girl, which doesn’t sit well with Tucker. He’s ready to put one in the man’s belly when the girl protests – he’s family. Tucker leaves the beaten man and takes the car so he can take Rhonda home.

Weather and circumstances force them to overnight in the car. Next morning, Tucker jokingly says that having spent a night with a girl means they’ll have to get married or be shunned by the hill folk. At a gas stop, the attendant admires the car and says there’s a guy nearby who might have need for a man with such a fine and powerful car.

1964

Tucker and Rhonda have been married for 10 years. Two miscarriages. Daughter Jo is the only one with full cognitive abilities. Big Billy is the oldest, hydrocephalic, and lives in a crib. Three other daughters have their own cognitive disabilities. Tucker and Rhonda have to accept that God placed these children with them for a reason, but that doesn’t protect Rhonda from depression. 

That guy who needed a driver is Beanpole, a fat bootlegger. Tucker drives liquor and ‘shine to buyers in Ohio. He’s Beanpole’s best driver. But in this business, one can’t be too careful. You learn to smoke with your left hand freeing up your right in case you have to draw down on friend or foe. 

A State social worker is making a call on Rhonda to see what she needs to help with her children. Hattie has been checking in on Rhonda for some time, but this time her supervisor, Dr. Marvin, decides to accompany her. After maybe 15 minutes, he decides that the four children need to be in a state home. Hattie disagrees. Dr. Marvin they leave to start the process as soon as possible. When Rhonda tells Tucker, the news doesn’t sit well and he takes off after them, spotting them at a roadside diner where Marvin is trying to have his way with Hattie. Tucker stopped it from happening to Rhonda and he's going to make sure Hattie is protected, too.

1965

A new man running for office is promising to crack down on bootleggers. Beanpole knows his livelihood is at risk. Offers a deal to Tucker. Take the fall and spend a few months in prison. Beanpole will take care of Rhonda and give Tucker $10K upon release. Not long after his arrival to prison, some bikers from a Dayton gang take him on. More people to underestimate a short backwoods guy. The law adds years 5 years to Tucker’s sentence. He was lucky, though, to see another son born before his incarceration. White hair, like his dad, shone brightly in the sun. Tucker names him Shiny.

1971

Tucker’s released and isn’t happy the state took his kids. Shiny is a normal boy and Jo is dealing with becoming a woman. Beanpole is trying to avoid paying Tucker the promised $10K. A hornet's nest near the house only adds another obstacle to Tucker.

Here’s the deal. When an MRB fav and member of our elite Power Rotation of authors (Charlie Stella) recommends a book, it behoove you to listen to what he says. Chris Offutt is the author of a couple books of short stories and some non-fiction books about his own upbringing in Kentucky. Has also done a few screenplays for TV (Treme, True Blood). But according to the jacket blurb, it’s been 20 years since his last book. But he's back. Pray that it won't be even one year before his next. Holy crap, this guy can write.

A sparse but eloquent story about a hard life that adheres to a simple truism: people don’t how lucky they are until bad luck comes along. There are good people and bad people. The rest are in between. How one handles the bad luck dictates if they become good people or bad people. “War and prison had taught him that sides don’t really exist, that everyone was eventually caught in the middle of something.”

Pay attention when Charlie Stella says to read a book. He’s never steered me wrong. This was perhaps his best recommendation. I don’t keep a Top 10 book list, but if I did, this one would be on it and I seriously doubt anything will come along to shoulder this one off that list.

Find it. Read it. This one will stay with you. 

ECD