Hard Cash Valley

In this delectable rural noir by Panowich (Like Lions), set in the hills of McFalls County, GA, ex-fire investigator and current Georgia Bureau of Investigation freelancer Dane Kirby gets called in to a murder investigation that quickly connects to a Filipino crime lord, an illegal cockfighting ring, and the disappearance of a child who has an uncanny connection with birds. As Dane’s wife and daughter were killed in a Fourth of July accident, a tragedy looms over him. Panowich’s prose is languid and easygoing as a back-county road as a stoic Dane, alongside FBI agent Roselita Velasquez, confronts the local crime lords who have a longstanding presence in the area—and with him. Well-developed side characters from crime vicitms to fellow FBI agents fill in the corners of the author’s world. A rote shootout at the story’s end mars an otherwise excellent novel.