MYSTERY

The Reluctant Sheriff

Grove. (Mick Harden, Bk. 4). Mar. 2025. 288p. ISBN 9780802164032. $27. M
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Ex-army CID officer Mick Hardin is still in Rocksalt, KY, although he always wanted to retire to Corsica. His sister Linda, the county sheriff, is recuperating from a gunshot wound suffered in the line of duty, and Mick is filling in as sheriff, with no backup. He sent the previous deputy, Johnny Boy Tolliver, to Corsica (a confusing storyline choice) after he was involved in a killing. While Johnny Boy fumbles around blindly there, Mick is reluctantly drawn into a case involving the shooting of a bar owner. The connection is personal to Mick, and he’d rather not be involved, but his take on the case is different than the local police chief’s. When more men are shot, Mick’s knowledge of the locals lets him dig out the truth. Then a violent confrontation in the woods around Mick’s cabin brings together a small group under Mick’s leadership. They’re outgunned as they take on a group of outsiders from Detroit, but Mick uses his skills from his years in the woods and in war zones to lead his team to victory.
VERDICT The sequel to Code of the Hills is an atmospheric, exquisitely written Southern noir.
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