barbara fister reviewed The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt
Review of 'The Killing Hills' on 'LibraryThing'
A beautifully-written short novel set in Eastern Kentucky, in hollers near Morehead. A woman is found dead in the woods; who's responsible? The local sheriff gets help from her brother, who is home from the wars to see his pregnant wife. He's a skilled military police investigator, and he knows the area. A local politician (crooked, of course) brings aboard an FBI agent from Lexington to mess up the investigation, and an innocent young man is arrested - but the brother and sister are able to bring the case to a resolution of sorts. returnreturnA few things that didn't work for me - the FBI involvement seemed implausible and a little slapstick-y. The pregnant wife who had an affair was a bit of a cipher and not always well-integrated into the story. The hero is a bit too good at his job. And it was short! I suddenly realized it …
A beautifully-written short novel set in Eastern Kentucky, in hollers near Morehead. A woman is found dead in the woods; who's responsible? The local sheriff gets help from her brother, who is home from the wars to see his pregnant wife. He's a skilled military police investigator, and he knows the area. A local politician (crooked, of course) brings aboard an FBI agent from Lexington to mess up the investigation, and an innocent young man is arrested - but the brother and sister are able to bring the case to a resolution of sorts. returnreturnA few things that didn't work for me - the FBI involvement seemed implausible and a little slapstick-y. The pregnant wife who had an affair was a bit of a cipher and not always well-integrated into the story. The hero is a bit too good at his job. And it was short! I suddenly realized it was nearly over, and that was a disappointment. returnreturnWhat was really great about the book, though, was the loving and authentic picture of a place where family relationships mean everything, where you know who you're dealing with based on who their kin are. (The one sad character, the Dopted Boy, was an outcast because he wasn't blood-related to anyone in the area, being adopted.) The sense of place extends to the natural world, beautifully described. The town of Morehead, too, is depicted in a way that shows the old town and the old ways dying off and being squeezed out and replaced by a university and a medical center. I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I will definitely read his work again.
