A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. But after years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon.

With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.

Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be a reckoning.

I must offer a mea culpa, here: I read this a long while ago, but right in the middle of an incredibly busy couple of months. As a result, writing the review just fell off my radar, much to my shame. Especially as this is easily one of the best five books I’ve read this year. I’ve been reading Cosby’s novels since Blacktop Wasteland, and he immediately became one of my must-read authors. All The Sinners Bleed is superb.

All of the hallmarks of Cosby’s work are not only on display, here, but they are even better than in his previous books. He just gets better and better. His prose flows, his characters are real and three-dimensional, and the plot is utterly gripping. It’s a dark tale of small town tensions, grisly history, and simmering resentments — all tied in with contemporary American culture and politics without being clunky. The crime at the centre of the plot is well-plotted — we learn only gradually what is going on — and exceedingly dark, and one that will cause ripples throughout the community. Despite the gradual unroll, I couldn’t stop reading, and Cosby’s prose pulled me through well into the wee hours of the morning. The red herrings are woven into the story well, without feeling gimmicky. Titus has a lot on his plate, but navigates the various pulls on his time and attention skillfully. Despite the grittiness of the story, you do feel like Titus is a genuine hero in a beaten-down region that just can’t seem to catch a break.

All the Sinners Bleed takes readers on a dark and sinister journey in Charon County, giving us insight into its past and present, and how the former sometimes has a stranglehold on the latter. Titus Crown is a fantastic guide, too, having grown up there before moving away for his truncated career with the FBI, keeping his sense of “home” there, while simultaneously seeing and acknowledging its flaws and darker underbelly.

“Evil is rarely complicated. It’s just fucking bold.”

Cosby has a real gift for characterization, bringing each of his characters to life on the page — even those who are peripheral or present in only one scene. He uses small and large observations to paint a full picture, imbuing them with personality and history.

All The Sinners Bleed is in the first round of the Goodreads Choice Awards, and it was the quickest and easiest vote I’ve cast.

Very highly recommended, and easily one of the best books of the year. I can’t wait to read Cosby’s next book. If you haven’t read Cosby yet, I would highly recommend everything he’s written.

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S. A. Cosby’s All The Sinners Bleed is out now, published by Flatiron Books in North America and Headline in the UK.

Also on CR: Review of Blacktop Wasteland

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Review copy received via Edelweiss