Many classics of American mystery fiction take place in New York or California, but those states hardly have a stranglehold on the genre. Texas, for one, is the setting for crime fiction from such disparate and popular authors as Joe R. Lansdale (whose Hap and Leonard novels inspired an AMC TV series), Susan Witting Albert, Bill Crider, Kinky Friedman, and our Sept. 1 cover subject, Attica Locke. Here are a few more recent whodunits set in the state, all recommended by Kirkus Indie:
Micheal E. Jimerson’s series entry Draw a Hard Line (2024) continues the story of former Texas Ranger E.J. Kane, who’s now the 50-something head of security for a Texas energy company. He’s had his share of troubles and tragedies: His son, Konner, was killed while deployed in Iraq; afterward, he and his wife, trial lawyer Rebecca Johnson, divorced. Currently, their daughter, Sharla, is pregnant and in treatment for meth addiction; not long ago (in 2022’s White Gold), E.J. rescued her from human traffickers. His family’s struggles haven’t kept him down, though; in fact, their tribulations drive him to help the Blakes, whose daughter’s brutal murder remains unsolved. Our reviewer calls the novel “a well-paced thriller” with sharp dialogue, noting that “the author, a Texas attorney, has the real-life experience to back up his storyline, and he gets bonus points for referencing Chuck Norris.”
A Venue of Vultures (2024), a series starter by Patsy Stagner, introduces senior sisters Claire Browning and Avery Halverson, two retired legal assistants living in a gated community in East Texas called Rancho Exotica. When they find the corpse of their wealthy and unsavory neighbor, Thorne Mondae, on their property with an arrow in his chest, they become potential suspects in a murder case. It turns out the siblings’ trail camera captured an image of the perpetrator, so they end up investigating the murder with former Dallas cop Jay Vidocq, Ranch Exotica’s head of security. Our reviewer praises this “delightfully cozy detective story,” calling it “an engagingly witty whodunit brimming with inventive twists and turns.”
Adam Taylor Barker delivers a grim and timely tale in All the Bones in Brooks County, Texas(2023), the first installment of his mystery series. Sheriff’s deputy Hondo Velasquez responds to a call from a Texas rancher who’s discovered the bones of five unidentified people, including a child, on his property. The cop finds a number of shell casings nearby, which makes him think that the victims, almost certainly Mexican migrants, were murdered, but his colleagues quickly dismiss the idea: “Spent ammunition all over this county, Deputy,” says the local justice of the peace. “Especially on ranch land.” Hondo, whose Mexican mother was a migrant, soon enlists the help of Baylor University forensic anthropologist Magnolia Moss, who finds a bullet in one of the victim’s skulls. This discovery sets Hondo on an investigation that leads to terrible revelations—and some very dangerous people. It’s a “gripping, multi-layered crime novel,” writes Kirkus’ reviewer, who adds that Barker—co-author of the screenplay for the action film Savage Salvation (2022), starring Robert De Niro—“brings rich cinematic dimensions to his fiction debut, making the most of the bleak Texas landscape.”
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
