All The Sinners Bleed

Author: S. A. Cosby
Genre: Crime Thriller
341 pages
Publisher: Flatiron Books, 2023

Synopsis
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, Charon has had only two murders. 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. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

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.

My review
All The Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby is a fantastic crime thriller! This novel is a provocative and riveting journey, showcasing Cosby’s talent for storytelling right from the first page. With powerful writing, an intriguing plot, and compelling characters, All The Sinners Bleed delivers a gritty and intense story that drew me in from the very beginning. In addition to crafting an intricately plotted mystery, Cosby skillfully weaves themes of trauma, racism, and social injustice into the narrative, enriching the story without overwhelming it. I loved this book—it was definitely a page-turner!

Titus Crown, the black sheriff at the heart of the novel, is its compelling and moral character. After a shooting at the local high school Crown and his deputies learn that there is a brutal serial killer in their midst. As Crown struggles to deal with his own traumas, he must navigate the local politics of a small southern town and stop the killer before it’s too late. The action is nonstop and Cosby has created a protagonist with real depth. To my knowledge, this is a standalone novel. I would love to see a sequel and learn more about Crown as his journey continues.

I read mostly crime fiction and what sets this novel apart from others is the realistic depiction of small-town rural life and the uneasy and sometimes violent interactions between Charon’s white and black residents. As sheriff, Crown stands in that gray area between these worlds, with a foot in both. The palpable tension and anger, along with the vivid depiction of the locale and its residents, elevate this crime thriller to new heights.

Cosby uses a lot of metaphors to build a rich atmosphere, capturing the small-town dynamics with its racial divisions and historical legacy, which fuel the conflicts within the community. For the most part, the metaphors brilliantly and beautifully convey the tension, uniqueness, and essence of a small southern town. While a few metaphors are somewhat clunky, they do not detract from the overall beauty of the language and the incredible storytelling.

All The Sinners Bleed is an emotional and thought-provoking crime thriller beautifully told with the authenticity of someone who grew up in and still lives in a small southern town. Cosby’s unique writing truly stands out, making him an author who will definitely be on my must-read list in the future.

My recommendation: read it!