Military investigator Mick Hardin is back in the Kentucky Hills for a fourth go round in Chris Offutt’s The Reluctant Sheriff. As the name suggests, Mick is literally reluctantly filling in for his sister Linda, the actual Sheriff, who was shot in the line of duty in the previous book in this series. Also impacted by those events was Linda’s offsider Johnny who killed a man and has now, with Mick’s help, fled to Corsica. This leads to a strange double story, which does not really cohere except to understand it as a lead in to the next book in this series.
The Reluctant Sheriff opens with a murder. Mick’s ex-wife’s new husband is implicated and she asks Mick to help clear his name. Mick’s reluctance goes further, but he puts aside his dislike of his ex-wife’s partner to help. Then a couple of other murders happen and Mick goes into full investigator mode. But before Mick gets too far with that investigation a couple of criminals hole up in his half finished cabin and then an ex-colleague from MI6 arrives, and then everything goes pretty much to hell. Meanwhile in Corsica, Johnny is learning French and working through his own issues.
The Reluctant Sheriff is pretty much on par with the other books in this series. There is an investigation at the core of it but that does not really drive the plot which is more about Mick and his relationships. The whole builds up to an extended firefight/action scene in which Mick and his friends get to use their military experience despite being in the mountains of Kentucky. The difference in this volume is the Corsican thread which is atmospheric and provides a stark contrast to the Kentucky sections but adds nothing to the main story. But by the end, as noted, the Corsican elements seem to be all setup for the next book which promises to be something different (although that promise has been made before and Hardin has still always ended back in Kentucky).
The Reluctant Sheriff by Chris Offutt
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