Wedding bells are ringing for Sheriff Quinn Colson in Ace Atkins's eighth installment of his crime fiction series set in Tibbehah County, Miss. But before he can walk down the aisle with his fiancée, Maggie Powers, Colson has to discover who killed a young black man and left his dismembered body stuffed in a tool box in the Big Black River.
Meanwhile, Colson's pal Boom Kimbrough is driving a semi for Sutpen Trucking. On a routine check of his cargo, he discovers electronics where his manifest says avocados should be. Growing suspicious of the company, Kimbrough examines all of his trailers more carefully--and on another run he finds drugs. That's enough to convince him to cooperate with the DEA to trap Sutpen in their dirty business dealings.
As the two friends' investigations barrel toward each other, a weed-growing family of race car drivers and the Gulf Coast syndicate jump into the mix, threatening not only Colson's wedding, but the lives of people he loves.
With the Quinn Colson series (The Innocents), Atkins draws a flawed hero with a strong sense of morality, and he consistently delivers complex relationships, rich internal conflicts and suspenseful action. He's also a master of dialogue, often mining Southern aphorisms for distinctive humor. The Sinners rolls all that into its timely, intense and enthralling plot. There are many sins in the novel, but the greatest would be missing it. --Jen Forbus, freelancer