Dead Man Blues

 

Your ex-wife married your best friend. Now he needs your help solving a murder or two. 

Dead Man Blues by S.D. House is about Dave Hendricks, a former mayor who's basically living in the wreckage of his own life. After his marriage ended, he drunkenly crashed into the courthouse which tanked his political career. His marriage ended because his wife and his best friend, Victor, fell in love. That torched his friendship with Victor, the county sheriff. Oh, and Victor's now married to Dave's ex-wife. Because of course he is.

Now Dave's living on a houseboat with Shorty—his dog and honestly the only good thing he got out of the divorce— mourning the loss of his friendship with Victor and trying to figure out how he became this guy. Then the son of the richest and most powerful man in the county gets murdered. And Victor, despite everything, needs Dave's help because he's the only one stubborn and smart enough to untangle it. What you get is this tense, messy partnership between two men who can barely look at each other but can't walk away either. Another body drops. The town's old secrets start surfacing. And honestly? It's gripping.

Here's the thing: Dave makes this book. He's sharp, charming, deeply flawed and he knows it. S.D. House nails that specific kind of self-awareness that comes from sitting in the mess you made and having no choice but to deal with it. The post-WWII setting adds this gritty Southern small town attraction, and the supporting cast keeps things grounded.

The mystery moves fast without feeling rushed. You're tracking clues, but you stay for Dave and the emotional weight he's carrying.

If you love atmospheric and historical crime fiction with actual heart and a protagonist you want to root for despite his mistakes (or maybe because of them), this one's worth your time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now. 

QOTD: What's a "small town secret" trope you never get tired of? The corrupt official? Hidden family drama? Or that one old crime everyone's decided never happened?

#deadmanblues #crimefiction #historicalcrime #southernnoir #mysteryreads

About the Author

S. D. House is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including his most recent, Lark Ascending, which was a Booklist Editors’ Choice and is the winner of the 2023 Southern Book Prize and the 2023 Nautilus Book Award. In 2022 he was the recipient of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the nation. In 2023 he was inducted as the Poet Laureate of Kentucky for 2023-2025 and became a Grammy finalist. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Garden & Gun, The New York Times, Oxford American, Ecotone, Tri-Quarterly, and many more of the country’s leading publications. House teaches at Berea College and at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing.