Wow!!! I have never read a book in the Charlie Parker series and I have been missing out. I think this was a great introduction for me into this series. Now I can dig into more without feeling lost. In the beginning, in all transparency, I got a little lost in all the characters introduced at first so it took awhile to remember who is who. If this installment is an indicator of the full series then I can’t wait to read more!

John. Connolly is a craftsman and writes good stories with engaging characters and clever plots. I enjoyed this story of Charlie Parker’s beginning. It had a different take on the series but I liked that and thought it was refreshing.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A few years ago I read and reviewed my first book in Connolly’s Charlie Parker detective series, and I became immediately addicted. Since then I’ve never missed an installment, and after the 17th in the series, A Book of Bones, I more or less stalked the internet to find out when I could find the next in the series. It doesn’t disappoint. My thanks go to Net Galley and Atria Books for this, the 18th in the series. It’s for sale now.

Here, Connolly steps away from the crossed-genre, pants-on-fire entries he’s written recently to scribe a prequel. A couple of new readers have inquired whether to read this before all of the other Charlie Parker books, or treat it as the 18th. The fact is, you can take it in either direction. On the one hand, I have reached back and read a couple of the first in the series and whereas they are perfectly respectable detective novels, they don’t hold a candle to those he’s written more recently. Once I had read the 14th, which is where I began, I was spoiled and a wee bit disappointed by the earliest books in the series. So whereas it makes sense to start reading with this prequel, I fear some readers will notice a dip in quality if they read this masterful literary mystery Connolly has just published, and then dive into his earliest Charlie Parker books. Again, they aren’t badly written. But they aren’t brilliant, and the most recent five in the series, including this prequel, are. So take that and do as you like with it.

Parker is reeling, as the book unfolds, from the vicious murders of his wife and daughter by a killer that intended to slay him, but found them instead. He is convinced that their murderer is a serial killer, and so he has taken a leave of absence from the police force back home and is touring the country by car, chasing down every murder anywhere that bears a resemblance to theirs. He is a dangerous man, because he has no sense of self-preservation. He sees himself as a man that has lost everything, and such men will take risks that more happily situated investigators would consider unthinkable. He also has a source none of the others can access: his wife, his daughter appear to him now and then, and they tell him things that relate to the case at hand, things that nobody else knows.

Those familiar with the series know that Connolly’s most recent Parker books have veered more in the direction of horror, and they include a number of supernatural events that his earlier work does not. Here he steps away from it, and once again his only information from the great beyond is what the spirits of his loved ones share. His adversaries are purely mortal ones. And as to which is better, it’s hard for me to say. His last book prior to this one is a monster, and it includes a tremendous amount of historical research that I find appealing, along with some hugely original, sinister characters that surely must come straight from the bowels of hell. It’s amazing work.

But there’s something to be said for books like this one, too. Most of Connolly’s work is so edgy and so full of violence that I have had to take it in small bites, lest it affect my overall mood. I didn’t have to do that here. I can crawl under a quilt and read for hours without needing to come up for air. I always make sure I read something less malign for a few minutes before turning out the light, but at the same time, this is a much more comfortable read.

Which is not to say that it’s tame. It isn’t. Someone has murdered Black girls in this tiny Arkansas burg, and Parker pulls into town right on the heels of the most recent one. Right away, it becomes obvious that there’s shifty business going on. The town is miserably depressed economically, and the local robber barons, the Cade family, have a deal in the works to bring a large manufacturer to town. The Cades stand to make a great deal of money, and the locals, poverty-stricken and jobless or badly underemployed, are convinced that better times are just around the corner.

And so it seems that nearly everyone has a stake in keeping the waters calm. The dead girls had to go and get themselves murdered, just when the deal’s about to go through? How inconsiderate. Yes, their killer should be found and brought to justice; but that can wait until the big dogs have signed on the dotted line. Prosperity is just around the corner. A scandal might ruin everything, and Parker refuses to cooperate, insisting on justice for the murdered children. The nerve of him.

Connolly’s signature elements—the malign, solipsistic, endlessly greedy local bourgeoisie; the poignance of Parker’s grief and his communication with his dead family; and the fast paced, complex plot with a zillion characters and some snappy banter are all here in spades. As usual, his writing style is literary, and so this may not be the best choice for someone whose mother tongue is not English.

As always, highly recommended. This is indisputably one of the year’s best. As for me, I’ll be keeping an eagle eye out for the 19th Parker book, because nobody else writes like this.

I really tried to push myself to continue with this book. I made the decision to DNF at the 18% mark. I felt that this book was telling me facts instead of telling me a story. There were way too many characters in this book to keep track of and this may come from the fact that I have not read any of the other books in the series. I also thought there were too many points of race put in here that didn't even seem appropriate to the story.

Overall, I felt the story to be confusing character wise and too boring for me to continue on with.

I thank Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of the E-ARC.

This is author#John Connolly's 18th novel in his #Charlie Parker series. "#The Dirty South " takes readers back to the beginning of the ex-New York City detective's career as a private eye. Parker is unwelcome in Cargill, Arkansas. He has also lost a wife and daughter to vicious murders. Head over to my Instagram blog this week for a longer review under Maddie_approves_book_reviews please.
Thank you,
#Netgalley, #John Connolly, and # Atria Publishing

It’s 1997. Former NYPD detective Charlie Parker is sitting in an Arkansas jail in The Dirty South.

Charlie is heartbroken over the recent murder of his wife and child while searching for their killer. In the Arkansas town of Cargill, someone is killing and mutilating young African-American girls. Charlie has already determined Cargill’s serial killer is not the one who killed his family. However, he decides to help local law enforcement to solve their case before continuing his own search for answers.

I read A Book of Bones, the first entry in this series when it came out over twenty years ago. I’m not sure why I never continued reading the series. This book is the eighteenth book but as a prequel, it is a good entry point into Charlie’s world.

And what a world it is. Small town corruption and nepotism cover up many a sin. Will it take an outsider like Charlie to entangle the twisted lies and uncover the killer?

I truly enjoyed this look into the sordid belly of a small Southern town. However, it did drag a bit in the middle and there were a lot of characters to keep straight. If you are a fan of the series, I’m sure you will love this book too. For me, and others new to the series, The Dirty South gets 4 stars.

Thanks to Emily Bestler Books, Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to #NetGalley, #AtriaBooks and #JohnConnolly for the ARC.
I have been hooked on this series of books ever since I read one several years ago. I then promptly went back and tried to read all the books in the series that I had not read but of course I couldn't get a few of them.
This book is AMAZING!! I think the older books in the series are better than the last few books that have just come out. The newer books in the series ate grated more toward the supernatural and I wished they would go back to more like this one. Here is to hope for the next book in the series.

THE DIRTY SOUTH is an origin story for author John Connolly’s protagonist, Charlie Parker. Readers can meet him here for the first time, even though this is book 18 in a long series, and not feel confused about content or characters. Connolly is a gifted writer who takes his time setting scenes and introducing people; this is not a fast-moving tale. The rot of this place slowly seeps in as the story commences and it takes time to really let it settle into place. There are some red herrings and creative misdirections, as all good mysteries offer, but the ultimate tale is a very good one and well worth the wait. It will stay in your mind long after the book is finished. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

The 18th volume in the Charlie Parker series takes us all the way to the beginning, when Charlie had just started his quest to find the killer of his wife and daughter. With nothing to tie him to one place, he has started traveling to the sites of other murders that have some similarity to his family's. His first stop is Cargill, Arkansas; a small town on the brink of either dying or booming.

It's 1999 and two, maybe three, young black women have been murdered, their bodies mutilated and dumped. Charlie looks over the evidence and decides this is not the killer he's looking for, but the local police chief has asked for his help investigating. The county sheriff is trying to bury the investigation to prevent possible trouble with a corporation's plans to expand into the area. Of course, Charlie being Charlie, he's going to help and he's going to stir up trouble.

Another great story featuring one of my favorite characters. He's the knock them all down, then sort them out type of hero but always manages to bring justice where it's needed. Yes, this is #18, but it's really out of sequence so it reads as a stand alone but be prepared....once you meet Charlie Parker, you will join him on his quest for personal revenge and justice.

Nope, nothing to see here... nothing at all.... uhhh.... move along.”

Shortest Summary Ever: Charlie Parker has a score to settle in 1999. His wife and daughter murdered, he finds himself in Cargill, Arkansas, a veritable “armpit “ of America. Black girls are dying in horrifying ways while some prefer to sweep them away and preserve the town’s image, thus cementing the acquisition of a new corporation with promises of wealth for all. Parker is reluctantly pulled in to help a local officer - while most don’t want him there and will go to great lengths to keep Parker, and the town secrets, hush-hush.

Thoughts: I didn’t realize Arkansas was considered “the South” 😂. I know that might seem ignorantly simple, but I grew up in Michigan and now reside in the Carolinas (definitely south). I think of Texas as the South and Alabama and Mississippi - KY, TN... the Virginias. So here’s Arkansas and I go “hmmmm”, because let me fess up - the Netflix show Ozark and Bill Clinton are about all I know of the state. Wait unless that’s Missouri... see what I mean? But here’s where it gets familiar - the longer I’ve lived in the South the more I’ve been introduced to the “good ol’ boy” culture from this novel - in schools, industries and yep - police departments. I was instantly into drawn this narrative - the corruption and underhandedness of the law enforcement? Resonates. If you’ve never lived in an area like this, well, it’s an experience. Welcome to the dirty south.

This is my first Charlie Parker series book read and I had no trouble dropping by 18 books in, though I usually avoid plucking random series books off the tree, but the plot sounded too good and the title? Sold! I enjoyed the complicated character of Charlie Parker - a seemingly ruined man with a single-minded mission: find the sadistic killer of his wife and daughter. He’s sarcastic (a trait Southerners I’ve met do NOT appreciate), and focused - tormented and determined all at once. His story simply beckons the reader.

The plot is a bit of jazz... it’s fast and frantic turning slow and mellow. I enjoyed the tune but at times lost a little interest. But Charlie kept me coming back. And I’ll be back for another book or two.

All my reviews available at scrappymags.com around time of publication.

Genre: Mystery/Police Who-done-it

Recommend to: Reminds me a bit of Jack Reacher, those in the mood for a solid police mystery.

Not recommended to: if you need quick and done. This book has a few slow spots. Needs time to breathe.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me mentally cross off Arkansas on my “places to visit.” (Kidding!)

Taking Charlie Parker back to the beginning in the eighteenth book of the series, might seem strange, but it was quite satisfying to know how Parker got involved in helping people solve crimes. If this is your first Charlie Parker book, you will be looking for more. Charlie’s motive for coming to Arkansas might have been revenge, but it is common decency that kept him there. He went to the small backwater town of Cargill looking for similarities between the vicious murder of his wife and daughter and women who were killed in the Cargill area. Of course, there is a whole nest of intrigue and red herrings in the book, but Charlie eventually finds the murderer in a satisfying conclusion. One of the things I liked most about the book was the inclusion of intelligent, well-spoken characters. Yep, there was the nefarious wealthy southern family with their roots in a slave-owning plantation, but Connelly focuses on the present and future of this area not the past.

I normally do not like to read books out of order but I read the Dirty South without reading any of the other Charlie Parker books. I do feel that I want to go back and read the other books now. The murder of Parker’s wife and daughter ended his career as an NYPD detective, but his loved ones' ghosts still haunt him. Parker’s hunt for his family’s killer takes him to impoverished Burdon County, Arkansas where someone has been murdering teenage girls. The person could be the same person he is searching for. One victim, Patricia Hartley, was ruled to have died accidentally, despite the placement of branches in her vagina and throat. Parker is asked to help find the killer because the town has a huge deal in the works to save it from total ruin. The town's richest family stands to get only richer from the deal and are covering up the murders to keep the deal in place. I loved the book and know that I will definitely be reading more John Connolly.

I have been looking forward to this book for what feels like forever! The state of things pushed back the US publication date significantly and now after finishing this semi-prequel (I think I would still read Every Dead Thing first), all I want to do is re-read the other seventeen books in the series!

As for this installment, it's an entirely satisfying read - and a great addition to the series, as it is pleasant to revisit a younger Charlie Parker who knows less about the state of his honeycomb world, but even in the depths of his grief still acts for truth and resolving the mysteries the dead leave in their wake. And it was nice to see some series regulars that I didn't expect to see at all! And as usual, the writing is truly stellar. Because of the timeline, this one has fewer supernatural elements and reads more like a straightforward genre mystery/thriller the way the earlier books do. And while this may sound on the surface that this makes this a simpler read, it is still complexly plotted - with plenty of victims, both new and old in this small Arkansas town. Connolly fully develops this ruin of a town that hovers on the precise of a greater fortune. The greed, old ties and attitudes of what feels like the entire town are revealed without ever once being dull, slowing down the pace or feeling like an info-dump. Connolly manages to succinctly create characters that leap, fully formed off the page. It's downright impressive and the book is another reminder as to why he truly is my favorite author. Not to mention those moments of unexpected humor! I don't think that many would expect such a dark series to have so many funny moments, Ines and dialogue - along with inside jokes to the reader, but this series certainly does have that! I laughed, even shared a few lines out loud with my husband, and am once again left in the agonies of waiting for the next new book!

I am a huge John Connolly fan! His writing is some of the most lyrical and atmospheric you will find in the crime fiction realm – not surprising given that Connolly is a huge fan of James Lee Burke (the master of that style.) Some readers take issue with the supernatural elements that weave their way into the Charlie Parker novels, but I believe that is what makes them both so unique and always satisfying. That said, here John Connolly is taking readers back to Charlie Parker’s early days, just after the tragedy that would shape his life, and long before his connection to the “spirit world.” A perfect place for new readers to see what all the buzz is about.

Definitely not my favourite Charlie Parker book. Too many characters and too many sophisticated words for a book portraying murder, abuse, drugs , deviance and the torture of young black girls. The book had some humorous lines but for the most was a dark and troubling read. The middle of the book was repetitive with the author outlying who was who and how they were connected to the gloomy town of Cargill. The ending was decent but I was glad to be done with this book.

At first, I thought The Dirty South was going to be one of those books I needed to slow down and sip like fine brandy while the ghosts of Shakespeare, Raymond Chandler, and yes, even Agatha Christie, chilled my back. I was wrong. Yes, one can make a case that those authors' influence can be felt in these pages, but only because excellent writing is timeless, a solid plot will out, and a great mystery always follows the rules.

The Dirty South is all John Connolly. It is a fast-paced ride through a violent small southern town in 1997 where three women have been found dead in what appears to be identical ritualistic murders.

The revelation of so many deaths is not in the best interests at the current time, financially, for most of the pockets in Burdon county, including the wealthy Cade family. Certain wealthy investors are about to decide whether to put their money into Burdon County or to take it somewhere else. The County Sheriff is of those Cades, and the local chief of Police is not.

Meanwhile, Charlie Parker was drifting like a ghost from rumor to rumor, looking for the man who had murdered his wife and daughter. The symbolic nature of the three women’s murders brought Parker into town. A stranger, unwilling to answer questions, he ended up in the local jail.

Suddenly, wow, there came a place where it seemed as if the pages were greased, and I was on the slide. Make sure you've cleared your decks first; if you're like me, you won't be able to stop reading when you reach that point. John Connolly knows how to lead you down a gentle garden path only to throw you on a twisty rollercoaster to an exciting end.

There was at least one tease that rippled through the book, an unanswered question like a short tantalizing refrain. Since it didn’t pertain specifically to the mystery in this book, I didn’t mind it being left open, but I'll go to the rest of John Connolly's books in a search to find the answer. And I understand, even then, my quest may be in vain. And that will be okay with me.

Recommended!

Available November 3, 2020. The publisher provided my ARC via #NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

I haven't read any of the books in the Charlie Parker series, and I didn't realize this was a prequel until after I finished the book. I liked the Parker character and felt sad for him due to the horrible murder of his wife. The first part of the book was slow and I had trouble adjusting to the writing style and getting into the story, but the plot picked up later and it became more interesting to me. I think at this point I will maybe try the first book in the series sometime soon because I know from reading reviews from others that many people like this series and follow this character's advemtures closely.

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Wow, this book was amazing.

I think it was a great idea for John Connolly to go back and write a prequel. I was extremely interested when I heard that he was exploring Charlie Parker before the first book in the series. This book was loaded with excitement, mystery, and intrigue. Connolly's Shakespearean prose always knocks me off of my feet. He can weave a sentence together like no one else. The Charlie Parker books are always fantastic, and this one was no exception.

5 STARS: This is the 18th book in the Charlie Parker series and, in my humble opinion, perhaps John Connolly’s best. It reads well as a stand alone as it goes back to before the series really started.
Connolly, is one of the best writers out there. He can turn a phrase like few others and I constantly find myself rereading parts just to reenjoy the moment. The characters that he creates both good and bad are interesting and his take on the south is pretty damn good for an Irish lad. I will be anxiously waiting to read his next effort as the man can tell a story.
The murder of Parker’s wife and daughter ended his career as an NYPD detective, but the ghosts of his loved ones still literally haunt him, and the tragedy may have turned him into a vigilante who beat a child predator to death. Parker’s hunt for his family’s killer takes him to impoverished Burdon County, Ark., where someone, possibly the same person he’s seeking, has been murdering teenage girls. One possible victim, Patricia Hartley, was ruled to have died accidentally, despite the placement of branches in her vagina and throat. During a chance encounter in a Cargill, Ark., bar between Parker and Evander Griffin, the town’s police chief, the conversation turns hostile after they get on the topic of Hartley’s death. Parker later learns that Griffin wants the murders hushed up to avoid losing a lucrative business opportunity for the county.

A small southern community with dark secrets turns a blind eye to a hideous crime. They are rewarded by a second, equally hideous crime. The locals, police included, are at odds over how things should be handled. An investigation could jeopardize big business interests that are poised to revitalize the impoverished area. Enter Charlie Parker, an enigmatic stranger with a sad kind of rage. An outsider, free from familial obligations, beholden to know one. He's either exactly what they need or their worst possible choice.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's a stand alone prequel to the Charlie Parker series. I've read a few of the books in the series spaced out over the years but it's been so long ago that I don't have any distinct memory of them. There are some goodies dropped in the plot that seem a little vague, like they would probably mean more to long time fans of the series, but didn't affect my being able to follow the plot at all.

I thought the author did a great job of avoiding most of the cliches associated with this kind of a storyline. The locals aren't idiots, they are fully developed characters. The dialogue is sometimes overly mannered in an almost poetic fashion yet still manages to be relatable and authentic, I was very impressed with that. Lots of plot twists and suspense. I thought the last quarter or so of the book was a little rushed but it may be that the first half of the book was so strong that any ending would have felt somewhat anticlimactic.

Contains violence, strong language, adult situations, references to drug use.

***I received a free digital copy of this title from NetGalley.