This was such a fun whodunit with plenty of quirky characters. I love that.
Many thanks to Brash Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

MEMPHIS RIBS - Gerald Duff

Hard-boiled - 3 stars

#1 in the Ragsdale and Walker mystery series

Plot - 3 stars - Two Memphis detectives are investigating several cases, but they all seem to be connected.

Writing - 2.5 stars - This seemed like an overly complicated plot that had a lot of moving pieces. However, although it was somewhat convoluted, it was fairly easy to follow once I got all of the characters straightened out in my mind. I liked the connection of the character of Ragsdale throughout the book and enjoyed following how his mind worked.

Characters - 3.5 stars - Ragsdale is a calm and confident detective in his professional life, but he's pretty messed up in his personal life. He has lost his family's farm to foreclosure and he tends to pick up undesirable women in honkytonks. But he's quietly relentless in his pursuit of the bad guys, using his good old boy persona. Walker, his partner, is a black former football player who is his perfect foil. I enjoyed the camaraderie between them and the dry wit they both exhibited. The main characters were my favorite part of the book.

Title - 3 stars - Well, the book is set in Memphis, and one of the characters owned a rib joint, so I guess it fits.

Cover - 2 stars - The skull and weapon and food certainly tell the whole story, but it's gross and not appealing at all.

Overall - 3 stars - Although not my favorite detective book, I did find the characters to be quite enjoyable and the book a fairly quick and easy read. The main detectives are my favorite part of this book. Ragsdale and Walker have a nice camaraderie, with easy going demeaners even while they are determinedly pursuing the bad guys. I enjoyed reading the Southern jargon once I got the hang of it and felt that it really set the scene.

Not being American I found the dialect of the story off putting and the intense descriptions of Memphis entirely unnecessary. The storyline was very predictable.

This book was a bit of a slow start for me, but the characters were intriguing, so I kept reading. I am so very glad I did! The story was unique and the mystery elements kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I will be using this title for my adult reading groups and recommending it to mystery lovers.