The Innocents is the sixth novel in the Quinn Colson series from Pulitzer-Prize nominated investigative journalist Ace Atkins.

After returning from the Army, Ex-Tibbehah County Mississippi Sheriff Quinn Colson must team up with acting sheriff Lillie Virgil to investigate the murder of a former cheerleader. All the while, Colson must reconnect with his retired stuntman father who has dreams of opening a dude ranch on Colson’s property. The villains are sleazy, the dialogue is pulpy, the countryside setting is gorgeous, and despite the grim plot, reading about Colson and Sheriff Virgil tracking down the criminals is pretty thrilling.

Being a former investigative journalist, and a former college football player in the SEC, you can tell Ace Atkins knows the locales, and writes from his experience working on feature-length series about old forgotten murder cases for the Tampa Tribune.

If you like thrilling crime fiction with a southern setting then you should definitely check out the Innocents.