Deep River Blues

A young girl's body turns up in the French Broad River, and Cord McRae, recently elected sheriff of Acre County, Tennessee, begins to wonder whether it ties to Glad Earth Farm, a commune on the edge of Falston. Its leader, Levon Gladson, has gathered about 125 followers on an old farm against the Smoky Mountains, and Cord suspects they are raising something far more lucrative than sorghum cane in the hills.

Cord's inquiry soon widens. He is also looking into a recent killing of an Afghanistan veteran, while a regional criminal network run by the cunning Thorn Reevers grows stronger. At home, his marriage is coming apart under the weight of past violence and his unsteady relationship with alcohol.

The novel is a regional crime thriller set in the Appalachian South and follows one lawman tangled in several cases at once.