A Killing at Cotton Hill: A Samuel Craddock Mystery: 1 (Samuel Craddock Mysteries) - Softcover

WINNER! Macavity Award for Best First Mystery

FINALIST: Strand Magazine Critics Awards, Best First Novel

FINALIST: Left Coast Crime Award for Best Novel

"There may be no protagonist in our genre today as decently compelling as Samuel Craddock. And there may be no better chronicler of the character and complexity of small-town America than Terry Shames."
--WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER, author of the Cork O'Connor Mystery Series

"I love Samuel Craddock, I love this town, and I love this series of books."
--TIMOTHY HALLINAN, author of the Junior Bender mysteries

"Small towns in mysteries can be too cute or too weird to be true, but Jarrett Creek is the real deal and Samuel Craddock is the jewel in its crown. Flawed, complex, decent, and captivating--spending time in this town with the Chief is a delight."
--CATRIONA McPHERSON, author of Quiet Neighbors

"A Killing at Cotton Hill is the real thing. It has humor, insight, and fine characters. Former chief of police Samuel Craddock is a man readers are going to love, and they'll want to visit him and Jarrett Creek often."
--Bill Crider, author of the Dan Rhodes Mysteries

"An amazing read. The poetic, literary quality of the writing draws you into a small town and its interesting, secret-carrying residents."
--RT Book Reviews

"A Killing at Cotton Hill enchants with memorable characters. . . . A splendid debut by a gifted writer who knows the human heart."
--Carolyn Hart, author of Escape from Paris

"Shames has come up with a sleuth for the long haul.... [Craddock] wins our respect as a guy who stitches together the answers to forensic puzzles with logic and confidence. From page one of the novel, he also claims our affection as a decent kind of guy, the sort we can confidently expect not to disappoint us in future Craddock adventures from Terry Shames's lively imagination."
--Toronto Star

"Shames delivers a mystery in the traditional mode, but Craddock is a strong enough character to keep readers coming back for more."
--San Jose Mercury News

"Not just another retired lawman, Samuel Craddock is wizened but not hardened, rusty but still plenty sharp. . . . Samuel anchors a compelling cast of characters that imbues A Killing at Cotton Hill with style, heart, and a generous helping of rural sensibility."
--Sophie Littlefield, bestselling, award-winning author of Garden of Stones

"Craddock is a man you want to have covering your back, and Shames's small Texas town is so real you can taste the dirt. Beautifully written."
--Susan C. Shea, author of Murder in the Abstract, a Dani O'Rourke mystery

In this award-winning debut mystery novel, the chief of police of a small town is also an unreliable drunk. So when Dora Lee Parjeter is murdered, her old friend and former police chief Samuel Craddock steps in to investigate. He discovers that a lot of people may have had it in for Dora Lee—the conniving rascals on the farm next door, her estranged daughter, and her live-in grandson. And then there’s that stranger Dora Lee claimed was spying on her. As Craddock digs to find the identity of the killer, the human foibles of Jarrett Creek's residents—their pettiness and generosity, their secret vices and true virtues—are also revealed.