"Ozark Dogs" by Eli Cranor - Book Review

Anticipated release date: April 4th, 2023!

Eli Cranor's Ozark Dogs is a thrilling read about family, town politics, and Southern justice. Personally, I found it enticing, enriching, and engrossing to read. The short chapters are all packed full of action, information, and engaging storylines. Cranor is also the author of Don't Know Tough, which was given an award for the Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel Contest.

*Review starts here: I'll try not to give too many spoilers so that future readers can enjoy the novel's mystique on their own when it releases, but it's a great read, which makes it hard not to overshare.*

With a 4.00+ rating on Goodreads, Ozark Dogs is the story of:

"Two interlocked families grapple with the painful legacy of a small-town Arkansas murder in this Southern thriller, inspired by a chilling true story. After his son is convicted of capital murder, Vietnam War veteran Jeremiah Fitzjurls takes over the care of his granddaughter, Joanna, raising her with as much warmth as can be found in a junkyard outfitted to be an armory. He teaches her how to shoot and fight, but there is not enough training in the world to protect her when the dreaded Ledfords, notorious meth dealers and fanatical white supremacists, come to collect on Joanna as payment for a long-overdue blood debt. Headed by rancorous patriarch Bunn and smooth-talking, erudite Evail, the Ledfords have never forgotten what the Fitzjurls family did to them, and they will not be satisfied until they have taken an eye for an eye. As they seek revenge, and as Jeremiah desperately searches for his granddaughter, their narratives collide and intersect to provide a personal, gripping look into the reality of life in the Ozark Mountains."

Readers will find themselves caught between believing the Fitzjurls and the Ledfords as the mysterious hatred between the two families is slowly brought into the light. As the story progresses, Jeremiah, Joanna, and the rest of the townspeople will become beloved by all readers, leading to multiple rereads. I've already read it twice, trying to see if I could figure out what pieces I had missed the first time around. Each character adds a little more information to the story, giving readers a glimpse into all sides of the feud. Whether you're learning from a Fitzjurl, a Ledford, or a side character, readers will see that the whole town has been affected by this one night's crime, even years into the future. While ultimately a story of two families' mysterious pasts, Ozark Dogs is also a historical fiction read.

Cranor drew from a real-life murder in his Arkansas hometown for his story about family and how far some will go to protect it, honor it, or even destroy it. Novels based on true stories always fascinate me, so when I saw that Ozark Dogs is based on a family feud in a small town, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Cranor's writing is precise and no-frills and captures the strenuous tensions of small-town America. The novel is marketed as a crime mystery, but it isn't the normal whodunit of most mystery novels. Readers know the basics of the crime from the very beginning. Instead, the story focuses on the aftermath of the crime, from how two families can be completely torn apart to how death can tear an entire community apart. It seems like a tale we've all heard before (Romeo & Juliet, The Hatfields & the McCoys, etc.), but Cranor weaves such a web of familial deceit, hidden town secrets, and festering hatred that Ozark Dogs stands as a feud all its own.