Created by Tom Bredehoft
Nope, “BIG JIM” FOOTE is the genre’s first Sasquatch Shamus, a fact not immediately recognized by the good citizens of Morgantown, West Virginia. They simply don’t suspect that the friendly local P.I with the rather large feet is “one of them,” living among them in plain sight, working his butt off to keep his kinfolk in the surrounding hills from discovery.
He shaves a lot.
And then a couple of homicides occur, and Jim finds himself a person of interest in both of them. To clear his name, and to prevent his clandestine clan from being outted—he has to solve both murders in the unapologetically folksy Shamus-nominated (for Best First P.I. Novel) Foote (2022), a kick-ass debut that doesn’t seem to know if it’s parody, fantasy, detective fiction or some cheeseball, noirish mixture of all three, laced with enough mountain lore, backwoods culture, opioids and moonshine to make one homesick for the hills.
A goofy premise? You bet! But it’s played out against such a well-rendered and affectionate Appalachian setting, crammed full of credible friends and foes in both of Jim’s worlds, and featuring such pure, direct vision that the author pulls it off—and of course the fact that the story moves so quickly, before any sense of disbelief can take root certainly helps.
UNDER OATH
- “Part mystery, part fable but all original, Jim Foote is sure to be one of your favorite literary detectives—cryptid or otherwise.”
— Jordan Farmer - “Family, folklore, and mountain folk culture all play starring roles in this cryptozoological conundrum that delights and entertains at every twist of the trail.”
— Southern Review of Books - “A pleasure to read. . . . The West Virginia otherworld Bredehoft patiently builds in this compact, 224-page whodunit is a delightfully odd noir mélange.”
— West Virginia Humanities Council Broad Side
NOVELS
- Foote (2022) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
