Fans of suspenseful, action-packed detective procedurals with a dark streak will enjoy this story full of vivid characters and highly disturbing criminal activity all set to the backdrop of an unassuming small town from Mattson (Interception City). Newly hired Police Chief Derek Raiford, a Detroit transplant, finds that everyone is a suspect in a small town in Alabama when the body of the Executive Director of the local Junior Drum & Bugle Corps is found by four teenagers in the local park. Facing animosity from the previous police chief and his left behind officers, Raiford’s only ally on the force is Johnny Boy Hart, a “jailbird” everyone says he shouldn't have hired. As the two pair up to solve the murder of Lloyd Baylor, the town's history of sex scandals gets exposed, as one of the prime suspects is Baylor's 16-year-old widow, Becky Baylor.

Mattson's characters, all described through the lens of the protagonist's outsider gaze, are eccentric to the point that readers will either love them or hate them. While seasoned from his experience on the Detroit police force, Raiford can't catch a break in his new home base, as many exhibit disdain for his presence and a loyalty to the old police chief, Brian Wood—whose son is one of the teens who stumbled upon Baylor's beheaded body. The story’s as grim as the cover suggests, centered on underaged sex work, with most male characters labeled as child predators, such as Chester "The Molester" Worthington (one of the officers under Raiford).

Readers of procedurals with the stomach for it will find this a fast-paced, crisply written story with strong twists and a climax conclusion that shocks yet satisfies. Mattson flips the narrative on many traditional norms throughout, challenging perceptions about criminal activity in small towns. Killing Liberty is an intense crime novel that will linger in the mind.

Takeaway: An action-packed crime novel with an eccentric cast and small-town darkness.

Comparable Titles: Karen Katchur’s The Greedy Three, T.R. Ragan’s Abducted.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A