All the Sinners Bleed 

By S.A. Cosby

Published June 6, 2023

352 pages

This is S.A. Cosby’s 6th novel – and I think just about every one of them was a bestseller and/or won some sort of award. It was The Mules’ (our book club) recommendation for December.

The Plot 

All the Sinners Bleed is both a serial killer mystery and a layered story about a Black sheriff in the South dealing with hatred from White supremacists and distrust from Black people who have been harmed by police violence in the past.

What I Liked About It 

As a crime thriller, it works. The plot is intriguing. The pace is fast. And the hero must deal with all sorts of personal challenges that could distract him from completing his very important job. In these respects, S.A. Cosby is a master of the craft.

What I Didn’t Like 

As a serious examination of racism in the South today, it fails. Completely.

The plot points and characters are almost entirely clichés. The town where it takes place, for example, is depicted as stereotypically good-old-boy, fat-bellied, and bubbling with barely repressed racism. Every White character is either “unconsciously” bigoted or downright evil. Every Black person is either fundamentally good or outright angelic. (With one exception that is so obviously shoved into the plot you can almost hear the editor recommending it.)

To the author’s credit, the main character is complex, as protagonists of crime stories should be. He is good. But he has an original sin. That worked for me, until I found out what the sin was. Racial justice warriors will read it as an act of virtue.

And then there’s the hero’s superhuman abilities. He is a polymath, a literal polymath, with expertise in every subject he encounters. In a single paragraph, he can quote the Bible (chapter and verse), cite passages from Macbeth and King Lear, explain the roots of jazz or the square root of any number, and in his leisure time, ruminate over Plato or Locke.

Critical Reception 

All the Sinners Bleed was generally well received by critics. A few examples:

* “Riveting…. What elevates this book is how Cosby weaves politically charged salient issues – race, religion, policing – through the prism of a serial murder investigation.” (Washington Post)

* “Dark, wildly entertaining…. All the Sinners Bleed is rough, smart, gritty, intricate, and Southern to the core.” (NPR)

* “Cosby vaults his own high bar…. His most deeply resonant, timely, and timeless novel to date.” (Los Angeles Times)