A review by dr_dr_olshakes
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What an egregious example of telling, not showing. Every characters' motivations are simply told to us by Titus' presumably omniscient and always correct estimation. We are simply informed by Titus about everyone's interiority and he is always correct. No matter who it is, Titus knows it all. And, not only is he always correct, but he always knows better. He can quote the Bible better, knows literature better, knows the law better, threats better, punches better, preaches better, acts better. It's exhausting being in his head, especially when he both says he hates men who flaunt their position in the law and then turns around and does it himself. Though, of course, when he does it, it's for better reasons. It's fitting he ends up

becoming a professor because he sure can lecture.

The mystery was good but I didn't find the hunt particularly compelling. It feels like if Titus hadn't

randomly stumbled by that woman on her porch

that he couldn't have solved it. A lot of happenstance led to a killer that, of course, Titus could easily inform of us all of their motivation and traumas perfectly. Whatever.