Earl Marcus Mystery Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Heaven’s Crooked Finger | 2017 | Buy |
| In the Valley of the Devil | 2018 | Buy |
| Echoes of the Fall | 2019 | Buy |
Hank Early is the pen name of John Mantooth, a middle school teacher and writer living in Alabama. Under his real name, Mantooth published horror fiction, including the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel The Year of the Storm. When he turned to crime fiction, his publisher suggested a pen name, and Hank Early became the face of his Earl Marcus Mystery series.
The Earl Marcus books are set in the fictional mountains of North Georgia, where religion, poverty, and old grudges create a volatile mix. Mantooth holds an M.A. in creative writing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and his background in horror fiction gives the Early novels a darker edge than most traditional mysteries. Heaven’s Crooked Finger won a Next Generation Indie Book Award and was a Foreword Indies Award finalist. Readers who enjoy Daniel Woodrell or James Lee Burke will find a similar appreciation for place and atmosphere in these books.