Very noirish - if you like the hard-boiled smart talking detective novel, you'll like this. If you're from southern Illinois, you might not like the characterizations of some denizens, but if you're like me - a damn Yankee who lived there a piece - you can get past it. It's very comparable to the Hard Case books from Dan Simmons - very homogenous, very easy to read, well paced, and very enjoyable

One big issue someone else mentioned that I also saw - everyone sounds the same. All the characters are hard-boiled smart-alecking people, even the protagonist's tween daughter. I can forgive this for two reasons. First, this isn't high literature - it's a romp. It's a mystery-thriller meant to be enjoyable, not analyzed for character development and deep thematic content. Second, the point of view is 1st person limited- the protagonist is telling the story, so it kinda makes sense that everyone sounds the same.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this universe. As a former resident of the area, this is only the second time I've seen any entertainment set there (the movie "Poor White Trash" was also set in southern Illinois). And as a fan of noir detective stories, how can I resist?