Sometimes when reading a crime novel, all the initial plot setting, character analysis, exposition, etc. can feel a bit laboured, and you ask yourself if you want to continue. Then you hit the sweet spot and something clicks and the next thing you know you’re on page 150. The sweet spot in King of Ashes is about page 5.

Roman Carruthers is the oldest son of a family that runs a crematorium in Jefferson’s Run, Virginia. He is summoned home from his high-flying life in Los Angeles to help his siblings look after their father, who has been run off the road in a suspicious accident. Once home, Roman discovers that his baby brother Dante is in debt to local gangsters. He meets with them to pay off the debt and offer his financial services, but quickly becomes aware that he is way out of his depth, as his capacity to organise tax structures is no match for their brutality and violence.

Neveah has been helping their father run the crematorium, but is overwhelmed by the task now that she must manage alone while their father is in a coma. Dante is a mess and a hindrance to any solution, and Roman discovers the beautiful young woman he is interested in is the sister of the gangsters that he is trying to extricate his family from.

S.A. Cosby is one of the leading young crime writers in the USA and has worked as a mortician’s assistant, so all the background details in this story feel authentic. But the main thing that sets this book apart from less ambitious novels is the Old Testament feeling to the prose. Violent and poetic, this is a standout book about the lengths to which a person may go to protect their loved ones.