
The Flood (Blackwater 1) by Michael McDowell

When a deluge floods a small Alabama town, it leaves something more than river mud behind.....something unexpected.
And so begins the saga of the Caskey family, in an atmospheric tale of pure, unfiltered Southern Gothic; smooth as moonshine and slicker than red river mud.
McDowell blends small town life in the Old South with an engaging mystery, scathing social commentary that almost becomes a comedy of manners if it didn't ring so true, and a hint of the supernatural, which trickles through this tale like a rivulet of cold sweat between your shoulder blades.
It simply doesn't get much better than this.