The Cheating Side

by J. Reuben Appelman

From the cheating side of Boise, where locals hide their dirtiest secrets, empty-nesting private investigator Jimmy Chinden is tracking a stolen 1961 Impala when he follows a column of smoke into the sagebrush to discover the vehicle – on fire, and with a body in the trunk. The victim is a reviled swindler, who Jimmy suspects murdered his after bilking her out of the no-tell motel she owned. The body’s discovery awakens generational demons and sets off a chain of dark events as Jimmy’s theft case turns into a murder investigation. As more bodies drop, Jimmy enters into a dangerous world of drug cartel associates, all seem to be gunning for Jimmy as his investigation threatens a land deal worth millions and puts the safety of his family at risk. With a cast of characters evoking Elmore Leonard’s society of goons, and a connection to the landscape that is vivid, visceral, and reminiscent of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels, Appelman’s The Cheating Side provides a genre-pushing, socially relevant reinvigoration of the American crime novel protagonist, with a challenge to pervasive masculinity tropes and a biting, no-holds-barred attack on the bigotries of the American West.

Genres: Fiction

246 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 6, 2026

About the author

J. Reuben Appelman has published across genres. He executive produced Children of the Snow, the Hulu-streamed docuseries based on his research for his true-crime memoir, The Kill Jar, about the Oakland County Child Killings. The Kill Jar was named among the best true-crime books of the year by the New York Times Book Review, Elle, Oxygen, Bustle, Crime Reads, and others. His most recent work, While Idaho Slept, is due for release by HarperCollins on October 3, 2023. Kirkus Reviews on While Idaho Slept: "Riveting reenactments, intimate human-interest profiles, and urgent prose combine to create a tale of horrific butchery and a must-have exposé for readers following the still-ongoing developments...A chilling, balanced, meticulously reported true crime story."