Buried in the Backwater

Sheriff Elven Hallie #1

by Drew Strickland

A lifeless girl slips into the river, cold and crumpled. Her body washes away with the rain.

Her killer remains a mystery.

Sheriff Elven Hallie has been longing for a new case that would add some excitement to his small-town life.

But a dead girl wasn’t what he expected.

On the last murder case he worked, he was just a deputy with an experienced Sheriff to guide him and they were looking for an outsider.

This time, he’s in charge, and the killer is part of their community.

Short-staffed, and newly elected, Elven has an entire West Virginia county to police. With the help of his new deputy, Maddison Cook, Elven must navigate between Dupray’s rich and poor.

It’s an uphill battle the entire way.

With pressures mounting from the townspeople, county officials, and his own sense of duty, will he be able to catch the killer? Or will another body surface, pulling Elven in over his head?

If you’re a fan of C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett, Craig Johnson’s Longmire, Jeff Carson’s David Wolf and Patrick Logan’s Damien Drake, then you will be sucked into this page-turning mystery with an ending that you’ll never see coming!

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Crime, Procedural, Adult, Thriller

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 2021

About the author

Drew Strickland is an Amazon #1 bestselling author of the Sheriff Elven Hallie Mysteries along with other twisted crime and psychological thrillers.

He resides in Arizona with his wife and kids. When he’s not writing, he can be found reading, exploring new cities, spending time with his family, and of course, cuddling with his many cats (for real, cats just love him and he loves them).



Connect with Drew:



➜ WEBSITE: drewstricklandbooks.com

➜ FACEBOOK: facebook.com/drewstricklandbooks

➜ INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/drewstricklandbooks

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Drew Strickland, and Dreamscape Select for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

When I saw this series debut by Drew Strickland, I was eager to explore it. Always one who enjoys a good small-town mystery, I was curious to discover how the sheriff in a West Virginia county would handle the community and crimes that pop up. Elven Hallie runs a relaxed ship, but wants to keep everyone safe, using what few resources he has. When a young girl’s body is found tossed in the river, everyone is on guard and a killer is hiding amongst them all. Strickland dazzles in this series debut that has quite the twist at the end!

Sheriff Elven Hallie is the newly-elected authority around Dupray, West Virginia and surrounding county. He’s got a small staff, few issues, and a community that likes to keep the peace. All the same, he pines for a case to keep him occupied and to pass the time. When Maddison ‘Mads’ Cook arrives to fill the vacanct deputy position, Sheriff Hallie is leery, but finds that their interaction is such that he is willing to offer her a chance.

When the body of a young girl is discovered, Sheriff Hallie and his team jump into action. Everything points to a citizen of the community, though their identity remains unknown. While the other youths are prone to bullying, could a bunch of pre-teeens have taken things so far as to bludgeon and kill one of their own? Sheriff Hallie struggles, as the last time murder darkened the door of Dupray, he was but a deputy and had a well-established mentor to lead the way.

While the community is divided along social and economic lines, one thing unites them; they want nothing to do with helping find a killer. While a family mourns and a young girl grows cold in the morgue, Sheriff Elven Dupray will stop at nothing for answers, no matter who ends up being the guilty party. As Deputy Cook tries to ingratiate herself to her new boss, she makes quite the impact on the citizenry, showing that she is not only here to stay, but to make waves as she does so. Still, a killer lurks out there and there could be more bodies to come. A chilling opening novel in this series that has me ready to reach for the next book in the series.

Discovering new authors in genres I enjoy is always a great accomplishment. While the digital dust grows on my pile of ‘to be read’ books, I like having more options, particularly when stories have great plots and strong characters. Drew Strickland makes a play for me to add him to my list of go-to authors with this wonderful opening salvo. This narrative foundation is strong and yet simple enough not to get lost along the way. He builds up a great protagonist in Elven Hallie, offering up some backstory and leaving room for strong development. Maddison Cook provides good contrast and could keep things on pace, for as long ad she calls Dupray home. A peppering of background characters around the county provide the flavouring to give the reader a sense of the setting. Plot twists are plentiful in this piece, as Strickland builds up the suspense before tossing something out there to turn the story on its head. I am eager to see where things are headed, especially since this book ended with such a great twist.

Kudos, Mr. Strickland, for making a great impact on me with this novel. I will be back to continue the series, for sure!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

Be sure to check for my review, first posted on Mystery and Suspense, as well as a number of other insightful comments by other reviewers.
https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/bu...

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like the ending really.

There's a great twist at the end of this story but it really bummed me out. I am not sure I want to read on. It was a good book. A little girl is killed and the,search for the killer is on. You meet everyone in the town it seems but they all have secrets. A new deputy is hired and the case is on. Then there is another murder and they think there's A connection. Pretty good but the ending made me disappointed and I can't explain way!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, and the mystery. The small town haves and have nots warring against each other with a congenial Sheriff bridging the gap was enjoyable. The twist at the end was shocking. I never suspected. Poor Elven is in for some trouble in the next book I imagine. And I will definitely be reading that one too.

[Tahera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book quite disturbing and disliked most of the characters. The comparison between the rich and the poor population of Dupray is stark which serves to underline the corruption and unfairness present in the small community. Even Elven Hallie, who belongs to the rich class but decides to serve the county as a sheriff, comes across as insincere at times. The revelation of the killer and the twist at the end further highlighted the fact that the rich and corrupt always get away with everything.

I received an ALC by the author Drew Strickland and the publisher Dreamscape Select via NetGalley. The narration was done by Madison Niederhauser. This series already has around 6-7 books published in print form.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrated by Madison Niederhauser ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Madison Niederhauser has a beautiful soothing voice.

Buried in the Backwater by Drew Strickland
⭐⭐⭐
*I really like the MC. He's not your most original character (rich boy turns away from his family wealthy and takes a blue collar job)
*the author did a great job depicting the small town and the side characters
*the overall story was interesting enough to hold my attention.
*However in saying all that there was something missing from the overall story that made it stand out from the 100 of other books like this.

[Jo Ann Ussery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not believe how many times the author had Sheriff Elven talk or think about how good looking he thought himself to be! Really? No character developement, nothing to make me want to read anything more by this author. Don't waste your time.

[Claire Heriford · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was slow and needed a bit of editing. Also too much foul language. It just didn’t keep me interest enough to read the next ones.

[Stef McCulloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started reading this a while back and put it aside. Picked it back up and I’m glad I did. Loved the last minute plot twist. Looking forward to reading the next in this series.

[Linda Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tangled web of a story!

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elvie Hallie has several strikes against him in the small mining town of Dupray, West Virginia that he has always called home. His family is rich, perhaps the richest in the state, and the owners of several coal mines which employed most of the local residents recently but recently shut down after anti-environmentalists got more active and production dropped as easily reachable seams of coal ore dwindled. As an ex-deputy in the city and county, Elven Hallie still has little law enforcement experience. As the newly elected sheriff of his slowly dying town and county, he is facing his first major case. Unfortunately, this will be only the first murder he will have to solve on his own. He isn't sure he is up to the task. That is a thought shared by the locals and county officials. It almost couldn't be worse, the victim is a young girl, the daughter of a wealthy local mover and shaker couple, and the culprit is almost certainly local. Jumping in at the deep end, this time. He can count on Madison, but not really anyone else, since the old sheriff left. And he can count on Madison, the new deputy. After Elvin, she's the second most attractive person in town. Can two such pretty people actually solve crimes? Only time will tell. Madison is a recent transplant from a small town in Arizona, who doesn't know the people, the mores, the traditions of this tiny mountain town that grew up alongside the now-defunct coal mines.
Reviewed on January 27, 2022, at Goodreads and AmazonSmile. Not available for review on B&N, BookBub, Kobo, or GooglePlay.
REREAD, November 21, 2025 -November 23, 2025. Hitting the series now that it's getting too big to handle! Reviewed on November 23, 2025, at Goodreads, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, and Kobo. Not available at BookBub.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on this one. I love the murder mystery since I had no idea whodunit, but there are so many problems I had with this book.

I think I liked the MC Sheriff Elven, but he is kind of a moron sheriff. There were so many errors within the police procedures that started to drive me crazy. I understand this is a work of fiction, but come on. If a deputy shoots someone, they don’t just walk away with their gun.

Then it drives me crazy when the secondary MC is a dumb female. It gets on my nerves when females look completely inferior.

I had no idea who the murderer was, but I knew right away what the “big twist” was going to be. It made the annoying elements less frustrating once the twist came to light, but it made me more bothered by Sheriff Elven for not seeing it coming.

Trigger warning: this book goes into pretty rough parent emotions on their child’s murder. It lasts longer than it needed to.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written book. May not be bad if you don't read a lot of mystery and crime novels...but I do. Mr. Strickland seems not to have a grap of West Virginia, small towns, small town police, sheriffs departments, country living and politics, police procedure, polich handling of evidence, and police handling of firearms. I usually don't beat up a book so bad, but this was horrible. I can give 1/2 a star on another platform and I'm going to give it 1.5 stars there only for the twist at the end that almost makes you want to read the next in the series...but no, the writing is that bad.

[Linda Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me

This book is so filled with profanity it distracts from the storyline. If the profanity was removed then book wouldn't be over 200 pages long.
I did finish it but with disgust on every page...
I certainly won't be reading any more installments.

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horny, arrogant sheriff accidents stumbles upon the murderer when he is practically told who did it.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheriff Elven Hallie knows it's going to be a bad day. Leaving his house with his girlfriend, he receives a call from the office about a break-in at the local bar. Upon entering, he finds a local drunk and said drunk's cousin, who promptly pulls a gun on him. After taking the pair into the station, he is still hoping for a quiet day when he sees a woman sitting in his office. She's there for the job that he isn't ready yet to fill (but his staff is pushing him to). After giving her the brush-off and scolding his staff, the station gets another call that seals the bad day - a child's body has washed up from the river. With his meager staff spread around, he grabs the new girl - that apparently they do need - and takes her to the scene.

After a few days of investigating and loads of pressure from the locals and the mayor, Elven closes the case. But he isn't satisfied. And it's starting to look like he may be right.

This was pretty good. Near the end, I had an inkling of what was going on, so the final twist was no surprise. But overall it was enjoyable.

[Kristin Towers · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Buried in the Backwater” is a police procedural with plain writing and the Don Bellisario brand of quasi-sarcastic, homogenous characters: a self-congratulating magical leader with an uncommon name, women whose potential is squashed by their inability to act in the moment or their stopping to make googly eyes at said leader, and a dreadfully dumb secondary cast of red herrings. There are sprinklings of interesting threats — busybodies in a small town, an understaffed police force in over their heads, the privileged wealthy — but none ever feel credible.

Neiderhauser’s reading is fine, but there is nothing for any of these characters to do or say.

Overall, cliche can be used to highlight a particular point — letting the things readers already assume fall into the background — but this was too much. It’s a watery installment in an over-filled genre; no reason for me to give Strickland any more of my time.

[Ashli Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not sure where this was going, who was good or bad, or even who the killer was - but WOW I really enjoyed this book! It popped up as a recommendation for me and I thought sure, why not! And I'm glad I did. Definitely going to read more!

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not great. I guess I could’ve given it three stars, but it seemed so pointless. The whole book seemed pointless. There was no buildup. There was no suspense. It just wasn’t good. I don’t think I even like the characters. I don’t dislike them. The whole thing makes me feel very apathetic.

[Debra Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book

[Kristen Mullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good procedural mystery

Enjoyed the two different perspectives from the male and female cops. Had a good amount of twists and turns. I liked that it was set in a very rural West Virginia setting which is different from a lot of other mysteries that take place in big cities. Only thing is I wish I had read the previous book though for more back story.

[Margie Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with the ending but the book was great otherwise I will give book 2 a chance

[Donna Mallery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the first in a series with Sheriff Hallie and it screams of good ole boy network. A little girl is found dead, and this small town where almost everyone is a crook is full of suspects! The Sheriff has his hands full, and a new, beautiful deputy is fallen into his lap (but not literally, lol)! Together they do their best to follow the clues and try to figure out why this town carries so many secrets. It’s an easy going read for a lazy afternoon.

[Sarah Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok but wouldn’t recommend. It had a good ending but for me, it was predictable and I couldn’t find myself invested in any of the characters.

[Tana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars. Just a little too sleepy for me, I got bored.

[Jessi Moen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unnecessary foul language. Storyline ok

[Amy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, on a positive note, I really did like the story line itself. I felt like it was intriguing and the ending was a total surprise. I’m not sure if the ending was just a convenient surprise, but it definitely was a surprise.
Now, for the part that I did not like.
First of all the narration had some really awkward spots, where it seemed like it was two different voices not sure if that was from editing or what was happening there. Secondly, the relationship in between the main character Sheriff Elven and the new Deputy Mads was so awkward and unrealistic. A sheriff is not going to take their new deputy out for tequila shots their second day on the job, and the new deputy is not going to speak their mind to the sheriff and tell them what to do. The sheriff kept acting like Mads was doing a great job when she was a total Putz for the most part. Another thing was the character descriptions Mads was described as someone who is very small and petite. Yet she would take down big men. Every main or supporting character does not always have to be drop dead gorgeous or 100 pounds. I think the author would’ve done better to spend more time, developing the plot and giving details for the story, rather than have the unrealistic banter in between the sheriff, and the new deputy.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book - SPOILERS

I will say I miss Carolina but Madds was definitely a dark horse.

These just keeping getting more fantastic.

I like the action and the characters remind me of people I know.

Keep them coming!

[Miriam Morrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalachia-phobic drivel

The author is a hack who doesn’t know the first real thing about small town West Virginia and apparently hasn’t the foggiest idea of police professionalism either.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actually, I was two hours from finishing this audiobook, and it’s unbelievable that this book has the high rating that it does. About halfway through, the bad language from most of the characters got really vulgar. Unlikable characters and lack of a believable plot = DNF. Life is too short!

[Jean Reynolds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected or wanted

I liked the book until the end but now I am not interested in reading any farther into this series.