--- description: Find out why "All the Sinners Bleed" by S.A. Cosby is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'All the Sinners Bleed' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3cc3b29d11d66f1/698a41ff4ee2626eed31be98/AllTheSinnersBleed.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  The fourth novel by [acclaimed crime writer S.A. Cosby](https://time.com/collection/best-mystery-thriller-books/ "undefined") opens with a pair of all-too-familiar tragedies: a school shooting and the subsequent death of a young Black man at the hands of local cops. But from there, this Southern gothic thriller heads in an entirely unexpected direction, as the initial burst of violence gives way to an investigation into a masked cabal caught on video torturing and killing Black teenagers. It’s a grim premise, but Cosby filters it through the humanizing perspective of the first Black sheriff in the small Virginia town where the murders take place—a brave, smart, and tenacious hero with regrets in his past, a big question mark in his future, and a burning need for redemption in the present. _All the Sinners Bleed_ is the rare detective story that’s well aware of how racist policing muddies the morality of cop protagonists, and is a book that will leave you breathlessly turning pages until its final showdown. —_Judy Berman_ **Buy Now**: _All the Sinners Bleed_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781250831910 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3MzL2z0 "undefined") --- **Looking for more book recommendations? Sign up for** [**_Worth Your Time_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=worth-your-time "undefined") All the Sinners Bleed: 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/"},"headline":"All the Sinners Bleed","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:01.580Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3cc3b29d11d66f1/698a41ff4ee2626eed31be98/AllTheSinnersBleed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3cc3b29d11d66f1/698a41ff4ee2626eed31be98/AllTheSinnersBleed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/","name":"All the Sinners Bleed"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6331303/all-the-sinners-bleed/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```