Greg Iles — American Novelist born on December 30, 1960,

Greg Iles is a novelist who lives in Mississippi. He has published fourteen novels and one novella, spanning a variety of genres... (wikipedia)

My ancestors fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War; I was raised in Natchez, Miss.; I performed in the Confederate Pageant for a decade; I dug ditches and loaded trucks with black men who taught me more than any book ever could; and I graduated from Ole Miss. Anyone who survived that is a de facto expert on the South.
Like my best friend, I asked for drums for Christmas, and got them. But when he moved on to guitar, I realized two things: (1) guitar is a much more expressive instrument, (2) way more girls pay attention to guitar players than to drummers.
The South is the home of 'an eye for an eye.' 'Turning the other cheek'? The South can't see that.
I like taking a character at the most intense moments of their lives and exploring all that in full and then moving on.
Southern Gothic is alive and well. It's not just a genre, it is a way of life.