The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Cosby, S.A. All the Sinners Bleed. Flatiron Books, 2023.

S.A. Cosby’s novel All the Sinners Bleed is written from the third-person point of view. Cosby utilizes the past tense throughout the narrative.

Former FBI agent Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. He lives with his father, Albert; his mother, Helen, died when he and his brother, Marquis, were children. Titus maintains a romantic relationship with a woman named Darlene, although he sometimes thinks of his ex-girlfriend, Kellie, who satisfied some of his more aggressive sexual desires. Titus often thinks of an ambiguous event that ended his time with the FBI. The event involved the death of a white supremacist named Red DeCrain.

Titus and his deputies respond to a shooting at a local high school. They learn that a young Black man named Latrell Macdonald has killed Jeff Spearman, a beloved teacher. Latrell makes several cryptic, religious statements before telling the police to search Spearman’s phone. Latrell charges the deputies, two of whom—Roger and Tom, both white men—shoot and kill Latrell.

Scott Cunningham, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors and one of Titus’ chief antagonists, berates Titus. A young, progressive pastor named Jamal Addison blames Titus for allowing police to kill another Black man. Titus places Roger and Tom on administrative leave. He eventually searches Spearman’s phone and finds numerous photographs of Spearman and another man (who wears a wolf mask) abusing, torturing, and even killing Black children and teenagers. Latrell appears in the photographs but does not directly participate in the violence.

Titus and his deputies search Spearman’s home and find more evidence of his horrific actions, as well as a painting of a garden. Titus has dinner at a local restaurant called Gilby’s, where several townsfolk—including Cole Marshall and Royce Lazare—comment on Spearman’s murder. Titus realizes that the painting depicts a willow tree on Tank Billups’ property. The police find many of Spearman and the Last Wolf’s victims buried near the tree.

Titus breaks up a conflict between Jamal’s congregants and a group of neo-Confederates led by Ricky Sours, who is planning a march at the upcoming Fall Fest. Titus meets with a medical examiner, Dr. Julie Kim, in Richmond. She shows him photographs of the victims, many of whom have religious phrases carved into their skin. She notes that numerous metal bits—including an unidentified T-shaped object—had been used to torture the children. Titus gives a press conference laying out the case to the public.

Kellie—now a true-crime podcast host—calls Titus and tells him that she plans on coming to Charon to produce an episode about the murders. Marquis, who only infrequently visits Albert and Titus, gets into a fight at a local bar. Marquis accuses Titus of attempting to fix everything in the wake of their mother’s death. He also hints that Jasper Sanderson—the drug-dealing owner of the bar—has a mole inside Titus’ department. Titus confiscates Marquis’ illegal belt, which has a knife in the buckle. An anonymous caller tells Titus that he once helped a friend construct an outbuilding, where he and this friend took several girls. Portraits of angels covered the walls of this building; this description matches the background of the photographs on Spearman’s phone. Titus believes he recognizes the caller’s voice, but the caller hangs up before offering any further information.

Titus recognizes one of the phrases carved into the skin of the Last Wolf’s victims; it had been featured on several church signs in Charon. His deputies interview leaders of each of these churches. Titus himself interviews Elias Hillington, the fiery and intolerant pastor at Holy Rock, who denies any involvement.

A local man discovers the body of Cole Marshall; Cole had been brutally maimed, and his lungs had been removed and hung around him so that he resembles an angel. His face had also been cut off. Titus realizes that the voice on the phone had been that of Cole. The police interview employees at the fish house, where both Latrell and Cole worked. They learn that Latrell was good friends with a man named Darnell Posey.

Darlene and Titus have an argument after Darlene suggests that the murders do not represent Charon. Titus, in response, argues that the murders perfectly capture Charon’s fundamentally racist spirit. Albert’s close friend, Gene, dies. Darnell drops a box off at the police station that contains Cole’s face. Darnell claims that he had been paid in cash to bring the box to the police station. He tells Titus that Latrell did some work for Jasper, and then confirms that Jasper has bribed one of Titus’ deputies. He also reveals that Spearman attempted to molest him. Later, Titus asks Trey, a detective, to investigate the bank accounts of his deputies, hoping to locate the mole.

Titus returns to Elias’ church but ends up talking to a neighbor, Griselda. She tells him that the Hillingtons once had a mysterious, mixed-race boy in their care; the Hillingtons mistreated the boy, and she suspects that Elias’ brother, Henry, sexually abused him. Henry eventually died after someone locked him in an outhouse with numerous venomous snakes. The boy—who likely committed the murder—then disappeared. Titus suspects that the boy became the Last Wolf.

Kellie arrives in Charon and interviews Titus, who remains attracted to her. The police investigate Dayane Carter, who texted Cole on the night of his death. Trey reveals to Titus that Tom is the mole for Jasper; Titus promptly fires Tom. The Last Wolf calls Titus directly and, using a voice modulator, makes a series of cryptic religious statements.

The police interview Dayane, who uses some of the same language employed by the Last Wolf. Titus suspects that the Last Wolf—who Cole thought of as a friend—asked Dayane to lure Cole out of his house on the night of his death. Dayane refuses to give any more information. Titus and Albert attend Gene’s funeral and later visit Helen’s grave. At home, Titus sees that the Last Wolf has nailed a lamb to his door. Worried for Darlene’s safety, Titus suggests that they keep some distance between one another.

A farmer finds Elias’ maimed body in a field. Scott visits Titus and tells him that he should turn the case over to the state police. As he considers, Titus receives an email from Dr. Kim suggesting that DNA evidence points to Scott’s maternal half-brother as the murderer. Scott—who is unaware he has a half-brother—warns Titus to stay away from his mother, Polly Anne.

Titus visits Polly Anne, who tells him, with apparent relief, that her husband was gay and that she had a series of affairs with Black men. After her husband’s death, she became pregnant. Her late husband’s family, however, forced her to give up the child to the Hillingtons, who named him Gabriel.

The Last Wolf calls Titus again, warning him that his “flock” (275) is not safe. Marquis joins Albert and Titus for a jovial dinner. Titus later tells Marquis about Red DeCrain: he says that, during a raid on DeCrain’s compound, DeCrain’s family (including his young sons) blew themselves up with suicide vests. Titus survived but then shot DeCrain, despite DeCrain’s pleas to be arrested. The FBI then facilitated Titus’ quiet retirement from the agency.

Kellie invites Titus to her hotel to listen to his interview. Titus arrives only to find the Last Wolf attacking Kellie and her producer. The Last Wolf murders the producer but then manages to escape. Later that night, Darlene tells Titus that she plans to leave town. She ends their relationship, in part, because Titus chose to go to Kellie’s hotel late at night.

At Fall Fest, neo-Confederates violently clash with progressive counter-demonstrators. An angry white man, Denver Carlyle, rams his truck into the peaceful protestors. Titus shoots and kills Denver. Later, he learns that Latrell’s younger brother is missing. Titus prepares to hand the case over to the state police, but suddenly realizes that the unidentified T-shaped object is a truck lock belonging to a local flag factory. Titus searches the delivery logs and finds that Royce Lazare sometimes drove Denver’s truck; Titus concludes that Royce is the Last Wolf.

Titus searches Royce’s home; Tom arrives to help Titus. They find Dayane, barely alive, strapped to a bed. Royce arrives, kills Tom, and seriously injures Titus. Titus, however, manages to follow him to an underground bunker, where Royce holds Latrell’s brother captive. Using Marquis’ belt knife, Titus is eventually able to kill Royce.

In the last chapter, Titus leaves Charon to work as a professor in Baton Rouge. As he leaves town, he pulls down a long-standing statue of a Confederate soldier.