Multi-award-winning novelist S.A. Cosby’s thriller King of Ashes launches Flatiron’s new imprint Pine & Cedar in June 2025. Cosby talks with LJ about the novel, his writing process, and the authors who first made him fall in love with crime fiction.

King of Ashes is billed by your publisher as a “Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic.” How did you come up with the idea of translating this classic work to the rural South? Are there particular characters in Mario Puzo’s book or the film franchise that you found to be most inspiring?

In actuality, it was more of a spiritual influence, the themes of family and loyalty interspersed with violence and America’s number one industry, organized crime. I just wanted to filter those themes through a Southern prism.

The right title can be critically important to a book. What is the meaning behind King of Ashes? Why is your protagonist Roman Carruthers so resistant to claiming this role?

Again, it’s themes of family, of inheritance and birthright. Roman doesn’t want to embrace his family’s business but ultimately, he is pulled back into that business and uses [it] to attempt to save his family. Many times, we are forced to accept titles within our family that we didn’t ask for. Roman doesn’t want to be a king, but he is the one sitting on the throne, metaphorically speaking.

In the book, Roman says to his brother Dante, “The king is the most important piece in the game.” Is writing a book for you in some ways like playing a game of chess?

I love chess, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the way it’s a metaphor for both life and attrition, for how we try to control the world, only for someone to surprise us with a queen’s gambit. For me, writing a book is similar to a game of chess: I’m moving the pieces and trying to think five moves ahead.

The importance of family is a key element in the novel. When it comes to Roman, is it a case of “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”?

In some regards, yes. Roman has a fantastic life in Atlanta at the beginning of the book. He has reinvented himself and yet (with apologies to Thomas Wolfe), he must go home again. And home and family, for him, are where his greatest tragedies and his greatest loves exist side by side.

You incorporate many details about the Carrutherses’ crematorium business into the story. Did having a personal connection to the funeral industry make writing these details easier?

Somewhat. I think the cremation industry is somewhat misunderstood, so even I learned a lot as I did research for this book.

The intersection of money and power is another important theme in the novel. When Roman says, “Money is like acid,” what does this mean?

Money can be corrosive. It can burn through both bonds of fealty and fidelity. It dissolves our resolve and can make our inhibitions disappear.

With four (soon to be five) critically acclaimed, award-winning books to your name, does the process of writing get easier? Or does every book present its own unique set of challenges?

The day it gets easier is the day I know I’m done. What has changed is my level of confidence in my storytelling abilities. I trust my gut more.

Who are the authors who made you fall in love with crime fiction as a reader?

Stephen King, Raymond Chandler, Chester Himes, and Toni Morrison. 

Photo by Rob Ostermaier