The Cutting Season

The Cutting Season
By: Attica Locke
Challenge: What's in a Name? 6, 50 States Challenge
Published: 2012
# of pages: 384

Official description: The American South in the twenty-first century. A plantation owned for generations by a rich family. So much history. And a dead body.
Just after dawn, Caren walks the grounds of Belle Vie, the historic plantation house in Louisiana that she has managed for four years. Today she sees nothing unusual, apart from some ground that has been dug up by the fence bordering the sugar can fields. Assuming an animal has been out after dark, she asks the gardener to tidy it up. Not long afterwards, he calls her to say it's something else. Something terrible. A dead body. At a distance, she missed her. The girl, the dirt and the blood. Now she has police on site, an investigation in progress, and a member of staff no one can track down. And Caren keeps uncovering things she will wish she didn't know. As she's drawn into the dead girl's story, she makes shattering discoveries about the future of Belle Vie, the secrets of its past, and sees, more clearly than ever, that Belle Vie, its beauty, is not to be trusted. 
A magnificent, sweeping story of the south, The Cutting Season brings history face-to-face with modern America, where Obama is president, but some things will never change. Attica Locke once again provides an unblinking commentary on politics, race, the law, family and love, all within a thriller every bit as gripping and tragic as her first novel, Black Water Rising.
My opinion:  Overall this was a good, entertaining read, but I wish it was better written.  I would have liked to have seen the 2 stories, past and present, more entwined or at least more connected.  There were also some typos and some weird time lapses.  It seemed like one day it was Wednesday, 4 days after an event, and then in the next chapter the characters referred to the event as happening "yesterday."  Maybe it was just me, but it seemed off.  Also, the major climactic event at the end seemed to have one of those mixed up time sequences.  I was thinking, "Huh?  How is it possible that...." just because of the timing.  

I did enjoy the mystery and was in suspense in several scenes.  The old plantation made a great mystery setting, especially at night.  I recommend this book to those who enjoy a mystery that also contains a lot of character development.


Why I gave this book 3/5 stars:  Interesting mystery, somewhat disjointed

Other reviews:
S. Krishna's Books

Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.








posted under , , |

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi
I liked your blog and I must agree some of the timescales etc did not flow as well.

I also recently read The Cutting Season too and overall I really liked this book. I also liked the way we didn't know who carried out the murder until the end and also as you said some history was woven into the story.

I also did a review and you can read it on anitasbookbag.co.uk

Anita

Anonymous said...

Hi
I liked your blog and whilst I really enjoyed the book, I have to agree that some of the timings etc didn't flow.

I recently read The Cutting Season too. I liked the way we didn't know who carried out the murder until the end and also as you said some history was woven into the story.

I also did a review and you can read it on anitasbookbag.co.uk

Anita

Newer Post Older Post Home

Followers

About Me

My photo
Wife, mother, bookworm.
This is a place where you can read book reviews, discover links, and learn about the reading challenges in which I'm taking part.

Library



my read shelf:
Andrea's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)

Annual Goal

2016 Reading Challenge

2016 Reading Challenge
Andrea has read 0 books toward her goal of 60 books.
hide

Recent Comments