The Cutting Season **1/2
by Attica Locke
This novel has a hell of an opener; a cottonmouth snake falls out of a tree and into the lap of a wedding guest! Plus I heard about this book on PBS--in fact the author was interviewed in her own spot--so I guess I expected more than a fairly standard-issue and somewhat plodding whodunnit set on a former Southern plantation, Belle Vie, in Loosyana.
The rest of the book just doesn't really live up to the opening. In a mildly interesting twist, the manager is a black woman whose ancestors worked the plantation as slaves. There is also an interesting final twist involving Reconstruction era property rights of former slaves, which I hope doesn't constitute a spoiler.
I found this book notable largely because Caren, the protagonist, who is only about 35, has more hot flashes and flushes than I do. I kept thinking she should see a gynecologist.
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