The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke is a charming read that brings mysteries of the past into the present. Set in the lovely area of famous Louisiana plantations, this is one novel you don’t want to miss out on.

Book Description

“Caren Gray manages Louisiana's stately Belle Vie, an antebellum plantation-turned-tourist attraction where the past and the present coexist uneasily. Outside the gates, an ambitious corporation snaps up sugarcane fields from struggling families, replacing local employees with illegal laborers. Tensions mount when a female migrant worker is found in a shallow grave on the edge of the plantation property, her throat cut clean through.

As the sheriff's department zeroes in on a suspect, Caren suspects the police are chasing the wrong leads. Putting herself at risk, she unearths startling secrets about the long-ago disappearance of a former slave that has unsettling ties to the current murder—secrets that a desperate killer will stop at nothing to keep buried.

Taut, hauntingly resonant, and beautifully written, The Cutting Season is a thoughtful meditation on how America reckons its past with its future.” – The Cutting Season

My Thoughts

The Cutting Season is a book that takes place in one of my favorite areas of America, Louisiana. Although I admittedly am a bit biased on this aspect of the book, I think the author did an amazing job with the story in this beautiful part of the country. She is truly able to weave in the mysterious past of this area with the charming qualities it still has today.

The main character, Caren, is searching for clues to a crime in the present as well as one that is in the past, which surprisingly involves one of her ancestors. The mystery aspect to the novel is enjoyable and full of twists that make it a captivating read right up to the end. I also like how the author uses the real aspects of plantations being used for much different purposes than what they were originally used for, such as locations for weddings and tourist attractions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. It is full of realistic mystery set in the heart of one of Louisiana’s plantations. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes southern mysteries, and of course, New Orleans and/or Louisiana.

* Thank you to the publisher of The Cutting Season, Harper Perennial, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.