The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

A murder mystery set on a plantation in Louisiana written by the Orange Prize listed Attica Locke looked and sounded  an irresistible plan for a great read...sadly the book was far too wordy and became bogged down a number of times during the reading.
It took me nearly 100 pages to get into this book and I thought I had it cracked but snappy dialogue and zippy story lines just kept getting tangled and the foggy, murk that shrouded the story really became a distraction, there is nothing wrong with the wordage Locke uses, most of it is powerful, creative and fitting but as I said earlier, there are just too many words.. a case of why use two when you can use five and on it went. The story was also just a tad predictable in parts but the twists and turns were there and Locke dealt very well with the race issue.
The plot its self was character driven and what great characters Locke created...realistic, believable, contemporary and just likeable and human and the setting of Belle Vie was very well drawn as was the small town that played its part in the story.
A real shame in my opinion that what could have been a great story and a wonderful read turned out to be just average, equally you may pick it up and love it.
Available from all good Booksellers in Trade Paperback.