The Cutting Season

"The impressively astute Attica Locke writes . . . in much the same way that Mr. Lehane [does]. . . . Each is willing to use the murder mystery as a framework for much more ambitious, atmospheric fiction."--New York Times

"Compelling. . . . A mystery that expands the whole idea of the mystery, reaching from the present deeply into the past. . . . Great writing, the kind that gives you goose bumps."--Los Angeles Times

"A thoughtful, well-written and absorbing read with a surprising ending."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Dripping with southern Gothic atmosphere. . . . Equal parts murder mystery and family drama, the novel also draws readers in through its considerations of African-American history and life in post-Katrina Louisiana."--USA Today

"I was first struck by Attica Locke's prose, then by the ingenuity of her narrative and finally and most deeply by the depth of her humanity. She writes with equal amounts grace and passion. . . . I'd probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine."--Dennis Lehane

"One of the most engaging and gifted new voices in the genre. . . . The Cutting Season does more than exhume a body--it rattles the bones of slavery, race, class, and power to examine a crime that reverberates from more than a century ago."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Although The Cutting Season succeeds as a thriller, above all it is a well-crafted warning about the damage wrought--generational, social, romantic--when the past is distorted or denied."--Financial Times

"The Cutting Season is a rare murder mystery with heft, a historical novel that thrills, a page-turner that makes you think. Attica Locke is a dazzling writer with a conscience."--Dolen Perkins-Valdez, New York Times bestselling author of Wench

"The Cutting Season is a novel about the shifting definitions of family, the persistent pull of history, the sterling promise of home, and the stunning power of love. It pulled me in and held me close to the very last page."--Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow