When Inés Avalo, a migrant worker from a neighboring farm, is found murdered on the estate’s grounds, Belle Vie’s manager, Caren Gray, finds herself pulled into the investigation. In this way, The Cutting Season is a double-edged murder mystery boasting not only Locke’s strikingly original voice, but also a timely and politically committed story that will leave a lasting impact on both the reader and the mystery field.Ī labyrinth of intersecting histories and politics, The Cutting Season dexterously reveals its narrative threads in the best fashion of the genre: the ease of the storytelling belies the complexity and nuances of the story. In Locke’s own words, it is a symbol for Belle Vie, the historic Louisiana plantation-turned-tourist destination where the story is set, and how “its beauty was not to be trusted.” It can also be seen as a metaphor for the whole novel, how beneath the surface of its whodunit plot is a daring act of social critique. ATTICA LOCKE’s The Cutting Season begins with a cottonmouth snake interrupting a wedding, dropping from a tree into the lap of the bride’s mother-in-law.
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