Uncivil Seasons: A Justin & Cuddy Novel

Not all of this author's books are alike, and if you don't happen to like this one, you should still try his others. This book is a murder mystery and is not all that mysterious, but the tone of the prose and the social commentary make it worth the five stars. Here's Malone's marvelous opening lines: "Two things don't happen very often in Hillston, North Carolina. We don't get much snow, and we hardly ever murder one another. Suicide is more our style; we're a polite college town, and our lives are sheltered by old trees. Maybe once a year a blizzard slips around a corner of the Smokey Mountains and blusters its way east, or a gale swells up from Cape Hatteras and runs across the Piedmont to break up our agreeable liason with nature; but usually storms lose interest along the way. Whenever one does barge through town, merchants stockpile sleds as recklessly as Carolina blockade-runners once stowed tobacco and cotton. Schools close. Cars spin off the roads. People have accidents. The commit murders too, but much more often in thought than in deed. There is some impertinence in being a homicide detective in a town that wants to go on believing it is too small and too temperate to require such expertise." Of course, it is snowing, and there has been a murder.

i'm a big fan of american literature, i'm a big fan of american crime novels, and i must say that "uncivil seasons" was for me an absolute discovery! an excellent literary mystery, where "literary" definitely DOESN'T mean boring or pretentious, but simply an extremely well-written, elegant, funny, convincing book that, before being a "mystery" is an exceptionally well crafted depiction of a complex and credible southern community with its enmities, affections, social and financial relationships. in this sense, the book is a perfect example of the "realistic" novel in its most classic, nineteenth-century incarnation: and how more human and witty than other contemporary overhyped stuff in the social-realistic vein (like, say, a "bonfire of the vanities"). and, in addition to that, the novel is also a coherent, interesting and well developed detection-story with a very satisfying and ironical ending. alas, the other two books in the savile-mangun series, while good (the second more than the third) are far from the level of this "uncivil seasons", which for me is a sure masterpiece in the genre.

A great way to start enjoying the works of unheralded author Michael Malone is to read his North Carolina murder mystery, Uncivil Seasons. Malone's anti-hero is Justin Savile, born to a genteel southern family, as his name indicates. The plot is complex, and revolves around Joanna Cadmean, a local psychic, helping Justin to investigate the murder of a member of a prominent family. Both scenic passages and characterizations are compelling, and true to the south. The mystery remains a mystery, and you find yourself pulling for Justin and partner Cuddy Mangum.There's a romance here, too, and it's played with just the right lightness of touch. It seems as though Malone can do it all, and I can't wait to read more of his works. I'll leave you with a favorite, opening line..."Two things don't happen very often in Hillston, North Carolina. We don't get much snow, and we hardly ever murder one another. Suicide is more our style..."Enjoy!

Michael Malone is one of America's most gifted and rewarding novelists. If you enjoyed his latest offering, FIRST LADY, be sure to read its predecessor, UNCIVIL SEASONS, in which many of the people and places in both books were first introduced. UNCIVIL SEASONS too is an absorbing mystery yarn, but its real pleasures lie in the richness and depth of its characterizations, its wit and humor, its sharp dialogue. Malone, who was raised in North Carolina, conveys a South often regretfully looking backwards as it looks forward, but he does so with no hint of "Poor us, how misunderstood we are."

I am truly an unbashful fan of Michael Malone and finally found a copy of Uncivil Seasons. In Uncivil Seasons he takes a simple murder in Hillston, NC, and uses it to trigger a thoughtful and purposeful journey into the lives and souls of a cross section of the folks in this Peidmont town. Humorous with an effortless command of dialogue and language, if Uncivil Seasons is your first Malone book you'll be speedtyping through this website to find the rest. Unfortunately he hasn't had anything new published years (that I'm aware of). Perhaps biding his time as head writer on "One Life To Live," (as the inside cover indicates) until this country comes to it's senses and covets stories by authors like Malone instead of stories by White House interns. He's good enough to make you start watching soaps.