Michael Malone - Uncivil Seasons

malone

uncivil seasons A JUSTIN & CUDDY NOVEL
excellentvividbeautifully renderedcompelling. The New York Times Book Review
Hillston
Thermopylae

Malcolm Cowley Uncivil Seasons made me lose a whole working day. It held me, held me too long. It has Malones richness of detail, his dialogue, and his gift for presenting characters, his inventiveness and his admirable style. Theres a feeling of solidity to the town, to its people, the countryside, and the whole North state.

Hes created two of the most memorable police detectives ever to appear in mystery fiction. Together they make a formidable pairfresh and unforgettable. Equally engaging are the colorful characters the detectives encounter. Mr. Malone has written a rattling good mystery; he has also written an excellent novelVivid imaginationbeautifully renderedA rich diversity of cast, a compelling plot, prose of often poetically haunting beautyimpressive language in any kind of novel.

Evan Hunter, New York Times Book Review

ExcellentEngrossing as a detective story, it is also a mystery play in the old sense of the word. The mystery it attempts to penetrate is not the obvious one but the eternal mystery of mysteries: What is lifes purpose?To get to the bottom of one of Malones books is always a searing experience, like plumbing a well and finding oneself looking at the faces of the stars.

Chicago Sun-Times

A mystery of class and conscience, and its a beauty. Malone sets his plot spinning on the first page and delivers enough twists and turns to keep readers of the genre more than satisfied. What elevates the book way above the mysterys customary standards is the authors intelligent handling of character and setting. He wants to entertain, but never at the expense of your brainAmong other virtues, Malones ability to create believable characters from every social class is impressive. He makes us see Hillston whole. The dialogue rings true throughoutFirst classan entertaining, intelligent book.

Newsday

Much has been made of the highbrow mysteries of Umberto Eco and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, [but] here in America we have also managed to produce an unusually funny and knowing use of the genre in Michael Malones

Uncivil Seasons . The Nation

It bears Malones imprintthe vividly drawn ambiencea stylish gift for languagecharacters come alivea tender and believable romance.

Washington Post Book World

A purely perfect book. Its filled with action, suspense, intelligence and a sense of humor so droll it makes you happy just to know someone still thinks like thatThe deft and deadly way Michael Malone dissects the towns maneuverings and mores is alone worth the price of the book. The only problem with

Uncivil Seasons is that its too short. I want Malone to write more, and quickly. When you read him, you will too. A joy. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I really loved it. His grasp of people and place is wonderful. Most writers who are this good at plotting tend to neglect character; this is certainly not the case with Michael Malone. Cuddy Mangum, in particular, will remain in my mind forever.

Lee Smith

Malones novel has been compared to Faulkners Intruder in the Dust and Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird , but on the whole its superior to both. It lacks the heavyhanded racial dogma of Intruder and the sentimentality of Mockingbird . A meticulously plotted detective novel with strong characters and a solid sense of place, Uncivil Seasons is a real findSplendid as the mystery is, its Mr. Malones creation of a fictive worldthe sense of real people living complex lives in a real placethat makes the novel so rich Uncivil Seasons is that rarity, a mystery novel that invites rereading. Highly literate, sophisticated, evocative, its grand entertainment.

Intimate and believable,

Uncivil Seasons is an examination of the human condition, in the form of a murder mystery. Malones antic muse enlivens his evocation of a small Southern town. He is a wonderful writer, a master of both the sad and the funny. His humor runs comfortably from the jauntily ironic to the downright hilarious. And the dialogue! This is lovely, crisp dialogue, often promised on flap copy but seldom delivered on the page. The mystery, which is as twisted and murky as one could hope for, doesnt detract from the characters or the ambience; rather it adds a rich dimension of passion and rue. The San Francisco Chronicle
The Kansas City Star

A pure delight. Its funny, its sad, its chilling, its tender. It is alsohurrah, at long last!a genuine whodunit that has you suspecting everyone by turns.

Book of the Month Club

Malone is one of those few writers working today who truly has a sense of what he is about as a writer. To read his work is to partake in a genuine meditation on what it means for people to live with and among each other. As with Dickens, the spirit to whom Malone most clearly gravitates, we come to know of the pains and joys of living the human comedy in a deeper way

The New Haven Register

Filled with fascinating charactersThe town and its people come alive for readers. Malone is a fluent, creative writer, and his characters are brilliantly delineated. This is a book that shouldnt be missed.

The Minneapolis Tribune

The grace of this intricately drawn novel lies not only in its gripping plot, but also in the rich array of characters [and] lively dialogue

Uncivil Seasons is a must for those who enjoy a well-crafted detective tale. Malones prose is vigorous and exciting, his characters glow The Detroit Free Press

Uncivil Seasons

a novel by Michael Malone

Copyright 1983, 2001 by Michael Malone Cover design 2001 by Chip Kidd

Cover image by William Eggleston/A+C Anthology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systemsexcept in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviewswithout permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

The characters and events portrayed in

Uncivil Seasons are fictitious. The setting is the state of North Carolina, and certain public institutions and public offices are mentioned, but the characters involved in them are entirely imaginary. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Malone, Michael.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900
FAX: (630) 961-2168
www.sourcebooks.com

Uncivil seasons / by Michael Malone.

PS3563.A43244 U5 2001 813.54dc21
p. cm.
ISBN 1-57071-755-9 (alk. paper)
1. PoliceNorth CarolinaFiction. 2. North Carolina Fiction. I. Title.
2001034474
Printed and bound in the United States of America LB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

For Barry Hoffman Round up the usual suspects. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of than hath not seen, mans hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called Bottoms Dream, because it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the latter end of a play, before the duke; peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death.