Landsdale has been a bit of a
legend in East Texas for more than a decade as the local boy who done good.
I’ve always intended to pick up and read one of his novels and thanks to the
Senator and KMK’s kind Christmas gift, I was able to read through The Bottoms
over two beautiful, relaxing, sunny days in The Heights just before Christmas
of 2012.
In The Bottoms, Landsdale has
written a murder mystery with a little horror and a lot of southern gothic
homage. A black woman is found murdered. The local constable, our hero’s
father, begins an investigation. Since this is East Texas in the early 19th
century, no one in the white community is particularly bothered by the slaying.
A few more bodies appear, and
the small, segregated East Texas towns begin to respond with fear, lynchings,
etc. Ultimately, the identity of the killer is predictable, as is the
not-very-surprising third act twist, but the novel is still a satisfying little
bit of Thomas Harris meets Harper Lee. The writing is decent overall, though
the use of truly corn-pone dialect throughout is a bit much on occasion.
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