Shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2009.
CWA Judges’ comments: ‘Sweetsmoke is an American Civil War drama. Cassius, a slave at Sweetsmoke tobacco plantation, is determined to track down the murderer of a freed woman, Emoline, who once helped him free his mind by teaching him to read. This literacy proves to be a key factor in enabling Cassius to solve the crime. The novel is full of gruelling anecdotes of the slave days and the distortion and corruption of all relationships between master and slave and slave and slave caused by the condition of slavery. The lyrical descriptions of the plantation and its smells and sounds, as well as the powerfully depicted slaves and owners, made for a richly textured read.’
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
| Recommendations: |
The American Civil War is in full flame, and tobacco plantation slave Cassius Howard finds he must risk everything to learn the brutal truth concerning the murder of Emoline Justice, the freed black woman who secretly taught him to read and who once saved his life.
Against an epic backdrop and with fleeting moments of redemptive passion, Sweetsmoke captures brilliantly the daily indignities and harrowing losses suffered by slaves, as well as the turmoil of a country waging countless wars within itself, and the lives of myriad people fighting for freedom.
Sweetsmoke features in the following genres: Crime and Mystery, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations
Sweetsmoke is available in Paperback
Sweetsmoke was written by David Fuller and published by Abacus an imprint of Little, Brown
Sweetsmoke has 310 pages
