The Burying Field [Mass Market Paperback]

Kenneth Abel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2003

Big Easy lawyer Danny Chaisson is back to settle an emotionally charged dispute between the old South and the new-and finds himself caught in the middle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the second of his series featuring attorney Danny Chaisson (after 2000's Cold Steel Rain), Abel vividly evokes a Louisiana setting contemporary New Orleans in transition and its less progressive outlying areas. "This ain't the Old South," says developer Michael Tournier when he hires Danny as a "political consultant." But Danny learns that the New South is still beholden to its past, especially in St. Tammany Parish, where justice is slow for an old black man who was attacked by high school kids and lies in a coma waiting to die. He was trying to discourage the boys from desecrating a slave graveyard, a forgotten plot of land that is now the center of contention. Protests over the destruction of the graveyard, which doesn't appear on the parish maps, has effectively halted the building of a high-end residential/retail project that would have brought jobs and tax income to the area. Danny befriends the victim's wife and her grandson, pulls strings to get the State Historical Commission to evaluate the site and help protect it, and conducts his own investigation into the attack. When the archaeologist at the "burying field" uncovers the remains of a young woman missing since the 1970s, Danny has yet another death to look into, while the local authorities have a reason to dig up the entire plot, since it's now a crime scene. Abel's memorable, true-to-life characters play out a taut, multileveled story. His ability to paint his milieu with such depth and texture bodes well for future volumes in this series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Michael Tournier, New Orleans's premiere real estate developer, is ready to break ground for a shopping mall and housing complex near Mandeville when the discovery of a historic slave cemetery on the land halts the project. Frustrated, he hires attorney Danny Chaisson (from Cold Steel Rain) to scope out the attitudes of the locals. What Danny discovers is a town bogged down by dirty politics, 1930s racial attitudes, and a good-old-boy network led by the local sheriff. Long-festering resentment escalates into violence when white teenagers, high on beer and adrenaline, beat an elderly black man to death in the cemetery. This leads to drive-by shootings, the discovery of an earlier murder, arson, a staged highway accident, more murder, and suicide in the days that follow. In this, his fourth novel, Abel enhances an emotionally charged theme with strong plot, good characterization, and local color for a fascinating page-turner in the tradition of John Grisham and Greg Iles. Recommended for public libraries. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451208536
• ISBN-13: 978-0451208538
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #768,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Thoroughly Engrossing Mystery, June 17, 2002

By 

Craig Larson (Maple Grove, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burying Field (Hardcover)

Kenneth Abel's new book, _The Burying Field_ is quite easily one of the best books I've read this year. I'd never read this author before, but am I glad I discovered his work--I've already ordered copies of a couple of his other books.

Danny Chaisson, former bagman for a corrupt Louisiana politician, is trying to make his fledgling law practice a success. He's contacted by his former wife, now a corporate attorney with a high-powered real estate developer, to come in and look after her client's interests when an elderly black man is injured after trying to get a trio of white boys to leave the slave burying field near the man's house alone. It seems the burying field is at the center of a proposed new commercial development and no one knew it was there because it wasn't on any of the local maps. There's some suspicion the boys were somehow influenced to go out to the field and knock over headstones and the whole mess could easily erupt into a federal issue. Then, when a body is discovered in the burying field that is not of the same vintage as the other remains, it appears that the body of a young black girl who disappeared twenty years earlier has finally been discovered.

This is a great book, with believable characters and careful attention to settings. Danny is a sympathetic character, trying to make up for what he did, and his new wife, Mickie Vega, a Hispanic ATF agent who is a bit perturbed by the changes her pregnancy has forced upon her, is also quite memorable. Danny has a black friend named Jabril who is a former drug dealer and who comes along to help Danny get a feel for the lay of the land as he comes to realize that this very complex mess may tie in somehow to his client. And there are some pretty scary, racist villains.

Excellent characterizations, excellent dialogue--this book receives my strongest recommendation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine characters--racism in the south, July 5, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Burying Field (Hardcover)

It seems like a simple case. A Louisianna developer hires lawyer Danny Chaisson to make sure he doesn't get into trouble about some land he ownes--land where an African American man was assaulted by a group of white teens. Chaisson needs the money and agrees to take the case but what he finds is anything but simple. Instead, he finds a slave burial-ground, a 20 year-old murder, the Klan, and a sheriff who can't seem to find enough evidence when white suspects are concerned but moves quickly where blacks are suspected.

With the help of his ATF agent-wife Mickie, and his African American friend Jabril, Chaisson soon learns far more than the sheriff ever admitted to knowing. But knowing isn't the same as putting criminals in jail. And Chaisson needs to worry about staying alive long enough to do anything about the crimes he discovers.

Author Kenneth Abel writes a compelling novel filled with danger and insights into human nature. Chaisson's attempts to find the truth despite an entire society that seems designed only to keep secrets kept me on the edge of my seat.

For me, the use of a fairly stereotyped small-town southern setting with racist antagonists and a corrupt sheriff weakened what was otherwise a fine novel. Too, Abel's decision to include a scene with only villains gave away too much of the mystery, eliminating the delightful surprise the reader feels when we finally discover who is ultimately behind the evil doings.

THE BURYING FIELD is an exciting and page-turning book that falls just short of being truly powerful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Old South, June 22, 2008

By 

L. Mclott (Milledgeville, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burying Field (Mass Market Paperback)

The Burying Field is one of the best books I have read in a long time .

It is a story about a old slave cemetery in the New Orleans that gets destroyed and the man trying to protect it gets hurt and ends up dying .
A story of a business man who has bought the property not knowing it is actually a historical cemetery and he tries to keep his name clean but then a body is found of a missing girl in the cemetery and it is not one from the slave days.

The way Mr Abel writes it you can almost picture this happening today as so many old cemeteries are being discovered with people doing genalogy .

Truly a great read , I will be reading more by this author .