What do readers think of Desert Cut by Betty Webb? Write your own review.

Despite being a fairly easy read, I found this book extremely difficult to complete. Simply put, I didn't feel that the author's light tone matched with the serious content. I found it frustrating to connect with the main character and understand the struggles of her past as the author's simple writing style seemed to contradict the dark complex past of the main character.

Furthermore, I felt that there was a lot of extra information that muddled the true storyline. There were details that appeared completely irrelevant and just became cumbersome to read...even more frustrating considering it's a story whose dialogue and narration is so simply written.

Basically, reading this book was an arduous task, one that I would not subject to anyone else. I would therefore, not recommend it to others...if you're curious, wait until it's available at the local library.

The first half of this book is pretty much standard mystery - the protagonist, a private detective, discovers the body of a murdered child and decides she is the one to bring the murderer to justice. The author keeps the plot moving as the detective interviews people who might give her the information she needs to solve the crime.
The second half is a polemic against the cruelty of an ancient practice somehow imported from Africa to southern Arizona. There is little mystery or entertainment value in this half of the book and I can't think of anyone who might enjoy it.
Skip this one. There are many better books on the market.

The opening chapters are overlong and overwritten, with unnecessary explanations and descriptions. It is not until Chapter 12 that the unsavory premise is identified, one that might be considered inflammatory given today's Moslem/Christian conflicts. Female circumcision in primitive societies is not unknown; however, the unbelievably cruel methods described are, in the literature, rare. Normal physical functions would be almost impossible were this extreme "surgery" performed, and repeated opening and closing the resulting wounds would soon lead to death through blood loss or suicide. Judicious editing (as well as some copy editing) might improve readability
as well as reduce the crudeness of some of the descriptive passages.