" With an abundance of excellent books about the Civil War south and slavery there is no need to read Sweetsmoke. David Fuller's book is part murder mystery, part description of plantation life, and part war novel. Unfortunately because it tries to to fulfill so many roles it fulfills none of them well. By the time the murder mystery was finally solved, I had become distracted by so many other plot lines that I no longer cared who the murderer was. Additionally, with the exception of the main character, the slave Cassius, the characters were undeveloped and uninteresting. For instance, I never could figure out the allure of Emoline, the former slave murdered in the early chapters of the book. I also found it completely unrealistic that Cassius, a previously uneducated man, could learn to read and write so well in such a short period of time. Because much of the plot hinges on this development, I had a hard time appreciating and believing most of the story. The one positive aspect of this book is that it presented the complex relationship between slaves and owners without resorting to stereotypes. Still, this one positive does not compensate for the books many other flaws. "
— Kara, 1/8/2014