Soil by Jamie Kornegay

Soil is not my usual preferred genre but could be classed as dark contemporary fiction.  Our protagonist, Jay Mize carries a lot of baggage.  His grandfather served prison time for racial crimes and his father committed suicide unable to cope with his legacy.  Jay attempts to leave all this behind by submerging himself in his work.  He is an environmental scientist employed by the Farm Service Agency but becomes so obsessed with soil composting and environmentally safe but not economical farming practices that he is fired.

Jay moves his wife, Sandy and young son, Jacob to a farm in a river bottom in Mississippi.  Here he puts his organic farming skills to work hoping to reinvent accepted modern farming practices.  But a spring flood followed by a summer drought wipes out his crops and his savings the first year.  Sandy is frightened by the toll failure takes on Jay and moves her son back to town and takes a teaching job.

As the flood waters recede, Jay finds a dead body on this property.  In his present emotional and physical state, Jay convinces himself that local law enforcement will try to pin a murder on him… the filthy wacko tree hugger.  His paranoia is enflamed when good old boy deputy Danny Shoals shows up to inquire about a missing tourist from Ohio thought to be in the area.  What Jay doesn’t know is Danny has a reputation as a womanizer, has targeted Sandy as his next conquest, and needs a big arrest to save his floundering career.  Maybe Jay’s paranoia has some legitimacy.

Jay decides to dispose of the corpse in a way that leaves no trace.  He chops it up and incinerates it piece by piece resulting only in charcoal for his compost beds.  But this desperate act leads to one delusional act after another to cover up his crime and threatens to destroy what is left of his pitiful life.

I was drawn to Soil by the backdrop of production agriculture along the Mississippi River, an area that enveloped my career as a grain trader.  But that connection was quickly left behind as the humanity that accompanies failure came to the forefront.  Observing how one man’s obsession and paranoia drove him to desperate acts in an effort to save himself makes for a fascinating story.  This first time published author has great potential.