Deborah Knott Series by Margaret Maron
Deborah Knott #0.50
Deborah's Judgment
Margaret Maron
Originally published in “A Woman’s Eye,” edited by Sara Paretsky (1991) and republished in “Shoveling Smoke: Selected Mystery Stories by Margaret Maron”, Crippen & Landru (1997). "When I first began to contemplate a new series, Sara Paretsky asked if I’d contribute a story to her anthology. I’d had the germ of this plot for years but could never seem to bring it into focus. It wasn’t a Sigrid Harald situation, but what if I gave it to a young Southern attorney? Or what if it were a district court judge? Or an attorney running for judge? Before I knew it, Deborah Knott strolled into my head and began telling this story. I shall always be grateful to Sara for giving me a chance to “test-drive” Deborah’s first-person voice before tackling Bootlegger’s Daughter." (Cover design: Andrea Maron)(Cover graphic: © 2012 Joe Maron)
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Deborah Knott #2
Deborah Knott #3
Deborah Knott #4
Deborah Knott #5
Deborah Knott #6
Deborah Knott #7
Deborah Knott #9
Deborah Knott #10
Deborah Knott #11
Deborah Knott #11.50
Bewreathed
Margaret Maron
Chronologically, this story takes place between "Rituals of the Season" and "Winter’s Child." Marilyn Wallace, writing as Maggie Bruce, asked if I would contribute a story that featured some sort of craft for her anthology "Murder Most Crafty." I thought perhaps Deborah could manage a grapevine wreath with a little help from her new sisters-in-law. The story itself was inspired by a real New Year’s Eve bonfire here on the farm when a cousin tried to burn some overly wet wood. I was tickled when my brother said, “Never saw gasoline so wet it wouldn’t burn,” and knew I’d use that sentence in a story sometime. They really did try to chase some lovers out of that lane and yes, they really did get mired down to the axle. (Cover design: Andrea Maron)(Cover graphic: © 2012 Joe Maron)
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Deborah Knott #13
Deborah Knott #14
Deborah Knott #15
Deborah Knott #17
Deborah Knott #17.50
With This Ring
Margaret Maron
Originally published in “Crimes of the Heart” edited by Carolyn G. Hart and Martin Harry Greenberg (1993) and republished in “Shoveling Smoke: Selected Mystery Stories by Margaret Maron”, Crippen & Landru (1997). “The whole subject of bridesmaid’s dresses amuses me immensely. No one dress could be equally flattering to any bride’s six best friends, so someone’s nose is always out of joint. And as for their usefulness as a party/cocktail dress? In my lifetime, I have only seen two that might actually be worn after the wedding.” (Cover design: Andrea Maron)(Cover graphic: © 2012 Joe Maron)
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Deborah Knott #18
The Buzzard Table
Margaret Maron
Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are back home in Colleton County with all their family and courthouse regulars. But there are a few new faces as well. Lt. Sigrid Herald and her mother, Anne, a well-known photographer, are down from New York to visit Anne's ailing mother, Mrs. Lattimore. When the group gathers for dinner at Mrs. Lattimore's Victorian home, they meet the enigmatic Martin Crawford, an ornithologist who claims to be researching a new book on Southern vultures. More importantly, he's Mrs. Lattimore's long-lost nephew, and Sigrid and Anne's English cousin. With her health in decline, Mrs. Lattimore wants to make amends with her family--something Deborah can understand as she too is working to strengthen her relationship with her stepson, Cal. But for all his mysterious charm, Anne can't shake the feeling that there is something familiar about Martin...something he doesn't want Anne or anyone else to discover. When a murderer strikes, Deborah, Dwight, and Sigrid will once again work together to solve the crime and uncover long-buried Lattimore family secrets.From BooklistIn the eighteenth Deborah Knott mystery, the North Carolina judge once again appears with Maron’s other series lead, New York police detective Sigrid Harald, just as in Three-Day Town (2011). Sigrid has come to Cotton Grove with her award-winning photographer mother, Anne Lattimore Harald, to visit Sigrid’s ailing grandmother. A passionate young protester arrested for attempting to photograph CIA flights out of the local Colleton County airport, a secretive ornithologist, and a promiscuous local realtor bludgeoned to death in one of her properties combine to keep the small-town judge and her sheriff husband, Dwight Bryant, hopping. When a pilot is murdered, and the FBI takes over the investigation, Sigrid offers her able assistance to Dwight to figure out exactly what international intrigue is taking place right in his own backyard. As always, Maron skillfully layers an absorbing plot with the doings of Deborah’s large extended family and the domestic details of their semirural lifestyle. In addition, the contrast between Deborah, who is warm and caring, and Sigrid, who is reserved and cerebral, gives Maron’s tale added depth. --Joanne Wilkinson Review"As always, Maron skillfully layers an absorbing plot with the doings of Deborah's large extended family and the domestic details of their semirural lifestyle. In addition, the contrast between Deborah, who is warm and caring, and Sigrid, who is reserved and cerebral, gives Maron's tale added depth." (Booklist )"Maron...adroitly melds ugly American (open) government secrets with classic whodunit intrigue and stirs the pot by itemizing domestic travails that will touch readers' hearts." (Kirkus Reviews )"In Maron's intriguing 18th Deborah Knott mystery...Maron successfully combine a look at family foibles and relationships with a series of moral choices that challenges the characters' sense of law and justice." (Publishers Weekly )"This book has plenty of suspense and the characters are well done. One of Ms. Maron's strengths is the believability of her characters. They add to the story and don't distract the reader with useless red herrings. As usual, the interplay between Dwight and Deborah is wonderfully romantic even in the midst of a murder. I have to say that I will be glad to see them back home in the next book. I just love the family dynamics and the southern ambiance in these books. Can't wait for the next book in the series!!" (imainlinefiction.blogspot.com on THREE-DAY TOWN )"Dwight's obsession with New York gourmet delights and Deborah's passion for stylish, impractical footwear are charming, but Sigrid's slow but steady police work carries the day. Fans who have hankered for Deborah and Sigrid to find themselves in the same story will be charmed." (Kirkus on THREE-DAY TOWN )"This is a strong addition to a series that's won Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards." (Publishers Weekly on THREE-DAY TOWN )"[Maron] plots like a modern-day Christie, but the North Carolina charm is all her own." (Kirkus on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )"Warm and authentic family relationships are the heart of this evergreen series." (Publishers Weekly on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )"[A] winning entry and a fine holiday mystery." (Booklist on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )"There's nobody better." (Chicago Tribune )"Every Margaret Maron is a celebration of something remarkable." (New York Times Book Review )
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