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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Southern Living and Dying, August 12, 2008
This isn't Maron's strongest book, but it's a solid entry in the series. The villain was more obvious than usual. It's not telegraphed, but it was my early pick. However, I don't read these books for puzzle solving. I read them for characters and the setting. Still, the procedures, politics and such make the books more about the characters learning who the murderer is than the reader finding it out with plenty of slices of life along the way.
First of all, I like Deborah and Dwight married. Deborah's quit going from man to man, bad choice to bad choice, to a good man. There's chemistry there which I enjoy. I like that they work in conjunction in solving the mystery and that multiple viewpoints are offered, beyond their two, too.
I also appreciate the Southern setting where there's an array of Southern characters, all true and faithful to their setting, but they never become caricatures. So many series, especially cozies, rely on caricature and stereotypes. Sometimes Maron's villains might lean towards that problem, but they still fail to fall into the mark. (I don't consider Maron a cozy writer, either, although she's clean and circumspect enough to fit in that market.)
The plot summary can be read on the cover or Amazon, but Maron always offers up food for thought, too. This time she explores an old-fashioned church congregation where women are subjugated as well as the building and population booms in once rural areas. Even when we don't like characters, we can find some sympathy with them, at least most of them. The possible villains in this one were played a little less sympathetic than usual for Maron. Still, there is respect and understanding of the culture and its occupants. Everyone feels real, many would make wonderful friends. And once a year, when I get to read a new Maron novel, they are. My only disappointment is that the book wasn't longer!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best in the series, September 1, 2008
Once again, Margaret Maron writes a compelling mystery with all the right ingredients: a strong believable heroine, a suspenseful plot, a strong sense of place and even a few touches of humor. Luckily I set aside some time on a rainy weekend. It's not a book I can put down easily.
Fans of Deborah Knott will be relieved to find that Deborah's marriage has not weakened the series. We don't get drowned in domestic details but we see glimpses of Deborah enjoying the challenges and rewards of her new roles as wife, stepmother and dog owner. She's caught up in the dynamic economy of North Carolina and the plot details are firmly grounded in 21st century technology and culture.
The plot has been summarized elsewhere. I didn't feel the solution was given away (or else I'm particularly dense) but the ending was consistent, believable and totally satisfying.
As other reviewers noted, Maron has a gift for creating characters who are neither angels nor devils. We might raise an eyebrow at some actions of the "good guys" and it's hard not to be sorry for the villains as they're carted off to jail, served with lawsuits or (in one delightful subplot) simply outwitted by a cunning old-timer.
This series has become one of my favorites. I look forward to each volume and get withdrawal pangs when I finish and realize there's a long wait for the next.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Developments in the Case, August 17, 2008
Real estate is at the heart of this novel, the 14th in the Deborah Knott series. Like other places in the South, Margaret Maron's fictional Colleton County has enjoyed/suffered a real estate boom bringing new suburb into direct conflict with the old way of life in the rural South. Judge Deborah Knott sees these conflicts play out in her courtroom every working day.
Candace Bradshaw was trailer park trash but she married old money and has parlayed a cleaning service into wealth. Separated from her much older husband and former boss, she's been sleeping her way into political influence and a seat on the planning commission. No one quite believes it when she's found dead, an apparent suicide, but the note in her handwriting implies that she's been taking kickbacks from developers and everyone can believe that!
Deborah is also bothered over the death of the editor to the local paper. He was a victim of a hit-and-run accident months ago, and the police were unable to trace the car. Since then, the local paper has lost its investigative and muckraking edge. Deborah's also worried by her father's strange behavior. Where did he get the jewelry he was showing in the pawn shop?
The one weakness in this book is that we get less of Deborah's first-person narrative. This is because Maron is being fair to the reader, and telling us what Deborah doesn't know. Now what Deborah doesn't find out won't hurt her, but it makes the reader laugh out loud.
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