29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Character Driven Soft Boiled Mystery, August 5, 2009
Although I've never been to North Carolina, I always have a sense of coming home when I open a Deborah Knott book, and not just because the series has been going for a long time. No, I've felt that way ever since the first book I read, which wasn't the first in the series. (Shocking, I know, but I was on vacation and I ran out of books, and someone had left
Slow Dollar (Deborah Knott Mysteries) in the lobby lending library, so I picked it up.) Maron paints a clear picture of the environment and an even clearer one of the characters. In fact, the setting pretty much *is* a character in her books.
There are a few too many characters introduced too quickly in this book, but that's inevitable given that the murder takes place at a conference. So don't read the first few chapters while you're exhausted, or you may have trouble following all the names. Some of the characters in this book have appeared in earlier books, which makes it a little easier if you've been following Knott's history, but you don't have to have read any of the earlier books to enjoy this one.
Some of the Deborah Knott books concentrate more on mystery, some more on character. This is one of the latter type. The motive came as no surprise at the end of the book, and the villain almost seemed an afterthought. But that's the kind of thing you realize later, when trying to write a review; while reading I was enjoying the ride, watching the interaction between the characters, seeing Deborah adjust to the new circumstances of her life.
Something else that struck me after reading this was that, more than any other book in the series I can think of, Sand Sharks is a feminine book. Deborah has had romances in other books, has had to deal with her situation as a woman in a "man's" job, as the only daughter in a family of a dozen children, but somehow those aspects of the books have always remained secondary. Here, Maron gives them primacy. We see Deborah's concern over the state of her new marriage and her even newer full-time stepson. Her reactions to her nerves, as well as to the events at the conference, are essentially feminine. That's not to say a man wouldn't recognize and enjoy them but his feelings toward Deborah here would be sympathetic rather than empathetic (and he might learn a thing or two about the "mysterious" inner workings of a woman's mind in the process).
Sand Sharks is definitely an enjoyable read. The only real weakness is in the mystery itself and, as I said, you probably won't notice that until you've finished devouring the book and have had time to digest it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good continuation of series, August 15, 2009
Margaret Maron's Sand Sharks is a good continuation in the reliable Deborah Knott series. The main characters--Deborah, her new husband Dwight, and his son Cal--continue development as realistic, sympathetic people, though Dwight and Cal do not figure strongly in this story, since Deborah is in Wilmington attending a continuing education conference for NC judges. The secondary characters are well drawn and distinctive. Maron does a good job of conveying the passage of time without detailing every thought and action. The plot isn't the strongest she's written because the motive for Judge Jeffreys's murder isn't connected with the murderer until he attempts to eliminate Deborah. Still, Sand Sharks is well worth the time.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Coasting, August 26, 2009
I have my own copies of all of Maron's Deborah Knott books, and her other 2 NC mysteries - Bloody Kin & Last Lessons of Summer, and have audiotapes of most. I have re-read them & listened to them many times, and especially enjoy the 2 non-series mysteries. I agree with other reviewers that the involvement of Deborah's home county and her relatives adds much to the series, but I have enjoyed the previous books that were set away from Deborah's home.
Sand Sharks is one I probably won't re-read. None of the characters is very developed, and few are likeable. Two characters from previous books are dragged in for no particular reason, and add nothing to the plot. The first motive for the crime that Deborah & the police arrive at is absurd and bigoted. The ending is illogical, and and comes pretty much from out of nowhere. Deborah's frequent obsessings about her marriage (why, oh why hasn't he called?), and her stepson are very annoying.
I hate to give such a bad review. I've recommended Maron's books to friends for many years, and I wait impatiently for each new release. This one was very disappointing.
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