Shoveling Smoke contains twenty-two of Margaret Maron's best short stories, from her very first published mystery to her most recent tales. The book includes all of the short cases of Sigrid Harald and Deborah Knott, as well as other mysteries set in Knott's Colleton County. Some of the stories show how crime can emerge from ordinary situations; others recapture the Golden Age delight in twisty plotting with seemingly impossible crimes reminiscent of John Dickson Carr and dying messages harking back to Ellery Queen. But in all the stories, Maron's personal voice, her concern for people, is dominant.
The book concludes with the first publication of a new story about Deborah Knott and a complete checklist of Margaret Maron's mystery novels and short stories.
