Customer Reviews

Slow Dollar (Deborah Knott Mysteries)

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I thought the last several books in the Deborah Knott series were pretty poor. Mechanical plots, dull characters, uninteresting and implausible mystery solutions. In one of them, I intuited the murdered from the beginning because s/he was given too much "air time" when s/he was introduced - a common giveaway for untalented mystery writers. I feared that Maron had run out of ideas and was just churning out books for the money.

Happily, "Slow Dollar" more than restores my faith. As is typical with Maron, the point is less the mystery than the characters. As others have indicated, the new characters in "Slow Dollar" are delightfully drawn and wonderfully real. They add more depth to the incredibly complex relationships within Deborah's family.

And I absolutely, positively LOVED the new relationship with Dwight. Yes, I consider myself to be on a first-name basis with these people; they are that real to me.

Thank you, Margaret Maron, from this grateful reader. You're back on track.

When the carnival comes to Dobbs, Deborah has already met the owner. Two drunken fools damaged one of her rides and Deborah was the judge to hear the case. More trouble occurs in Dobbs. The eldest son of the owner is found dead, by Deborah, at the Dozer with a mouth full of quarters. While investigating the case, she finds that Tallahassee Ames, the part owner of the carnival is really, her niece, Olivia. She hasn't seen Olivia since she was a small child, but promised her late mother to always treat her as family. Too bad Olivia's father doesn't feel the same way, since it was his grandson that was murdered. Deborah is also changing her relationship with Dwight Bryant.

This is one of the best novels of the series. Ms. Maron is always at her best when she involves Deborah's huge family and its different characters in the story. A new family member is always welcome and Tally and her family add color to an already colorful brood. Deborah's new relationship with Dwight makes me wonder why nothing ever happened before. I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.

Deborah Knott, youngest of twelve children and only daughter of ex-bootlegger Kezzie Knott, is a circuit judge in rural North Carolina. On the bench, she's compassionate but firm; off the bench, she manages to avoid both marriage and speeding tickets -- barely.
A carnival comes to Deborah's own Colleton, County, North Carolina. Deborah and assorted cousins are enjoying the rides when the carnival owner's elder son is found murdered.
Deborah's personal and professional lives are intertwined as she helps her old friend, Sheriff Dwight Bryant, investigate the crime. The mystery is not a whodunit and many readers won't care when the villain is revealed. The strength of the book comes from strong writing, three-dimensional characters and the North Carolina rural setting.

As usual, Deborah's young cousins teeter on the edge of the law while her assorted brothers and sisters-in-law carry on family traditions of southern hospitality. And as Deborah faces re-election, she regrets her checkered history of relationships and considers a surprising proposition from someone close to her.
Slow Dollar evokes an unsentimental but loving picture of the Old South. Like the author, Deborah grew up in North Carolina, lived "up north" and returned home. She respects the heritage of the south while defying its traditions in her own life.

And the series is as warm and delicious as a southern baked biscuit with melted butter -- after you've consumed one, you're eager for the next. The Knott family might try Deborah's patience but they manage to be warm and supportive without degenerating into sentimental syrup. If you're new to the series, read a few of the earlier volumes first -- you'll enjoy this one even more.

Judge Deborah Knott, her incredible family and their southern-fried lives are a big part of what makes this series so satisfying to me. I love the way she values her friends and families and her home, warts and all. This book was a great addition to Deborah's story and the story of her beloved Colleton County. I was glad to see the developments in her personal life -- after all the ups and downs of this area of Deborah's life, I wished this book had devoted a little more time to this part of the storyline. Nevertheless, this was a satisfying book in its plot line and its rich cast of characters.

Judge Deborah Knott's complicated and extensive family structure gets even more complex in this, her 9th outing for Maron's compelling tales in North Carolina. Suddenly, new and formerly unknown family members are popping out of the woodwork when the carnival comes to Dobbs, and with the new kin comes one bloody death and fear of more.

Maron has put together an entertaining tale, full of character, that sends Judge Knott back to remember her childhood, and introduces Tally Ames, a complex woman proud to be "a carnie".

There's a relationship surprise in the book, as Maron introduces a romance of sorts between Deb'rah and long-time friend Dwight Bryant, one that Maron fans have been expecting and hoping for for a long time. So, while weaving a delicious mystery, the author once again succeeds in giving us a sweet tale, full of the comfort of the south, and kin, and small town loves and friendships.

Judge Deborah Knott suspects something odd about the carnival that has come to her small North Carolina town, but she doesn't expect murder. When someone kills a young man associated with the carnival and stuffs his mouth full of quarters, the town shrugs--they weren't local. But Deborah learns of a local connection--and suspects that the death involves more than a simple fight among carnies.

Author Margaret Maron writes convincingly of the carnival life and even more convincingly about small-town North Carolina where family is key, where farming is still a way of life, and where single women and single men continue the eternal dance of attraction and fear. Deborah Knott is an engaging and compelling character. Her large family and their history together (both good and bad) gives her a depth that adds to her appeal.

Maron does a fine job delivering the clues in the midst of the plot. Careful readers will certainly guess the killer before Deborah does, but the characters and story are so interesting that I found myself so involved in the novel that I forgot to try to outguess the author. Maron's approachable style makes SLOW DOLLAR an enjoyable and fast read.

I have loved Margaret Maron's books for years, and have loved Deborah Knott and her huge family since "Bootlegger's Daughter.""Slow Dollar" has it all- the vivid, lovable, characters, rich local colour, a challenging mystery.Set in a carnival, Maron gives us a glimpse into a life many of us never know, and may never know.As others have said, there is an unexpected branch of the Knott family tree.While Cyl DeGraffenried is sorely missed, there is a delightful turn for the better in Deborah's private life.I found "Uncommon Clay" to be less compelling than "Storm Track," but "Slow Dollar" certainly makes up for it.

Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott Series is a delight and this book certainly does not disappoint. In this latest installment, Judge Knott presides at a case where four young men have vandalized a game owned by Tallahassee Ames, who is part owner of a carnival which is playing in town. Very shortly thereafter,Tallahassee's son is killed while Deborah is at the carnival. As she does some investigating, Deborah discovers that she is related to Tally and to her son, Braz. She pursues the investigation while trying to develop a relationship with Tally, a sometimes tricky balancing act. Deborah's large extended family, consisting of 11 older brothers and their families, provides background and several interesting characters for this book. Braz and his step-father had bought up the contents of several storage areas which had been auctioned off, so there were several angry people trying to get their property back who had a motive for killing Braz. The book contains a lot of information about living in and running a carnival, and even contains a glossary of carnival terms. It is nicely paced and even contains a little romance, which should combine to be very pleasing to both old and new Maron fans.

Judge Deborah Knott of Colleton County, North Carolina first meets Tally Ames in the courtroom when the carnival owner presses charges against three local men who damaged one of her rides. The judge finds in favor of Tally and orders the men to make restitution. The next time the two women meet is at the harvest festival carnival where Deborah is taking in the sights with friends and family.

The evening ends abruptly when Tally's son is found murdered, his face stomped on and his mouth stuffed with quarters. As the police investigate the carny workers, the judge learns that Tally is her long lost niece, even though Deborah's brother refuses to acknowledge her as his own. When another carnival worker is killed, the carny people close ranks against outsiders but none of that fastened tight community ever dealt with the likes of an obstinate individual like the judge.

The latest installment in the Deborah Knott's here comes the judge amateur sleuth investigation mystery series is a well written novel starring a secondary cast that is colorfully eccentric. The judge agrees to marry a local man who has loved her secretly for a very long time and it will be interesting to see if she, in future books, chickens out before she gets to the altar. SLOW DOLLAR is as much a family saga as it is a clever regional mystery.

Harriet Klausner

This book was pure pleasure. Living in NC I like to read regional authors. Maron's best book to date.