Storm Track [Hardcover]

Margaret Maron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2000

Judge Deborah Knott blows the lid off a murder investigation with gale force winds in this newest entry in the award-winning series. As Hurricane Fran strikes the North Carolina coast, Judge Knott seeks clues to a motel murder and a determined killer finds a perfect time to strike again.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When it comes to the weaving of tangled webs, you'll find none finer nor more deceptive than those on the loom of Margaret Maron's Storm Track, the seventh entry in her critically acclaimed Judge Deborah Knott mystery series.

Colleton County, North Carolina, is home to Judge Knott, her moonshining daddy (the series opener, 1992's Bootlegger's Daughter, swept the Edgar Allen Poe, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards in unprecedented fashion), and more brothers and cousins than hairs on a big dog's back. Likable young lawyer Jason Bullock lives there too, as does his lovely and--unbeknownst to him--extraordinarily unfaithful wife--an awkward situation all around, which turns even more so when she turns up dead in a local motel, wearing little more than whimsy and a wink:

"Who would kill her, Reid?"

"Hell, I don't know. Usually you'd say the husband, but Bullock was on the ball field, right? Millard King, too."

"She slept with Millard King? When?"

He shrugged. "Before me, after me, during me--I don't keep tabs."

Clues abound, suspects emerge, and chief among them is the judge's cousin, Reid; a cad, certainly, but a killer? Judge Knott thinks not and sets out to prove it, as the body count rises and Hurricane Fran commences to lower the boom.

A native North Carolinian, Maron opens a window onto the New South by concerning herself more with her multilayered characters and their intertwined lives than with overstyled prose or plot contrivances. An altogether satisfying mystery, Storm Track will surely propel readers straight through this series and into the prolific Maron's other series featuring Lt. Sigrid Harald, NYPD. --Michael Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

Judge Deborah Knott of the Colleton County (N.C.) District Court is one of the most delightful and original of contemporary amateur detectives. The youngest of 12 children--and the only girl--she knows everyone in the county and is never shy about poking her nose in all manner of suspicious happenings. Then she sits readers down for a cosy chat about her adventures, as though they were old friends. In the series's seventh novel (Homes Fires), when promiscuous Lynn Bullock is found strangled in the Orchid Motel wearing black lace underwear, suspects include several local men as well as the deceased's attorney husband, Jason, and Deborah's womanizing cousin Reid Stephenson. But Deborah saw all of these men playing softball at the time of the murder. The judge helps investigate the crime, but soon she has to confront another killer--ferocious Hurricane Fran, fast approaching from the coast. Maron immerses the reader in the down-home, inbred world of the rural South, where intertwined family histories are common knowledge and some old-timers, like Deborah's unrepentant bootlegger father, still live by obsolete customs. Colleton County also has a growing population of black and female professionals, as well as spreading residential development to accommodate suburbanites from the coastal cities 150 miles away. One of Maron's many skills is her ability to weave into her story the social changes coming to this region with the speed of that hurricane. Agent, Vicky Bijur. Mystery Guild main selection. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press; First Edition edition (April 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892966564
• ISBN-13: 978-0892966561
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars mild storm, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Storm Track (Hardcover)

I have been a fan of Margaret Maron for years--beginning with her NY series--and now always preorder the Deborah Knott volumes. While certain parts of the story were well up to her best, especially the storm watching and writing minister's son, I was disappointed with the lack of growth in our knowledge of the large Knot family. There were excellant scenes with Kezzie, the daddy of the clan, but the others including cousin Reid--the maybe suspect--seemed very shallow. The mystery itself was OK but predictable, although I reread a couple of key pages several times and do not yet feel that the ending "reasoning" tracked. I would recommend this book as a good diversion read but not a great one like so many of her others.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good addition to the Deborah Knott series, May 12, 2000

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storm Track (Hardcover)

The latest of Maron's Deborah Knott series is full of action. A hurricane is bearing down on Colleton County and a woman is found murdered in a local motel. As usual, the characters are interesting and the storyline keeps you guessing. I started this book when I got home from work and did not put it down until I was finished.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maron writes a good but not a great read, April 6, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Storm Track (Hardcover)

Hurricane Fran is heading north towards Colleton County, North Carolina, leaving citizens concerned with its potential impact. However, before the storm hits, someone kills Lynn Bullock, wife of an attorney. Better known by most of the locals as The Tramp, Lynn was found dead in a motel room.

Any number of males including the victim's spouse could be the killer. However, law enforcement officials suspect Reid Stephenson committed the crime. Reid's cousin, Judge Deborah Knott, knows that her beloved relative did not murder Lynn. To prove his innocence, Deborah begins her own investigation, but not before a second brutal killing occurs. As events spiral out of control, the hurricane arrives to cause even more havoc.

In spite of the raging storm and series of murders, the latest Judge Knott tale is more of a character piece that deeply looks into the social behavior and interrelationships of various protagonists, especially the extended "Knott" clan. Though the who-done-it is straightforward, the plot remains entertaining as the audience gains insight into Judge Knott and kin. Margaret Maron has another triumphant relationship mystery that will send new fans seeking other Judge Knott novels and the author's wonderful Sigrid Harald books.

Harriet Klausner