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Summary
Summary
Best-selling author Margaret Maron shows the form that has won her the Edgar and Agatha Awards, among many others, in this riveting mystery. Judge Deborah Knott and Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant are due to marry in a week. But all plans are put on hold when an assistant district attorney is killed, and the clues compel Judge Knott to investigate an earlier double murder that may be connected.
Author Notes
Margaret Maron grew up in rural North Carolina. She attended college for two years before a summer job at the Pentagon led to marriage, a tour of duty in Italy, than several years in Brooklyn, New York before moving back to North Carolina. She is the author of the Sigrid Harald Mystery series, the Deborah Knott Mystery series, Bloody Kin, and Last Lessons of Summer. Bootlegger's Daughter won the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best Mystery in 1992. "Up Jumps the Devil" won the 1996 "Best Novel" Agatha award. "High Country Fall" was nominated for an Agatha Award in 2004 and also picked up a Macavity nomination the following year. "Three-Day Town" won the 2011 Agatha Award for "Best Novel". "Long Upon the Land" won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel of 2015.Margaret is a founding member and past president of sisters in Crime and of the American Crime Writer's League; She is a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of Maron's first-rate 11th Deborah Knott mystery (after 2004's High Country Fall), the judge and her fianc?, sheriff deputy Dwight Bryant, are distracted from their impending nuptials by a fatal car crash involving assistant D.A. Tracy Johnson. When it turns out that someone shot Johnson as she was driving, Deborah and Dwight become involved in a murder investigation that will uncover a web of crime and corruption in Colleton County, N.C. Meanwhile, members of Deborah's large, extended family, among other warm Southern characters, hurry to complete the renovations on Deborah's old farmhouse and to prepare, celebrate and sometimes complicate the upcoming wedding. When two young students approach Deborah about a death-row prisoner who they think is innocent, she can't resist helping. In contrast to the image of the ideal woman described in the quotes from the Victorian etiquette book that head each chapter, the realistic, contemporary Deborah, an expert at multitasking, handles all challenges with wit, intelligence and sensitivity. Agent, Vicky Bijur. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Maron's Judge Deborah Knott series is one of those cozy-procedural combos whose fans relish being part of the daily lives of the characters. This eleventh installment in the series will be treasured by those devotees with the same fervor that soap fans feel for a pivotal episode. It's Christmas, which means plenty of -family-friendly celebrating among Judge Knott's enormous clan in Colleton County, North Carolina, but more than that, the long-awaited marriage between Deborah and Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant is about to happen. Amid the myriad domestic details, there is also murder: the shooting of an assistant DA leads back to an earlier murder trial and the possibility that a soon-to-be-executed woman may be innocent. Readers new to this series may find the domesticity a bit overwhelming--a full page on the question of whether the wedding rice bags should be filled with birdseed?--but Deborah's fans will want to hear it all. And give Maron credit: her ability to evoke the camaraderie shared by small-town friends and family is almost enticing enough to make Woody Allen consider moving to North Carolina. --Bill Ott Copyright 2005 Booklist
Kirkus Review
To-do list: Find the killer, stop the execution, get married. Judge Deborah Knott (High Country Fall, 2004, etc.), who dated Mr. Wrongs for years while her daddy, 11 brothers and numerous sisters-in-law were convinced she'd never settle down, has opened her heart to Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant. Their big day is only a week or two off when the murder of ADA Tracy Johnson sends their plans off-kilter. Although Deborah and Dwight have a pact never to discuss cases that might come before her on the bench, Deborah can't say no to two college kids who beseech her to look into the Martha Hurst case. They believe that Hurst, due to be executed in a month for the murder of her son-in-law and ex-lover, is innocent. If DA Doug Woodall is correct in saying that his case was airtight, why was Tracy asking to see the old case files before she died? While Deborah and the college kids wrestle with long-ago witnesses, Dwight worries about the surprises in Tracy's autopsy and his suddenly missing deputy Don Whitley. There'll be another death, hints of an irregular pregnancy or two and more police corruption in Colleton County before the DA redresses a wrong, Tracy is avenged and Deborah and Dwight celebrate their nuptials. Despite the carnage, there's such bonhomie and sexual warmth that readers may well consider moving to North Carolina to be closer to the Knott family. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Maron returns to Colleton County, NC, in this 11th entry in her popular mystery series featuring Judge Deborah Knott. With only a few weeks until Deborah's Christmas wedding to longtime friend, sheriff's deputy Dwight Bryant, assistant district attorney Tracy Johnson and her infant daughter, Mei, are murdered. Was Tracy killed because she was looking into a years-old murder or was there another reason? During the course of the investigation, Deborah and Dwight successfully navigate wedding events, family members, and forensics to solve the crime and make it to the altar on time. The story folds in many of the characters and places readers have grown to enjoy over the years with a respectable story that ends with a twist. Reader C.J. Critt once again lends her voice to Maron's rich cast of characters, giving a real sense of place to Colleton County. An enjoyable mystery; highly recommended.-Tim Daniels, Georgia State Univ. Lib., Atlanta (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
