Margaret Maron (1938–2021)

Published in 1998, this mystery rife with racial tensions accurately portrays racial politics and relations both for that time and currently. Until the older folks die off, there is not going to be much progress that is more than skin deep. I say that as a non-white, non-black woman raised in the Deep South, having faced both races over these issues. (Being Asian in the south was a weird experience for sure.)

The mystery plot brings up some painful scenes of prejudice and touches on show more colorism, but the theme is handled with Maron's typical deftness, both honest and understanding of human foibles and failings. show less

Nifty story of a retiring lawyer who ends up shot dead in his office, surrounded by scattered and partially burned "special" files. He seems to have been engaging in some creative and selective blackmail, setting up a tidy retirement account off-shore. But which of those special clients finally decided enough was enough? I love how Maron reveals all the dirty little secrets and then lets her detective turn a blind eye to the harmless ones as she eliminates the victims as suspects. Until the show more last one, of course. This one ended with an unconventional bang, which I thought was mildly brilliant.
2017 show less

Margaret Maron's books are consistently good reading, and this one is no exception. The umpty-leventh in her Judge Deborah Knott series, which began with the Edgar-winning [book: The Bootlegger's Daughter] in 1992, [book: Death's Half-Acre] finds recently-married Deborah still working on the ramifications of being married to a deputy sheriff, being a stepmother, and also coming to the realization that her larger-than-life father will not live forever. Fear not, though, Kezzie Knott is still show more as wily as ever in this story and his subplot not only brings the book to a satisfying conclusion but also illustrates some key points about rural and small-town culture.
The major plot line involves exurban sprawl development and its effect on the rural culture. In North Carolina it's farms which are being encroached on by people who are looking for country life, but can't bear the smell of manure; hereabouts where I live it's the working waterfront that comes into conflict with some of the incomers. So I get where Maron's characters are coming from. Maron is also very clear-sighted about the class structure of the communities she writes about. And, Deborah Knott's large family of brothers and their entourages not only help the plot along but provide comic relief from time to time. Maron is able to use current events and problems without making her books into "problem novels" -- you may learn something, but it will always be entertaining. Highly recommended. show less

The last of Maron's Deborah Knott series, which I've been hoarding because I knew there would be no more. It was a good one, since the author planned to end the series and obviously gave a lot of thought about how to do it. There's the requisite mysterious death, and the usual family stuff, but in this one Deborah sets out to learn a bit more about her parents' first meeting and courtship than she has ever known before, prompted by contemplation of an engraved cigarette lighter her mother show more had kept since WWII. Why did her dying mother tell Deborah that the man who gave her the lighter at a USO dance saved her life? Who was he, and who was his lost love? How DID a widowed bootlegger with 8 young sons persuade the daughter of a prominent lawyer to marry him?
2018 show less