Southern Discomfort

Second in the Judge Deborah Knott series set in North Carolina.

Maron takes social issues and makes them very personal, usually through Knott's family, which is large enough and diverse enough to provide the characters and situations without seeming forced. In this book, the main issue is child molestation. However, the murder mystery is set against the background of a group of Cottton Grove women building a house for battered women; Knott promised during her election campaign to participate and now she's making good on that promise. This book was written in the early 90s, when women in the building trades were still relatively new. Maron points up the issue with a clash between her brother Herman, an electrician, and Annie Sue, his show more daughter, who is a much better electrician than her brother.

With this book, Maron started her custom of chapter headings from relevant, though sometimes startling books. In this one, each chapter is preceded by an applicable definition of a building term, and each was taken from the Rate Training Manual NAVPERS 10648-F, Dep't of the Navy!

Plot is well done, the writing as usual excellent with Maron's usual sure touch of characterizations and locale. Highly recommended. show less

I've had several novels by Margaret Maron on my tbr shelves and I'm not sure why I didn't try one before this time but I'm so glad that I finally decided that her books were next to read. Unfortunately, I am starting with number 2 in the series but it did not deter my appreciation or delight in meeting the lead character of Deborah Knott and it was easily read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed Margaret Maron's descriptive writing that at times highlighted for me her wonderful sense of humor. Over the years I've read many different descriptions of characters described as nerds but this description becomes my favorite as the author’s humor is evident:

"The investigator from Environmental Health, an environmental epidemiologist to give show more him his official title, was named Gordon O'Conner. Thirtyish, going bald early. Despite laid-back sneakers and jeans, there was an edginess about his wiry build that made me think he'd probably been a nerd in grade school. An intelligent nerd with something of a terrier's nervous intensity just before he picks up the rabbit's trail."

As the author continued description of the character it also became more evident that her descriptions were more meaningful as she uses items which everyone has familiarity and it heightened visual ease.

"He wore rimless round glasses perched on a long thin nose. The lens were thinner than fine crystal and polished to a shining gloss that rivaled the gloss of his bald dome. Behind those glasses, his eyes gleamed like two large black coffee beans; yet, they couldn’t have needed much correction because the lens didn’t distort their appearance any more than ordinary window glass."

Two (2) other features of the novel presentation that complemented the storyline very effectively are the chapter titles and at the beginning of each chapter the italicized definitions of building terms (identified by the chapter titles) which are credited on the copyright page to: 6th edition of "Rate Training Manual NAVPERS 10648-F", prepared by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Department of the Navy. Anyone who has read novels in A Writer's Apprentice Mystery Series by Julia Buckley will especially delight and appreciate the chapter "lead-in" of these italicized sentences. Margaret Maron and Julia Buckley use them very productively. As I continue reading the Deborah Knott Mysteries I look forward to discovery if this feature continues throughout the series. Fingers crossed. show less

Reading Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott novels is like stepping back into where I lived and worked for so long. I have known these people, or at least their twins, for all of my life. And I remember when women had to prove themselves better than men doing the same job to have the same level of approbation.

The mysteries were challenging, although one plays into stereotypes true when it was written back in 1993. It is easy to see why it was nominated for both the Agatha and Edgar awards. The bonus is the social interactions in this very North Carolina family.

So take a trip back to the early 1990s in rural North Carolina. If you like mysteries or good Southern writing, this book might well suit you.

Deborah Knott is now Judge Deborah Knott, but that hasn't stopped her life being full of interesting-ness and excitement. When she was campaigning for the Judge-ship she managed to promise (sort of) to help out with a Woman run sort of Habitat for Humanity, or at least Habitat for Dobbs. The organizer catches her and makes her follow through on her promise. One of her brothers gets sick, and then one of the building inspectors gets himself killed (with the hammer that Deborah had been using) and the mystery unfolds from there.

The novel was set up so that each chapter was prefaced with a different definition of something that had to do with construction (from Concrete/Cement to what Finishing is) and it took a while to get used to, but I show more have no doubt that if it had been too distracting I could have just skipped the italicized stuff before the chapters started.

I have to admit that sometimes I still get a lot of Deborah's older brothers confused, but in this book just as in the last one Maron made sure that if a character was important that the reader definitely remember who he or she was. A great example being Annie Sue. Other than Deborah she's the one in the Knott family that to this day (with Three Day Town coming out soon) I remember the most vividly.

And then there was Dwight Bryant. Maron writes all her characters with so much love and even seems to manage to write the 'bad guys' so that they aren't all bad. But Dwight is such a rich character and how Maron writes the interactions with Deborah is just priceless. A definite five star book. show less

This is the second book in the Deborah Knott mystery series. In this book we find the bootlegger's daughter being sworn in as a state judge. I really enjoy Margaret Maron's southern mysteries. Not only are the mysteries tricky, but all the Southern mannerisms, names and their culture are included in each book. There is lots happening in Deborah's little town in South Carolina. There is a local lothario who is terrorizing the young girls in the community. There is a charity home being built by the women in the town. And some men around town seem to be having heart attacks and strokes more than usual. Deborah manages to straighten all this out with the help of her plentiful family and friends, I listened to this book on audio, and I have show more to admit it was a good way to enjoy this mystery. The narrator brought all the colourful characters to life. It's like being an in-person observer to life with Deborah. show less

Lots of insights into family life in a bucolic NC town. Rape, incest,teenage girls angst, race, gender issues, missing pets, and even murder create opportunities for Judge Knott to get involved. Good story line holds everything together and we even learn the the tools and methods necessary to build a house for a needy family. Lively entry in this enjoyable series.

Book #2 in this series, it's a quick and pleasant read full of red herrings, southern culture, more convoluted kinship connections, and murder. I identified the human killer quickly, but was completely wrong for the murderers of the critters. I enjoy these books because half my family lives in the deep South, and much is both familiar and hilarious! Even the "New" South has certain expectations that make no sense to those not raised here, and it crosses color, class, economic, and education barriers. It's just what we do! I'm looking forward to reading the next book, on my new Kindle.