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Deborah Knott Mysteries #2
Southern Discomfort
Deborah Knott may have lost the district election, but a bigoted judge's sudden death--and some old-fashioned political horse trading--have won her a governor's appointment. True to Southern form, her swearing-in is followed by a raucous reception that brings out every elderly aunt and cousin in the county.
Unfortunately, Lu Bingham, the force behind WomenAid, is at the reception, too. Not only has she come to collect the leftovers for her daycare center, but she's also there to collect on one of Deborah's more extravagant campaign promises. Before Deborah can say, "If elected..." she is committed to putting her muscle where her mouth was, spending weekends with an all-woman crew as the group attempts to build its first house for a needy single mom.
Old stereotypes die hard. Herman Knott, one of Deborah's numerous brothers, has to be hectored and cajoled before he'll give reluctant permission for his daughter and novice electrician Annie Sue to wire the house. Nor does it help that the county building inspector is a swaggering chauvinist nit-picker who's more interested in scoring with the young women than scoring their work.
Chaos erupts before the house is even half-finished. On the same rainy summer night that Herman collapses on the side of the road from an apparent heart attack, Annie Sue is found battered and half-naked in the deserted structure. Has she been raped? Who left her in that condition? And whose blood is that on Deborah's own hammer?
Dwight Bryant, an old childhood friend (and a bit of a good ol' boy), is a modern and efficient police detective, but it is Deborah who must judge whether dark secrets in her own family have led to murder. And if so, reveal the darker more troubling reasons why.
(Cover design by Paper Moon Graphics)
Unfortunately, Lu Bingham, the force behind WomenAid, is at the reception, too. Not only has she come to collect the leftovers for her daycare center, but she's also there to collect on one of Deborah's more extravagant campaign promises. Before Deborah can say, "If elected..." she is committed to putting her muscle where her mouth was, spending weekends with an all-woman crew as the group attempts to build its first house for a needy single mom.
Old stereotypes die hard. Herman Knott, one of Deborah's numerous brothers, has to be hectored and cajoled before he'll give reluctant permission for his daughter and novice electrician Annie Sue to wire the house. Nor does it help that the county building inspector is a swaggering chauvinist nit-picker who's more interested in scoring with the young women than scoring their work.
Chaos erupts before the house is even half-finished. On the same rainy summer night that Herman collapses on the side of the road from an apparent heart attack, Annie Sue is found battered and half-naked in the deserted structure. Has she been raped? Who left her in that condition? And whose blood is that on Deborah's own hammer?
Dwight Bryant, an old childhood friend (and a bit of a good ol' boy), is a modern and efficient police detective, but it is Deborah who must judge whether dark secrets in her own family have led to murder. And if so, reveal the darker more troubling reasons why.
(Cover design by Paper Moon Graphics)
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
153 people are currently reading
901 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Maron
121 books757 followersBorn and raised in central North Carolina, Margaret Maron lived in Italy before returning to the USA. In addition to a collection of short stories she also authored numerous mystery novels.
Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
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Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
Like Margaret Maron on Facebook
Follow Margaret Maron on Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
November 30, 2019
I liked “The Bootlegger’s Daughter” in 2016 and but waited on the 1993 sequel, until I recently located a mint condition copy of “Southern Discomfort”. Family colour, town atmosphere, and humour were excellent and brought personal, relatable touches that Margaret Maron surely planned. Friends watching her nephews play baseball, building a house with her smart niece, reminiscing on a moonlight walk with her Dad, being sworn-in as a judge in a roomful of relatives.... makes Deborah a person we know and love. I’m not among those who minded the mysteries taking a backseat because the writing was great. Seeing her judge her first week of cases was fascinating and ushered in some suspects.
My grade would have topped-out at four stars because sexual assault, even an unsuccessful attack, is more disturbing than killing, by accident or out of rage. I avoid those contents, except to continue a series. The vicious man was murdered with a hammer, easily excused by self-defence but the court needed to process whomever the hero was. His corpse contained poison and Deborah’s brother was crippled by poison. This second crime added perplexity and for a change, it had an understandable motive.
What dipped a good novel to three stars is a prologue with an unclear timeline. We observe an unidentified paedophile and it did not come through clearly to me, that it is one of two townspeople who are deceased later.
Another sad prologue was the theft of a loved elderly cat! I smacked this novel down to two stars, upon a ludicrous revelation! Would newly-immigrated Asians eat well-known pets out of poverty; in a state abundant in fruit, produce, and charity!? Such horror having nothing to do with any mystery, was intolerable. I will try to forget it! I own nearly all of her novels.
My grade would have topped-out at four stars because sexual assault, even an unsuccessful attack, is more disturbing than killing, by accident or out of rage. I avoid those contents, except to continue a series. The vicious man was murdered with a hammer, easily excused by self-defence but the court needed to process whomever the hero was. His corpse contained poison and Deborah’s brother was crippled by poison. This second crime added perplexity and for a change, it had an understandable motive.
What dipped a good novel to three stars is a prologue with an unclear timeline. We observe an unidentified paedophile and it did not come through clearly to me, that it is one of two townspeople who are deceased later.
Another sad prologue was the theft of a loved elderly cat! I smacked this novel down to two stars, upon a ludicrous revelation! Would newly-immigrated Asians eat well-known pets out of poverty; in a state abundant in fruit, produce, and charity!? Such horror having nothing to do with any mystery, was intolerable. I will try to forget it! I own nearly all of her novels.
February 21, 2013
Recently, and almost entirely by accident, I've been reading books set in rural Virginia and North Carolina. The best of them are this series of mysteries by Margaret Maron, featuring Judge Deborah Knott, a district judge in fictional Colleton County, North Carolina. The first book in the series, Bootlegger's Daughter, swept the prizes the year it was published (1992), but this second book, Southern Discomfort (1993) is to my mind even better. The plot, development of characters, and layers of southern charm are all very well done, especially the charm and the local color.
And the rural areas around Durham and Chapel Hill are colorful indeed, with not just Deborah's father, the bootlegger, but a county courthouse and the lawyers and judges who work there, tobacco fields, Baptist churches of differing flavors, and the usual large family gatherings. Sibling rivalry continues although Deborah and her brothers (eight of them, if I recall) are grown and some of them married with families and teen-aged children of their own. . . .
To read the rest of my review, go to my blog at:
http://maryslibrary.typepad.com/my_we...
And the rural areas around Durham and Chapel Hill are colorful indeed, with not just Deborah's father, the bootlegger, but a county courthouse and the lawyers and judges who work there, tobacco fields, Baptist churches of differing flavors, and the usual large family gatherings. Sibling rivalry continues although Deborah and her brothers (eight of them, if I recall) are grown and some of them married with families and teen-aged children of their own. . . .
To read the rest of my review, go to my blog at:
http://maryslibrary.typepad.com/my_we...
March 23, 2013
I like the leisurely way she carries you into her setting before the murder occurs. No rushing, time for everything. Love her huge, extended family. One paragraph in the hospital waiting room had 17 named characters, plus children and cousins. This would be a major flaw in a writer less gifted, but the point she is making is that in an emergency there is a flood of family. The reader is expected to be overwhelmed by the numbers, but also comforted by the support they provide for one of their own. Highly recommend this author and series.
July 20, 2017
This book starts out almost cutesy, as Deborah Knott begins to get the hang of being a judge in small-town North Carolina. It moves into family history, and I found a chart of her family tree helped me appreciate the emotional complexities of her clan. http://www.margaretmaron.com/dkfamily...
The book ends in much darker territory, where abuse, loyalty, and tragic misunderstanding come together. It's more Southern Gothic than whodunnit. That will disappoint some fans, but it deepens my respect for the book and the author.
The book ends in much darker territory, where abuse, loyalty, and tragic misunderstanding come together. It's more Southern Gothic than whodunnit. That will disappoint some fans, but it deepens my respect for the book and the author.
April 20, 2024
This is another good mystery featuring southern judge Deborah Knott. In this story, she has been newly elected to the judgeship of her county, and is trying also to help a group of women build a house for a needy mother. When there is a murder and she is suspected, she must figure out who the real culprit is. This is a satisfying mystery with good characters.
November 8, 2019
I haven't read the first book in Margaret Maron's Judge Deborah Knott series, but I really liked this second book as an entry to the series. There doesn't seem to be any missing backstory, so one can just hop in here. I was intrigued at first to find out how a judge would be involved in a murder investigation (since she is not a police officer or detective), but it all worked well together. The story took some interesting turns which kept me reading through to the end quite fast. Moreover, the characters, be they family, neighbours or new to town, all have very distinct and realistic personalities. It's almost as if Margaret Maron has actually lived in North or South Carolina (hint hint).
As for the negatives, there are some problematic scenes when it comes to legality of the judge's actions. Aside from that, there is a bit too much focus on the difference between white and black people and the difference between men and women, for my taste at least. I can see it is not the intention of the author to make this problematic, and in fact she tries to de-escalate these issues, but it's hard not to read some generation- and sociogeographically-induced prejudice into this book. Then again, I might just be oversensitive to this, and it didn't bother me that much. The only one of these that I think is not forgivable is the fact that one of the victims is shamed for possibly having led the killer to do what they did. This is victim shaming of a high level, and I cannot endorse it in any way. If it was only the main character who thought this, I could have written it off as a character flaw, but the reader is led to believe that this is a just way to look at the events from all sides.
All in all, Southern Discomfort is a real page-turner. The characters are amazingly diverse and realistic, and the crimes are interesting, as are the suspects and their motives. I liked this book and certainly want to read more of the series.
As for the negatives, there are some problematic scenes when it comes to legality of the judge's actions. Aside from that, there is a bit too much focus on the difference between white and black people and the difference between men and women, for my taste at least. I can see it is not the intention of the author to make this problematic, and in fact she tries to de-escalate these issues, but it's hard not to read some generation- and sociogeographically-induced prejudice into this book. Then again, I might just be oversensitive to this, and it didn't bother me that much. The only one of these that I think is not forgivable is the fact that one of the victims is shamed for possibly having led the killer to do what they did. This is victim shaming of a high level, and I cannot endorse it in any way. If it was only the main character who thought this, I could have written it off as a character flaw, but the reader is led to believe that this is a just way to look at the events from all sides.
All in all, Southern Discomfort is a real page-turner. The characters are amazingly diverse and realistic, and the crimes are interesting, as are the suspects and their motives. I liked this book and certainly want to read more of the series.
July 24, 2010
Awesome settings, intriguing dialogue, but light on mystery...
If you've read Ms. Maron's 8-book Sigrid Harald series, you might well wonder if this is indeed the same author who has now given us (a coincidence?) 8 more in the Judge Deborah Knott collection. Sigrid is a straight-laced NYC detective whose psyche just starts to unfold by the end of the set. The stories focus on the crime (usually a murder in chapter one) and the police procedures involved in catching the crook. Little is done to reveal the characters, provide setting changes, etc., a technique we've referred to before as "minimalist".
Enter Ms. Knott -- in Southern Discomfort, the second book of the set, it's a third of the book before anything really wrong happens. Even then, the crime and the perpetrator are uncovered almost more through circumstance than direct intent. Rather, we have a rich fabric of family relationships, single woman issues, feminist issues, mild religious and race issues -- interwoven with light suspense over what happened and "whodunit". Along the way, we get a sampling of the court cases Knott is hearing as the newest District Court Judge. Here again, much is revealed of her character and philosophy through what she says and thinks while handling her judgments and sentencings. Moreover, many of Maron's readers report finding her descriptions of rural North Carolina as outright travelogues, superior to books written with that intent.
We've always thought Maron to be a talented and gifted writer, and her hand is revealed to a tee so far in these two books about Knott. For our taste, a little more plot complexity (actually, maybe intensity is a better word) and a little less "down home" chit chat amongst the family would move these stories to higher class mysteries...
If you've read Ms. Maron's 8-book Sigrid Harald series, you might well wonder if this is indeed the same author who has now given us (a coincidence?) 8 more in the Judge Deborah Knott collection. Sigrid is a straight-laced NYC detective whose psyche just starts to unfold by the end of the set. The stories focus on the crime (usually a murder in chapter one) and the police procedures involved in catching the crook. Little is done to reveal the characters, provide setting changes, etc., a technique we've referred to before as "minimalist".
Enter Ms. Knott -- in Southern Discomfort, the second book of the set, it's a third of the book before anything really wrong happens. Even then, the crime and the perpetrator are uncovered almost more through circumstance than direct intent. Rather, we have a rich fabric of family relationships, single woman issues, feminist issues, mild religious and race issues -- interwoven with light suspense over what happened and "whodunit". Along the way, we get a sampling of the court cases Knott is hearing as the newest District Court Judge. Here again, much is revealed of her character and philosophy through what she says and thinks while handling her judgments and sentencings. Moreover, many of Maron's readers report finding her descriptions of rural North Carolina as outright travelogues, superior to books written with that intent.
We've always thought Maron to be a talented and gifted writer, and her hand is revealed to a tee so far in these two books about Knott. For our taste, a little more plot complexity (actually, maybe intensity is a better word) and a little less "down home" chit chat amongst the family would move these stories to higher class mysteries...
June 27, 2012
Three stars for a decent cozy mystery, atmospheric enough to take me to North Carolina for a couple of hours but serious enough central issue (spousal abuse, child abuse) to cut the sweetness a bit.
...unfortunately, I have to subtract a star for the egregious sub-plot of the Asian yard man and his children who've been stealing pet dogs and eating them, as they cannot afford supermarket prices. Stopped me cold in the middle of the book! It has nothing to do with the rest of the book, so far as I can tell. I don't remember the character being mentioned elsewhere. Asian culture is not a significant part of this story or of the first novel in the series, that I recall. Why did Maron feel the need to include it?
...unfortunately, I have to subtract a star for the egregious sub-plot of the Asian yard man and his children who've been stealing pet dogs and eating them, as they cannot afford supermarket prices. Stopped me cold in the middle of the book! It has nothing to do with the rest of the book, so far as I can tell. I don't remember the character being mentioned elsewhere. Asian culture is not a significant part of this story or of the first novel in the series, that I recall. Why did Maron feel the need to include it?
October 10, 2012
I agree with Nicole, I need half stars! 3.5 stars. I picked up this series because it came highly recommended to me by a few people whose taste tends to coincide with mine. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, but to me this book was less mystery and more family story than I was was expecting (or maybe in the mood for). Fortunately, the family characters were interesting, I think I was just expecting Deborah to do more investigating, and for the tale to be more gripping. I suspect this is one of those series that grows on you and I anticipate continuing with it in the future. I listened to this as an audiobook and there was a very interesting afterward by the author about her writing process and background that really added to my enjoyment.
September 15, 2012
I started this book predisposed to like it, but started bogging down in what I thought was the first chapter but which I noticed afterwards was a prologue. The prologue is written from four points of view: a mocking bird, a woman whose father harbors sexual feelings for her, a trashy wife-beater, and "a thief."
Once I was past the prologue, I started to enjoy the story, but then I began noticing aberrations of grammar and usage. Can't help it, but that kind of thing distracts me, breaks the fictional dream. I read to the end to see if I'd identified the killer. I'll give it two stars since I did read to the end, but I probably won't look for another book by the same author.
Once I was past the prologue, I started to enjoy the story, but then I began noticing aberrations of grammar and usage. Can't help it, but that kind of thing distracts me, breaks the fictional dream. I read to the end to see if I'd identified the killer. I'll give it two stars since I did read to the end, but I probably won't look for another book by the same author.
April 26, 2020
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:
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 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.
September 12, 2020
Audiobook. Narrated by C.J. Critt. There was a lot going on in the story but I enjoy Judge Knott's point of view and observations so much that I can overlook the pedophilia. I would also listen to Critt read the telephone book so she only enhances the story.
April 12, 2021
A pretty good mystery that kept me baffled until the very end, and even then I guessed wrong as to the murderer. Also a very leisurely one, with far too many characters and too much extraneous detail, as though the author was more interested in showing the South in general and southern women in particular in a flattering light than she was in furthering the plot. There was far too much description and incident that had nothing to do with the matter at hand. I was reminded of George Saunders's dictum--"This is a story, not a web-cam."
July 25, 2018
A little light on the mystery (or rather, three mysteries) and a little long on the Southern family ties, but a serviceable story.
December 16, 2014
I'm getting hooked on this series of mysteries...really enjoyed Southern Discomfort.
From Amazon:
Deborah Knott may have lost the district election, but a bigoted judge's sudden death--and some old-fashioned political horse trading--have won her a governor's appointment. True to Southern form, her swearing-in is followed by a raucous reception that brings out every elderly aunt and cousin in the county.
Unfortunately, Lu Bingham, the force behind WomenAid, is at the reception, too. Not only has she come to collect the leftovers for her daycare center, but she's also there to collect on one of Deborah's more extravagant campaign promises. Before Deborah can say, "If elected..." she is committed to putting her muscle where her mouth was, spending weekends with an all-woman crew as the group attempts to build its first house for a needy single mom.
Old stereotypes die hard. Herman Knott, one of Deborah's numerous brothers, has to be hectored and cajoled before he'll give reluctant permission for his daughter and novice electrician Annie Sue to wire the house. Nor does it help that the county building inspector is a swaggering chauvinist nit-picker who's more interested in scoring with the young women than scoring their work.
Chaos erupts before the house is even half-finished. On the same rainy summer night that Herman collapses on the side of the road from an apparent heart attack, Annie Sue is found battered and half-naked in the deserted structure. Has she been raped? Who left her in that condition? And whose blood is that on Deborah's own hammer?
Dwight Bryant, an old childhood friend (and a bit of a good ol' boy), is a modern and efficient police detective, but it is Deborah who must judge whether dark secrets in her own family have led to murder. And if so, reveal the darker more troubling reasons why.
From Amazon:
Deborah Knott may have lost the district election, but a bigoted judge's sudden death--and some old-fashioned political horse trading--have won her a governor's appointment. True to Southern form, her swearing-in is followed by a raucous reception that brings out every elderly aunt and cousin in the county.
Unfortunately, Lu Bingham, the force behind WomenAid, is at the reception, too. Not only has she come to collect the leftovers for her daycare center, but she's also there to collect on one of Deborah's more extravagant campaign promises. Before Deborah can say, "If elected..." she is committed to putting her muscle where her mouth was, spending weekends with an all-woman crew as the group attempts to build its first house for a needy single mom.
Old stereotypes die hard. Herman Knott, one of Deborah's numerous brothers, has to be hectored and cajoled before he'll give reluctant permission for his daughter and novice electrician Annie Sue to wire the house. Nor does it help that the county building inspector is a swaggering chauvinist nit-picker who's more interested in scoring with the young women than scoring their work.
Chaos erupts before the house is even half-finished. On the same rainy summer night that Herman collapses on the side of the road from an apparent heart attack, Annie Sue is found battered and half-naked in the deserted structure. Has she been raped? Who left her in that condition? And whose blood is that on Deborah's own hammer?
Dwight Bryant, an old childhood friend (and a bit of a good ol' boy), is a modern and efficient police detective, but it is Deborah who must judge whether dark secrets in her own family have led to murder. And if so, reveal the darker more troubling reasons why.
May 18, 2019
I really enjoyed this book, and I am THOROUGHLY enjoying the series. I stumbled upon it by accident and am very glad I did.
I have to say that while the first one only rated 4 stars, I gave the second one a solid 5 stars and am happily looking forward to the rest of the series.
First of all, it's set in North Carolina, which is an interesting part of the US. Second, the characters are really well-developed, and continue to evolve. There are enough of them that the world feels very populated, but not so many that you lose track of who's who. The author has set up a clever longterm arc that I can already see the bones of, and I appreciate it. The mysteries are good so far, and in the 2nd one, I wasn't sure whodunnit until the very end. Maron's descriptions of the land and the people are excellent, and the small-town workings of her setting are fascinating without being cloying. It's probably classified as a "cozy" by virtue of the fact that they're not exceptionally gory or graphic, but they're not soft, either. The first part of the series is clearly somewhat dated (clothing descriptions, etc), but that does not detract from a modern audience's ability to appreciate the stories and the series as a whole.
I have to say that while the first one only rated 4 stars, I gave the second one a solid 5 stars and am happily looking forward to the rest of the series.
First of all, it's set in North Carolina, which is an interesting part of the US. Second, the characters are really well-developed, and continue to evolve. There are enough of them that the world feels very populated, but not so many that you lose track of who's who. The author has set up a clever longterm arc that I can already see the bones of, and I appreciate it. The mysteries are good so far, and in the 2nd one, I wasn't sure whodunnit until the very end. Maron's descriptions of the land and the people are excellent, and the small-town workings of her setting are fascinating without being cloying. It's probably classified as a "cozy" by virtue of the fact that they're not exceptionally gory or graphic, but they're not soft, either. The first part of the series is clearly somewhat dated (clothing descriptions, etc), but that does not detract from a modern audience's ability to appreciate the stories and the series as a whole.
August 8, 2016
I really really want to like this series. Judge Knott is a great character and enjoy her crazy family.
But this mystery left me a little wishful that Ms. Maron had spent as much time on the ending as she did on the beginning.
Deborah Knott has just become a district judge and we get a birds eye view of her new life. Now an elected official, Judge Knott is helping a local organization build a house for a single mother and her two kids. And from there, things go terribly wrong. Family emergencies find themselves intertwined with a murder and Judge Knott has to find the killer to clear her name.
This story has a great deal of set up so when, halfway through, the murder happens, there are a slew of suspects. Unfortunately, it felt like Ms. Maron rushed to finish the book. All the sudden the murderer (who was rather obvious) quickly admits to the murder with the rest of the storylines all coming to a nice closure and then end. For all the set up, I felt the ending was a huge let down. Would have loved to see Dwight and Deborah take more time in discovering the killer instead of just having the killer reveal themselves.
I'll give Judge Knott another try as I really do like her. Just hope the story is more evenly thought out.
But this mystery left me a little wishful that Ms. Maron had spent as much time on the ending as she did on the beginning.
Deborah Knott has just become a district judge and we get a birds eye view of her new life. Now an elected official, Judge Knott is helping a local organization build a house for a single mother and her two kids. And from there, things go terribly wrong. Family emergencies find themselves intertwined with a murder and Judge Knott has to find the killer to clear her name.
This story has a great deal of set up so when, halfway through, the murder happens, there are a slew of suspects. Unfortunately, it felt like Ms. Maron rushed to finish the book. All the sudden the murderer (who was rather obvious) quickly admits to the murder with the rest of the storylines all coming to a nice closure and then end. For all the set up, I felt the ending was a huge let down. Would have loved to see Dwight and Deborah take more time in discovering the killer instead of just having the killer reveal themselves.
I'll give Judge Knott another try as I really do like her. Just hope the story is more evenly thought out.
May 6, 2008
“Southern Discomfort” is also the second installment of a series, following behind “Bootlegger’s Daughter” which won the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards in 1992. This series centers on Deborah Knott, a former DA and now district judge in Colleton County, North Carolina. In this story, she is making good on a campaign promise to help build houses for battered women, and in doing so Knott discovers who assaulted her teenage niece and killed a randy building inspector inside the unfinished WomenAid house.
This book was very character-centered, and you really don’t have much “mystery” until about 1/3 of the way through the story, but Maron is an expert at plot building and she creates the southern atmosphere perfectly so that this reader was captivated from start to finish. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a series that is light, yet believable, with wonderful characters and great atmosphere. I’ll definitely look to read others for myself.
This book was very character-centered, and you really don’t have much “mystery” until about 1/3 of the way through the story, but Maron is an expert at plot building and she creates the southern atmosphere perfectly so that this reader was captivated from start to finish. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a series that is light, yet believable, with wonderful characters and great atmosphere. I’ll definitely look to read others for myself.
November 6, 2016
Here are a couple of mysteries. How did four American books by a relatively obscure US writer (at least in the U.K.) end up in the secondhand bookshop of a National Trust stately house? How is a book classified as a mystery when no crime is discovered until halfway through what is a very short book?
This is the first of this series of books that I have read (book 1 wasn't in the shop). There are an awful lot of names in the opening chapters, as Judge Knott takes up her new role and you wonder how many you need to remember and which will be significant when the story eventually gets going. You also wonder who will be the murder victim. There is no little deduction, no great reveal and little humour.
I will move on to the next book some time, but, if that is no improvement, the others may be passed on.
This is the first of this series of books that I have read (book 1 wasn't in the shop). There are an awful lot of names in the opening chapters, as Judge Knott takes up her new role and you wonder how many you need to remember and which will be significant when the story eventually gets going. You also wonder who will be the murder victim. There is no little deduction, no great reveal and little humour.
I will move on to the next book some time, but, if that is no improvement, the others may be passed on.
August 13, 2011
Like the first book in the series, I found the setting to be the strongest part of this book. The weak writing bothered me, though. I think one of the measures of good writing is transparency (the author disappears; think Shakespeare). The protagonist has 2 inner voices: "the preacher" and "the pragmatist" who appear from time to time to give voice to the protagonist's inner dialog. The device is clumsy, unnecessary, and amateurish. The interactions between the characters, including the dialog, seem contrived. I can sense Ms. Maron at her desk, laboring over this manuscript. For me, it didn't work.
April 21, 2012
Hated Southern Discomfort by Margaret Maron - I didn't like the Second Deborah Knott Mystery. When Judge Deborah discovers that Mr. Ou and his family have been stealing and eating neighborhood pets she merely tells him not to do it anymore. I find this unacceptable, would she have turned a blind eye if he had been kidnapping children and eating them! I think not!!!!! Our pets deserve better then a judge who thinks merely telling a cat and dog killer not to do it is OK. And it is all Deborah's fault he had access to the pets in the first place as she hired him to take care of her Aunt's yard. Totally ruined the book for me.
October 5, 2012
I picked up the second book in this series because I was getting ready to go to a conference where the author was a keynote speaker. And I have found a new mystery series to enjoy!
Set in the rural piedmont of NC, Judge Deborah Knott is the central character, and I just fell in love with her easy-going style. I like the way the mystery gently unfolds, and the book is really more of a character sketch than a whodunit.
Each chapter is marked with an epigraph related to building a home, because the theme of the book is a group of Women Only who are helping to build a home for a single mother in need. The building inspector is found murdered in the house.
Set in the rural piedmont of NC, Judge Deborah Knott is the central character, and I just fell in love with her easy-going style. I like the way the mystery gently unfolds, and the book is really more of a character sketch than a whodunit.
Each chapter is marked with an epigraph related to building a home, because the theme of the book is a group of Women Only who are helping to build a home for a single mother in need. The building inspector is found murdered in the house.
October 9, 2015
4.5 stars
The characterisation and secondary characters in this series are what I hoped to meet from reading the hype around Lindsay Davis' Marco Didius Falco series, which I found very disappointing and one-dimensional. Maron, on the other hand, is a treasure of a writer, creating delightful people to fill a small town in Carolina with murder and mayhem and with a dry sense of humour permeating throughout! It's the 'down home' chit chat that makes this series special
The characterisation and secondary characters in this series are what I hoped to meet from reading the hype around Lindsay Davis' Marco Didius Falco series, which I found very disappointing and one-dimensional. Maron, on the other hand, is a treasure of a writer, creating delightful people to fill a small town in Carolina with murder and mayhem and with a dry sense of humour permeating throughout! It's the 'down home' chit chat that makes this series special
January 1, 2020
This 1993 story is part of the Deborah Knott Mystery Series. The characters are interesting enough and the setting of a small Southern town has lots of local atmosphere, although there is way too much information on home construction details. The author just goes too far with preaching her politically correct feminist and social justice viewpoints and turns this into an almost nauseating political/ideological manifesto. A Christian author doing the same thing would probably not get published or promoted by the publishing industry.
March 10, 2023
Pointless and depraved animal cruelty that doesn’t contribute to the story, serve as a red herring or advance the plot. To me, it seems an outlet for the author to make some pretty gross assumptions about Asian immigrants. And the jokes about animal cruelty in the closing chapter.
March 15, 2016
this book is light and fluffy, similar to the cat/cooking mysterys but slightly better. clean too. I would read another ( unlike cat/ cook mystery's lol)
February 14, 2023
SPOILER ALERT
This is a superb series. I love the quirky characters, the realistic Southern culture, the humor of the story in general and of the main character, Judge Deborah Stephenson Knott. The one hurdle to overcome is the vast cast of characters, many of whom are Deborah's family. It is challenging to keep them all straight. The story begins as Deborah is sworn in as a District Judge, the workhorse of the judicial system of North Carolina. There are 165 judges that handle thousands of cases under $10,000, not felonies nor marriages (that is for the magistrates who are appointed for two-year terms. Then comes the Superior Court with 77 judges and then the Appellate Division with just 12 judges. Deborah did not win the election for which her sister-in-law Minnie was campaign manage but was appointed after Judge Perry Byrd drops dead of a heart attack. Wearing a hand-me-down wool robe the has been altered that is heavy and hot as hell, she takes on the job of doling out justice for all kinds of minor offenses and she is good at it. She has a passel of brothers who are much older, she being the after-thought. Her daddy Kezzie Knott did not see her as a proper Southern lady in the position of a judge but is fierce in his support of her against any criticism.
She is roped into helping build a house for a poor family, the Powells, after a campaign promist. When she returns to the partially finished house to pick up borrowed tools, she finds her niece Annie Sue, half conscious with her clothes nearly off, beaten. Annie Sue, daughter of Herman, twin of Haywood, is the child that takes after the electrical engineer father. She was finishing her job when the building inspector showed up. He is a philanderer, who has taken up with a friend, Cindy McGee, who does not believe that he is a bad boy, twenty-x to their sixteen years. He is married with a baby on the way. He challenges Annie Sue that she is jealous of Cindy losing her virginity to him and proceeds to try to rape her. Deborah takes her to the hospital for a rape kit, and there they find that her father has come in with a heart attack. In reality he has been poisoned with arsenic.
Back at the house, Deborah and Stevie, Haywood's son, find Carver Bannerman, the inspector, dead from a head wound, caused by the borrowed hammer. It will turn out that Bannerman will also have arsenic in his body. Later Paige Byrd will confess to having killed Bannerman. She had come back, guilty because they had left Annie Sue on her own with her father, who always seems to be yelling at Annie Sue. Later Deborah will realize that Paige had been a lonely and sexually abused child who blossomed when her father died. It will be determined that she poisoned him as well. She had not had friends before and Annie Sue and Cindy had befriended her. She poisoned Herman thinking to help Annie Sue. When she realizes her mistake, she confesses to that as well and tries to kill herself by jumping into a very shallow pool. She survives with some paralysis.
Throughout the story Deborah has a completely irreverent sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud often. He sense of fairness in her judicial decisions is wonderful, thinking clearly and giving out sentences that fit the crimes. She is smart, well-educated as revealed through her literary references and scientific knowledge, and she is funny. She is the perfect feminist foil for her fellow Southern belles. I so look forward to reading the following installments of the series.
This is a superb series. I love the quirky characters, the realistic Southern culture, the humor of the story in general and of the main character, Judge Deborah Stephenson Knott. The one hurdle to overcome is the vast cast of characters, many of whom are Deborah's family. It is challenging to keep them all straight. The story begins as Deborah is sworn in as a District Judge, the workhorse of the judicial system of North Carolina. There are 165 judges that handle thousands of cases under $10,000, not felonies nor marriages (that is for the magistrates who are appointed for two-year terms. Then comes the Superior Court with 77 judges and then the Appellate Division with just 12 judges. Deborah did not win the election for which her sister-in-law Minnie was campaign manage but was appointed after Judge Perry Byrd drops dead of a heart attack. Wearing a hand-me-down wool robe the has been altered that is heavy and hot as hell, she takes on the job of doling out justice for all kinds of minor offenses and she is good at it. She has a passel of brothers who are much older, she being the after-thought. Her daddy Kezzie Knott did not see her as a proper Southern lady in the position of a judge but is fierce in his support of her against any criticism.
She is roped into helping build a house for a poor family, the Powells, after a campaign promist. When she returns to the partially finished house to pick up borrowed tools, she finds her niece Annie Sue, half conscious with her clothes nearly off, beaten. Annie Sue, daughter of Herman, twin of Haywood, is the child that takes after the electrical engineer father. She was finishing her job when the building inspector showed up. He is a philanderer, who has taken up with a friend, Cindy McGee, who does not believe that he is a bad boy, twenty-x to their sixteen years. He is married with a baby on the way. He challenges Annie Sue that she is jealous of Cindy losing her virginity to him and proceeds to try to rape her. Deborah takes her to the hospital for a rape kit, and there they find that her father has come in with a heart attack. In reality he has been poisoned with arsenic.
Back at the house, Deborah and Stevie, Haywood's son, find Carver Bannerman, the inspector, dead from a head wound, caused by the borrowed hammer. It will turn out that Bannerman will also have arsenic in his body. Later Paige Byrd will confess to having killed Bannerman. She had come back, guilty because they had left Annie Sue on her own with her father, who always seems to be yelling at Annie Sue. Later Deborah will realize that Paige had been a lonely and sexually abused child who blossomed when her father died. It will be determined that she poisoned him as well. She had not had friends before and Annie Sue and Cindy had befriended her. She poisoned Herman thinking to help Annie Sue. When she realizes her mistake, she confesses to that as well and tries to kill herself by jumping into a very shallow pool. She survives with some paralysis.
Throughout the story Deborah has a completely irreverent sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud often. He sense of fairness in her judicial decisions is wonderful, thinking clearly and giving out sentences that fit the crimes. She is smart, well-educated as revealed through her literary references and scientific knowledge, and she is funny. She is the perfect feminist foil for her fellow Southern belles. I so look forward to reading the following installments of the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2018
About fifteen years ago, I picked up "Shooting at Loons" at a used bookstore and found it hysterical. You just don't find many mystery stories that have a high level of humor. Ever since, I've been looking for more Margaret Maron.
In this, Deborah Knott (and since I've been living under a rock, I had no idea she's a reoccurring character) has managed to be appointed judge to replace one who has recently died. It's exciting, this new position, as she learns the ropes, and continues to campaign to keep her name on the radar - including help build houses for battered women. Then a friend of her niece is nearly raped at the construction site and the attacker is killed with Deborah's hammer... the same night one of her brothers ends up in the hospital in a coma. Meanwhile local pets keep disappearing.
It's exciting stuff, but I have to admit it was a bit tiresome fielding all the players - like an all-star hockey league. I live in the south, so I expected a stereotypical large southern family. But when you add to that your layers of friends, your small town dynamics, your potential criminals, the new criminals you're introduced to in court, your many stresses, and let's not forget the various references to prior book murders - it's hard to know if every single character is there for the long haul, the amusement factor, or a quick drive through.
You just want to sit on the porch and fan yourself through a few paragraphs. Fortunately, Deborah offers her humorous personal ruminations about southern habits - and there are quite a few - to keep you going. Amusing.
In this, Deborah Knott (and since I've been living under a rock, I had no idea she's a reoccurring character) has managed to be appointed judge to replace one who has recently died. It's exciting, this new position, as she learns the ropes, and continues to campaign to keep her name on the radar - including help build houses for battered women. Then a friend of her niece is nearly raped at the construction site and the attacker is killed with Deborah's hammer... the same night one of her brothers ends up in the hospital in a coma. Meanwhile local pets keep disappearing.
It's exciting stuff, but I have to admit it was a bit tiresome fielding all the players - like an all-star hockey league. I live in the south, so I expected a stereotypical large southern family. But when you add to that your layers of friends, your small town dynamics, your potential criminals, the new criminals you're introduced to in court, your many stresses, and let's not forget the various references to prior book murders - it's hard to know if every single character is there for the long haul, the amusement factor, or a quick drive through.
You just want to sit on the porch and fan yourself through a few paragraphs. Fortunately, Deborah offers her humorous personal ruminations about southern habits - and there are quite a few - to keep you going. Amusing.
July 10, 2024
Deborah Knott lost out in the election for a judgeship but, with some jiggery-pokery courtesy of her dad, she's on the bench anyway.
Her District Court cases are on the lower end of the scale, traffic offences, likker law breaches and domestic violence but they add up to a considerable caseload.
Life in Colleton County, North Carolina, where just about everyone knows everyone and gossip is constant, continues as usual.
“Southern Discomfort” has the same large case as the first in the series (“Bootlegger's Daughter”) but is slightly skewed toward a trio of teenage girls - Annie Sue, Cindy and Paige - each with troubles of her own.
One of Deborah's eight brothers, Herman, is taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack. Tests show that his illness is, in fact, caused by arsenic poisoning.
His daughter, Annie Sue, is sexually assaulted and the sexual predator is shortly afterwards found bludgeoned to death. Oddly, his autopsy shows traces of arsenic in his system.
And Deborah finds herself having fun with a women only crew building a house for a local single mother and her kids.
There's a lot going on in the book, much of it having nothing whatsoever to do with murder and poisonings, but it makes for great reading. The author, Margaret Maron, obviously had a keen eye for human behaviour and I suspect that some of the stranger incidents were drawn from her experiences.
4 Stars.
Her District Court cases are on the lower end of the scale, traffic offences, likker law breaches and domestic violence but they add up to a considerable caseload.
Life in Colleton County, North Carolina, where just about everyone knows everyone and gossip is constant, continues as usual.
“Southern Discomfort” has the same large case as the first in the series (“Bootlegger's Daughter”) but is slightly skewed toward a trio of teenage girls - Annie Sue, Cindy and Paige - each with troubles of her own.
One of Deborah's eight brothers, Herman, is taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack. Tests show that his illness is, in fact, caused by arsenic poisoning.
His daughter, Annie Sue, is sexually assaulted and the sexual predator is shortly afterwards found bludgeoned to death. Oddly, his autopsy shows traces of arsenic in his system.
And Deborah finds herself having fun with a women only crew building a house for a local single mother and her kids.
There's a lot going on in the book, much of it having nothing whatsoever to do with murder and poisonings, but it makes for great reading. The author, Margaret Maron, obviously had a keen eye for human behaviour and I suspect that some of the stranger incidents were drawn from her experiences.
4 Stars.
February 3, 2023
I was looking for a mystery series that isn't graphic. I stumbled on Margaret Maron.
Southern Discomfort is the first book I've listened to. I enjoyed the series partially because my first job out of college was at IBM in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. While living there I made several friends who were born and bred North Carolinians. I was able to get a glimpse into the life she describes in her books.
I liked that the mystery played out as part of her everyday life.
I don't care for stories centered around child abuse and rape. But, I was enjoying the rest of the story enough and was invested enough that I finished the story.
I understood who committed the murder and why they committed it but, I didn't care for the fact that the person was so young. I find it sad that a person that young could see no other way out of their predicament.
I also didn't like the story line at the very end of the person who maintained the yards in story. I know that immigrants aren't necessarily aware of the culture and laws of the United States and maybe that was the point. But, it didn't add anything to the story.
That said, it won't stop me from listening to a few of her other stories.
Southern Discomfort is the first book I've listened to. I enjoyed the series partially because my first job out of college was at IBM in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. While living there I made several friends who were born and bred North Carolinians. I was able to get a glimpse into the life she describes in her books.
I liked that the mystery played out as part of her everyday life.
I don't care for stories centered around child abuse and rape. But, I was enjoying the rest of the story enough and was invested enough that I finished the story.
I understood who committed the murder and why they committed it but, I didn't care for the fact that the person was so young. I find it sad that a person that young could see no other way out of their predicament.
I also didn't like the story line at the very end of the person who maintained the yards in story. I know that immigrants aren't necessarily aware of the culture and laws of the United States and maybe that was the point. But, it didn't add anything to the story.
That said, it won't stop me from listening to a few of her other stories.
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