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Deborah Knott Mysteries #1
Bootlegger's Daughter
Deborah Knott was expected to be a conventional little girl and eventually a conventional woman, worshipped on a pedestal by a conventional husband.
Instead, she became an attorney, infiltrating the old boy network that still rules the tobacco country of Colleton County, North Carolina. Some say her success is a sign of the New South, but no one knows better than she the power of the past--her family's long history in the area is a major asset in her campaign for district judge. Then again, as the strong-willed daughter of Kezzie Knott--notorious bootlegger, ex-con, and political string-puller--history is also one of her greatest problems.
But it's an episode from the more recent past that threatens to derail her campaign. As a teen, Deborah used to babysit little Gayle Whitehead for her mother, Janie. One rainy spring day eighteen years ago, both mother and daughter disappeared. When they were found three days later Gayle was dehydrated, dirty, and hungry...and Janie was dead. The unsolved murder became a local legend and an enigma that continues to haunt Gayle, who now begs Deborah to investigate.
With no real faith in her investigative skills, Deborah asks a variety of questions on her campaign tour of the county's rallies--and soon her attention is distracted from the hurly-burly of politics by troubling new evidence. Deborah now faces the realization that the disadvantages of being the single female candidate in a southern judgeship race, and even the disadvantages of being Kezzie Knott's daughter, are nothing in comparison to posing a threat to a successful murderer...
Instead, she became an attorney, infiltrating the old boy network that still rules the tobacco country of Colleton County, North Carolina. Some say her success is a sign of the New South, but no one knows better than she the power of the past--her family's long history in the area is a major asset in her campaign for district judge. Then again, as the strong-willed daughter of Kezzie Knott--notorious bootlegger, ex-con, and political string-puller--history is also one of her greatest problems.
But it's an episode from the more recent past that threatens to derail her campaign. As a teen, Deborah used to babysit little Gayle Whitehead for her mother, Janie. One rainy spring day eighteen years ago, both mother and daughter disappeared. When they were found three days later Gayle was dehydrated, dirty, and hungry...and Janie was dead. The unsolved murder became a local legend and an enigma that continues to haunt Gayle, who now begs Deborah to investigate.
With no real faith in her investigative skills, Deborah asks a variety of questions on her campaign tour of the county's rallies--and soon her attention is distracted from the hurly-burly of politics by troubling new evidence. Deborah now faces the realization that the disadvantages of being the single female candidate in a southern judgeship race, and even the disadvantages of being Kezzie Knott's daughter, are nothing in comparison to posing a threat to a successful murderer...
220 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1992
323 people are currently reading
5581 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Maron
116 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 564 reviews
January 14, 2022
My Year of (Mostly) Mysterious Women continues with series fiction featuring women detectives. I’m avoiding police procedurals and standalone “women in peril'' thrillers to focus on ladies who are amateur sleuths. Bootlegger's Daughter is my introduction to author Margaret Maron and her series featuring Deborah Knott. Published in 1992, I sampled the prologue before purchasing a copy on Kindle. I don't know what more I can do to vet a book but hire someone like Lisbeth Salander to file a report on how compelling a protagonist is. I abandoned this book at the 20% mark once I realized I was reading a work-in-progress.
After a sensational prologue in which two African-American contract workers--referred to as "field hands" in most parts of the South then--follow a cry to an abandoned mill, where they discover the day old corpse of a missing mother and her still alive three-month old daughter. Eighteen years later, assistant District Attorney Deborah Knott is running for judge. She's approached by a friend named Jed Whitehead to convince his daughter Gayle not to spend her trust fund on a private detective. Deborah was once her babysitter, a few years after Gayle disappeared with her mother and was found next to her body. The crime was never solved and Gayle asks her old babysitter to make inquiries.
Great so far. The prologue not only pulls no punches, but explores what's defined as the "New South" in the post-segregation era. Maron's legal acumen seems sufficient. Her protagonist is a virtuous white courtroom crusader that puts us in the territory of John Grisham and the "southern" genre, setting up a corrupt system which only an outsider can fix. Maron writes the prologue in third person before switching to first person when introducing Deborah Knott, and her prose becomes very mundane after the switch, as if Deb were still a babysitter instead of an attorney.
I hadn't really planned to run for judge. Not consciously anyhow, but it must have been lurking down deep in my subconscious because something snapped last winter. It wasn't even my case. I was sitting there on the lawyer's bench at the front of Courtroom #2 that rainy January morning, waiting to try and keep Luellen Martin out of jail one more time even though she was nearly seven months behind in her restitution payments and her probation officer was tickled because she'd skipped a couple of reporting sessions as well. Luellen works out at the towel factory and makes enough money to get her hair fixed every week, keep up car payments on a Hyundai, and trundle her kids down to Disney World over the Christmas holidays; but she couldn't ever seem to get up the monthly hundred dollars she was supposed to be paying various complainants after bouncing checks all over town last spring.
Once I started to catalog the reasons I was skimming Bootlegger's Daughter, I realized it wasn't that the novel was bad--Margaret Maron won an Edgar Award in 1993 for Best Novel, in there with James Lee Burke--but that it didn't seem finished. My criticisms were ones I'd bring up in a writer's group, or to a friend if she sent me her work-in-progress to critique.
Deborah Knott's point-of-view is mundane and really stands out as bland against the sharp descriptions Maron summons for the prologue. She makes a point to introduce Deborah as somewhat green at her job--mispronouncing the name of her client whose file she's looking at for the first time in court--so it stretches believability that she'd be running to unseat a judge twice her age, however corrupt he is. And even if Deborah was as quick on her feet as Elle Woods, who has time to work as a public defender and run a political campaign and investigate a cold case for a woman she used to babysit?
There's too much business in this novel. By the 10% mark I felt like I was at a barbecue or fish fry, with close to twenty characters introduced. A family tree is even included, never a sign that a book is going to be streamlined. There's enough attorney anecdotes and cop anecdotes to suggest that Maron hung around the county courthouse compiling research and overheard stories she felt belonged in a book, but they don't have anything to do with her story. She's setting the table instead of serving a meal.
My recommendation to my writing group partner would've been to cut the prologue, write the entire novel from third person omniscient and start the story with Gayle asking Deborah to help solve her mother's murder. I'd recommend she cut the political campaign; a struggling assistant D.A.-- even in Star's Hollow or whatever fictional burg this is--is enough business. As Deborah investigates the cold case, we can meet whatever characters are connected to the crime, learn whatever culture or history are relevant to the crime. And it wouldn't hurt if the protagonist articulated herself like someone who'd been to law school instead of watched it on TV.
I didn't picture any actresses playing Deborah Knott because her character wasn't finished. Instead, I'll share something from Malcolm Gladwell, one of my writing instructors, in a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. Gladwell asked the host whether there were comedians whose material wasn't his taste. Rogan gave a diplomatic non-answer about not obsessing over things that aren't for him. Gladwell mentioned the TV show Law & Order and went on a fascinating deep dive on TV crime shows.
This is an incredibly complicated theory I developed once about these kinds of things. So, we all know what a western is. A western is--conceptually--a world in which there is no law and order, and a man shows up and imposes, personally, law and order on the territory, the community. Right?
So there is also an eastern. What is an eastern? An eastern is a place, by contrast, is a story where ... the eastern is where there is law and order. There are institutions of justice, but they have been subverted by people within. An eastern would be--Serpico is an eastern. It's a crooked cop. It's the bad apple who's screwed up the--there are tons and tons of Hollywood movies that are easterns.
The northern is the case where law and order exists and law and order is morally righteous. The system works. The show Law & Order is a northern. It's a functioning apparatus of justice which reliably and accurately produces the correct result when confronting criminality every single day when it's on TV.
The southern is--all John Grisham novels are southerns. They are where the entire apparatus is corrupt and where the reformer is not an insider but an outsider. So in every John Grisham novel, they all proceed--and I love John Grisham, let's be clear--but they all proceed from the same premise, which is: the system is rotten to the core, and only this white knight who comes in from the outside can save us.
So in the western, there is no system. In the northern, there's a system and it's fantastic. In the eastern, the system is reformed from within. But in the southern, the system has to be reformed from without. So I feel like anything, you can place all art about law and order, about the criminal world, about criminal justice, into one of these four categories.
After a sensational prologue in which two African-American contract workers--referred to as "field hands" in most parts of the South then--follow a cry to an abandoned mill, where they discover the day old corpse of a missing mother and her still alive three-month old daughter. Eighteen years later, assistant District Attorney Deborah Knott is running for judge. She's approached by a friend named Jed Whitehead to convince his daughter Gayle not to spend her trust fund on a private detective. Deborah was once her babysitter, a few years after Gayle disappeared with her mother and was found next to her body. The crime was never solved and Gayle asks her old babysitter to make inquiries.
Great so far. The prologue not only pulls no punches, but explores what's defined as the "New South" in the post-segregation era. Maron's legal acumen seems sufficient. Her protagonist is a virtuous white courtroom crusader that puts us in the territory of John Grisham and the "southern" genre, setting up a corrupt system which only an outsider can fix. Maron writes the prologue in third person before switching to first person when introducing Deborah Knott, and her prose becomes very mundane after the switch, as if Deb were still a babysitter instead of an attorney.
I hadn't really planned to run for judge. Not consciously anyhow, but it must have been lurking down deep in my subconscious because something snapped last winter. It wasn't even my case. I was sitting there on the lawyer's bench at the front of Courtroom #2 that rainy January morning, waiting to try and keep Luellen Martin out of jail one more time even though she was nearly seven months behind in her restitution payments and her probation officer was tickled because she'd skipped a couple of reporting sessions as well. Luellen works out at the towel factory and makes enough money to get her hair fixed every week, keep up car payments on a Hyundai, and trundle her kids down to Disney World over the Christmas holidays; but she couldn't ever seem to get up the monthly hundred dollars she was supposed to be paying various complainants after bouncing checks all over town last spring.
Once I started to catalog the reasons I was skimming Bootlegger's Daughter, I realized it wasn't that the novel was bad--Margaret Maron won an Edgar Award in 1993 for Best Novel, in there with James Lee Burke--but that it didn't seem finished. My criticisms were ones I'd bring up in a writer's group, or to a friend if she sent me her work-in-progress to critique.
Deborah Knott's point-of-view is mundane and really stands out as bland against the sharp descriptions Maron summons for the prologue. She makes a point to introduce Deborah as somewhat green at her job--mispronouncing the name of her client whose file she's looking at for the first time in court--so it stretches believability that she'd be running to unseat a judge twice her age, however corrupt he is. And even if Deborah was as quick on her feet as Elle Woods, who has time to work as a public defender and run a political campaign and investigate a cold case for a woman she used to babysit?
There's too much business in this novel. By the 10% mark I felt like I was at a barbecue or fish fry, with close to twenty characters introduced. A family tree is even included, never a sign that a book is going to be streamlined. There's enough attorney anecdotes and cop anecdotes to suggest that Maron hung around the county courthouse compiling research and overheard stories she felt belonged in a book, but they don't have anything to do with her story. She's setting the table instead of serving a meal.
My recommendation to my writing group partner would've been to cut the prologue, write the entire novel from third person omniscient and start the story with Gayle asking Deborah to help solve her mother's murder. I'd recommend she cut the political campaign; a struggling assistant D.A.-- even in Star's Hollow or whatever fictional burg this is--is enough business. As Deborah investigates the cold case, we can meet whatever characters are connected to the crime, learn whatever culture or history are relevant to the crime. And it wouldn't hurt if the protagonist articulated herself like someone who'd been to law school instead of watched it on TV.
I didn't picture any actresses playing Deborah Knott because her character wasn't finished. Instead, I'll share something from Malcolm Gladwell, one of my writing instructors, in a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. Gladwell asked the host whether there were comedians whose material wasn't his taste. Rogan gave a diplomatic non-answer about not obsessing over things that aren't for him. Gladwell mentioned the TV show Law & Order and went on a fascinating deep dive on TV crime shows.
This is an incredibly complicated theory I developed once about these kinds of things. So, we all know what a western is. A western is--conceptually--a world in which there is no law and order, and a man shows up and imposes, personally, law and order on the territory, the community. Right?
So there is also an eastern. What is an eastern? An eastern is a place, by contrast, is a story where ... the eastern is where there is law and order. There are institutions of justice, but they have been subverted by people within. An eastern would be--Serpico is an eastern. It's a crooked cop. It's the bad apple who's screwed up the--there are tons and tons of Hollywood movies that are easterns.
The northern is the case where law and order exists and law and order is morally righteous. The system works. The show Law & Order is a northern. It's a functioning apparatus of justice which reliably and accurately produces the correct result when confronting criminality every single day when it's on TV.
The southern is--all John Grisham novels are southerns. They are where the entire apparatus is corrupt and where the reformer is not an insider but an outsider. So in every John Grisham novel, they all proceed--and I love John Grisham, let's be clear--but they all proceed from the same premise, which is: the system is rotten to the core, and only this white knight who comes in from the outside can save us.
So in the western, there is no system. In the northern, there's a system and it's fantastic. In the eastern, the system is reformed from within. But in the southern, the system has to be reformed from without. So I feel like anything, you can place all art about law and order, about the criminal world, about criminal justice, into one of these four categories.
June 11, 2016
When Bootlegger's Daughter was published in 1992 it won Dilys, Macavity, Anthony, and Edgar awards. That's an impressive record, so I borrowed the book from the library. I loved it, partly because it takes place in the area of North Carolina where I lived for some years and the author, who lives there also, has the local color perfect. Eating Carolina barbecue (with vinegar) and watching a Durham Bull's game on a warm summer evening, admiring the azaleas and dogwoods, big summer picnics with guests parking in the fields, even the chiggers and midges.
Then I forgot about the book for 20 years until something brought it to my attention the other day and I borrowed it from the library. And it's even better the second time around. Besides all that local color there is some excellent characterization, especially that of the main character, Deborah Knott, an attorney in a small North Carolina town who is running for district judge.
Eighteen years previously a local woman was murdered and the police were never able to figure out who did it. The cold case was reopened 10 years later with no better results. Now the daughter of the dead woman asks Deborah to find out what she can about the murder.
Deborah knows everybody in town and her family and theirs go back many generations so she knows whom to talk to. As she begins to ask around she discovers some clues that were held back by the police and that might help track down the murderer. But this sleuthing is doing nothing to enhance her chances of winning the judgeship.
Then I forgot about the book for 20 years until something brought it to my attention the other day and I borrowed it from the library. And it's even better the second time around. Besides all that local color there is some excellent characterization, especially that of the main character, Deborah Knott, an attorney in a small North Carolina town who is running for district judge.
Eighteen years previously a local woman was murdered and the police were never able to figure out who did it. The cold case was reopened 10 years later with no better results. Now the daughter of the dead woman asks Deborah to find out what she can about the murder.
Deborah knows everybody in town and her family and theirs go back many generations so she knows whom to talk to. As she begins to ask around she discovers some clues that were held back by the police and that might help track down the murderer. But this sleuthing is doing nothing to enhance her chances of winning the judgeship.
April 29, 2015
A good mystery book. The first in the Deborah Knott series. A good look at the South. I like the main character. She is realistic and not too sexy. She is intelligent. The only problem I had with the book is that there are about a billion characters and it's really hard to keep them all straight. Surprise ending. Very well-written. Main themes: discrimination against homosexuals, discrimination against women, discrimination against African-Americans.
February 19, 2015
This was quite good for what it is. I enjoy mysteries, but they're not my absolute favorite relatively speaking (not their fault of course, but there are just so many books and so little time). Still, this was quite satisfying, and I can see why it swept the Mystery awards the year it came out.
The protagonist Deborah Knott has just enough moxy and sass to win your respect but also enough vulnerability and insecurity to keep her interesting. The other characters were also well-drawn and fun. Maron does a great job bringing a small southern town to life, while addressing important(and heavy) social issues like racism, sexism, homophobia especially as they relate to the American South, which is tough in this particular narrative which is also supposed to be light and fun. She does it and she makes it work.
The writing is also top-notch with prose that are tight, fluid, and fun to read.
There are several layers to this mystery and I did figure them out, though I would like to think that more a credit to me than a discredit to the author.
I initially picked this up because of the praise it has received and because of Maron's reputation. Happy to say I was not disappointed. While released in the '90s, it's a little outdated, but still a worthy read particularly for fans interested in reading the "best of the best" within the mystery genre.
I picked up two additional books in this series at my local library, a bag of books for a dollar kind of deal and look forward to reading more. May even make my way through the series.
The protagonist Deborah Knott has just enough moxy and sass to win your respect but also enough vulnerability and insecurity to keep her interesting. The other characters were also well-drawn and fun. Maron does a great job bringing a small southern town to life, while addressing important(and heavy) social issues like racism, sexism, homophobia especially as they relate to the American South, which is tough in this particular narrative which is also supposed to be light and fun. She does it and she makes it work.
The writing is also top-notch with prose that are tight, fluid, and fun to read.
There are several layers to this mystery and I did figure them out, though I would like to think that more a credit to me than a discredit to the author.
I initially picked this up because of the praise it has received and because of Maron's reputation. Happy to say I was not disappointed. While released in the '90s, it's a little outdated, but still a worthy read particularly for fans interested in reading the "best of the best" within the mystery genre.
I picked up two additional books in this series at my local library, a bag of books for a dollar kind of deal and look forward to reading more. May even make my way through the series.
Want to read
January 20, 2019This hardcover edition is signed by Margaret Maron.
July 25, 2014
I read this book because it was selected by my book club, though I'm still trying to figure out why they selected it. It is what you might call a cozy criminal mystery with an attorney playing private detective as a favor to someone she used to babysit for years ago. But I didn't find it too cozy a story with all the unlikable characters and their prejudices directed at people who were different from them in gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
This story takes place in North Carolina in 1990. I checked the date twice because I thought I might have read it wrong since it seemed more like 1960 with the characters' non accepting attitudes. I think I have a few new permanent frown lines after spending more than a week reading this book in which the main character, daughter of a bootlegger, is investigating an unsolved murder case from eighteen years back.
The mystery is the only reason I gave this book two stars instead of one. Even though I guessed some of what happened, it kept me interested enough to finish the book to find out the rest. But wow, I wanted to knock some sense into the characters' heads, including the whiny, self pitying, petty-minded main character. Oh well. If my writing this review saves someone from choosing this book, my time spent reading it will have been worth it.
This story takes place in North Carolina in 1990. I checked the date twice because I thought I might have read it wrong since it seemed more like 1960 with the characters' non accepting attitudes. I think I have a few new permanent frown lines after spending more than a week reading this book in which the main character, daughter of a bootlegger, is investigating an unsolved murder case from eighteen years back.
The mystery is the only reason I gave this book two stars instead of one. Even though I guessed some of what happened, it kept me interested enough to finish the book to find out the rest. But wow, I wanted to knock some sense into the characters' heads, including the whiny, self pitying, petty-minded main character. Oh well. If my writing this review saves someone from choosing this book, my time spent reading it will have been worth it.
August 12, 2024
Bootlegger’s Daughter by Margaret Maron is the first novel in the Deborah Knott series. A mystery, first in a series takes place in 1990’s rural North Carolina. Deborah Knott, an attorney who is also the daughter of a well known bootlegger. This novel is a legal thriller mystery spun with family drama. As Deborah is running for district judge she is asked to reopen an 18 year murder case. As she starts to investigate this old unsolved murder case she finds hidden secrets from well known, respected town citizens This includes Deborah’s own father.
The book kept me drawn in and interested but was too matter of fact. The writing is complex which kept me guessing until the end. I didn’t really connect with the characters enough to feel invested in the whodunit mystery.
The book kept me drawn in and interested but was too matter of fact. The writing is complex which kept me guessing until the end. I didn’t really connect with the characters enough to feel invested in the whodunit mystery.
June 29, 2020
Honestly, it was quite rasist and homophobic, however author tried to make it looks none of these, but the feelings about this book were uncomfortable. The storyline was okay, but the main detective line took like twenty pages, the rest was about "southern manners" and a lot of characters or their families which weren't even alive or matter to the book, they as for me were just placeholders for not a huge book.
I know it's a big series about Deborah Knott, but it's definitely not for me
I know it's a big series about Deborah Knott, but it's definitely not for me
July 18, 2021
Above-average writing and effective use of late 20th-century mystery tropes make this Edgar Award Best-Novel winner enjoyable to read and to armchair solve along the way.
In “Bootlegger’s Daughter”, Margaret Maron introduces sharp-tongued but compassionate lawyer-cum- detective Deborah Knott and gives her a veritable Peyton Place of colorful (albeit confusingly multitudinous and inbred) suspects and well-drawn North Carolina settings in which to investigate a murder that took place eighteen years earlier.
Maron knows how plot a story with on-going humor/intrigue/plot twists (including a second murder at just the right spot) to keep a reader engaged and turning the pages.
A couple elements keep this book from getting a higher rating:
1). Maron (via Knott) preaches politics (esp. during the first half of the book), which I find annoying no matter where on the political spectrum the expressed opinions fall. I work the occasional mystery into my reading cycle for escapism, not to have to hear what the author believes politically, whether I agree with it or not. I almost stopped reading the novel because of this but plowed on through, and am glad I did.
2). A few of the plot points were belabored, including one eye-roller towards the end of the book that made me cry out, “Really? You’re just going to drop that random bomb as a way to explain why murder #1 was not solved 18 years earlier? Shame! Shame!”
Still, I don’t go into mysteries expecting that everything that needs to happen to make their plots work is actually how things would play out in the real world nor thinking that I’ll be rating them five stars, and “Bootlegger’s Daughter” was mostly satisfying in the ways I hope such genre fiction will be.
In “Bootlegger’s Daughter”, Margaret Maron introduces sharp-tongued but compassionate lawyer-cum- detective Deborah Knott and gives her a veritable Peyton Place of colorful (albeit confusingly multitudinous and inbred) suspects and well-drawn North Carolina settings in which to investigate a murder that took place eighteen years earlier.
Maron knows how plot a story with on-going humor/intrigue/plot twists (including a second murder at just the right spot) to keep a reader engaged and turning the pages.
A couple elements keep this book from getting a higher rating:
1). Maron (via Knott) preaches politics (esp. during the first half of the book), which I find annoying no matter where on the political spectrum the expressed opinions fall. I work the occasional mystery into my reading cycle for escapism, not to have to hear what the author believes politically, whether I agree with it or not. I almost stopped reading the novel because of this but plowed on through, and am glad I did.
2). A few of the plot points were belabored, including one eye-roller towards the end of the book that made me cry out, “Really? You’re just going to drop that random bomb as a way to explain why murder #1 was not solved 18 years earlier? Shame! Shame!”
Still, I don’t go into mysteries expecting that everything that needs to happen to make their plots work is actually how things would play out in the real world nor thinking that I’ll be rating them five stars, and “Bootlegger’s Daughter” was mostly satisfying in the ways I hope such genre fiction will be.
March 15, 2012
There is a good writer within Margaret Maron. Her dialogue is solid, her characters are three-dimensional, and her settings are vividly described. Unfortunately, I felt that she wasted far too much time talking about North Carolina high society (same issue I had with New Orleans Mourning) and too little talking about the mystery, which became kind of obvious after awhile. I'm probably shorting this book a star to be spiteful but I wanted a solid murder mystery, not a romp through lifestyles of the south.
Moreover, who the hell picks these Edgar Award winners? I've read a bunch of them and, while they're not bad, they're not really what I would consider to be the best mysteries. I already explained the issues I had with New Orleans Mourning. LaBrava is fine but far from Elmore Leonard's best work. Eye of the Needle is decent but overrated. Same with The Day of the Jackal. All of these are more notable for their atmospheres than their cases. Does anyone else pick up on this? Maybe it's just me.
Moreover, who the hell picks these Edgar Award winners? I've read a bunch of them and, while they're not bad, they're not really what I would consider to be the best mysteries. I already explained the issues I had with New Orleans Mourning. LaBrava is fine but far from Elmore Leonard's best work. Eye of the Needle is decent but overrated. Same with The Day of the Jackal. All of these are more notable for their atmospheres than their cases. Does anyone else pick up on this? Maybe it's just me.
September 7, 2008
(first of the Debra Knott series) This book sucked. It dragged and the ending was poor. Debra is running for judge. But in the mean time, one of her ex-lovers daughters asks her to find out who killed her mother. So, between campaign events, Knott is talking to different people to try and figure it out. The story is kind of odd. Janie, the mother who died, gets mixed up with 2 lesbians. And then decides to prove to herself, she doesn’t have lesbian tendancies. By doing that, she tries to seduce Michael, a homosexual. He ends up killing her really by accident and then his mother finishes her off. After all these years, Michaels lover, Denn, knows about Michael killing Janie. Michaels mother tries to kill Denn and ends up shooting Michael by accident. Then she kills Denn. The series of events is kind of confusing and the ending seems too abrupt. I’m hoping her others get better. Uncommon Clay wasn’t too bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2012
Loved this book. Deborah Knott is running for District judge in a NC county. Daughter of the local bootlegger, she is well known in the community. When a girl she used to babsysit for asks her to look into her mother's death when she was a baby, she gets involved in very old secrets. The community flavor and characters are very believable and intersting. And I really like Deborah and wanted to cheer her on in the political race. This is a very good read and I cant beleive it took me so long to get to it. Well worth it.
September 4, 2009
I'd read this book soon after it first came out, but my memory was a bit hazy, and in any case my "rules" for the Edgar Best Novel project include re-reading the books I've already read. It was a real treat to re-read this one, especially after reading the "prequel" (actually a stand-alone) Bloody Kin. I knew , having kept up with Judge Deborah Knott, that her character had grown and changed a lot over the years, but reading this book reinforced how much that was true. Deborah is 34 in this book (and she seems about 39 in the most recent one I've read -- wish I could age that way!)and running for a district judge-ship -- a semi-partisan post in North Carolina. Her father Kezzie, the (ex-)bootlegger of the title, is 82 and she's having a fuss with him because she thinks he doesn't take her, his only daughter, seriously. A young woman asks Deborah to investigate an 18-year-old murder and danger ensues. Maron's great regional voice, the ins and outs of Deborah's family, and the many changes taking place in the South are constants in this series, and all are present in the first volume. It was edgier than I remembered, and just as good. Highly recommended as are all Maron's books.
September 20, 2025
Truly a delightful little read! I had never heard of this book and ordered it for “Gotta be NC” book club with no idea what to expect. I enjoyed the characters, Raleigh references, and mystery plot line - not to mention the throwback to 1990s era!
September 25, 2015
This is book one in a series about attorney Deborah Knott, the daughter of an infamous North Carolina bootlegger. The book is supposed to mix a murder mystery and Southern politics together in a story. Knott is campaigning for a district court judgeship when an eighteen year old girl asks her to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother. This is a cold case as the murder took place about seventeen years ago. I learned a new expression in this story. The author used the term “yellow dog democrat”; I had never heard of this term before so looked it up. Apparently it came about as a term used in the South in the late 19th century, to refer to a person who voted the straight democratic ticket saying I would rather vote for a yellow dog than a republican. I also learned that yellow dog is a breed of dogs called Carolina dog that is indigenous to the Carolinas and not descended from Eurasian breeds.
Maron is building the characters for her series so the book seems to move slowly but flows smoothly. The book is well written but light on suspense. Some humor occurs with the battle with the good ole boys’ networks. The book won the Edgar award in 1992 and also won the Diys, Macovity and Anthony awards. This is the first book I have read by this author so I am in the process of getting to know her writing. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. C. J. Critt does a good job narrating the book.
Maron is building the characters for her series so the book seems to move slowly but flows smoothly. The book is well written but light on suspense. Some humor occurs with the battle with the good ole boys’ networks. The book won the Edgar award in 1992 and also won the Diys, Macovity and Anthony awards. This is the first book I have read by this author so I am in the process of getting to know her writing. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. C. J. Critt does a good job narrating the book.
July 7, 2008
BOOTLEGGER'S DAUGHTER - Ex
Maron, Margaret - 1st in series
Deborah Knott is an attorney and the daughter of an infamous North Carolina bootlegger. Known for her knowledge of the region's past and popular with the locals, Deb is asked by 18-year-old Gayle Whitehead to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother Janie, who died when Gayle was an infant. While visiting the owner of the property where Janie's body was found, Deb learns of Janie's more-than-promiscuous past. Piecing together lost clues and buried secrets Deb is introduced to Janie's darker side, but it's not until another murder occurs that she uncovers the truth.
I loved this book. The characters were so well drawn and the sense of place alive.
Maron, Margaret - 1st in series
Deborah Knott is an attorney and the daughter of an infamous North Carolina bootlegger. Known for her knowledge of the region's past and popular with the locals, Deb is asked by 18-year-old Gayle Whitehead to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother Janie, who died when Gayle was an infant. While visiting the owner of the property where Janie's body was found, Deb learns of Janie's more-than-promiscuous past. Piecing together lost clues and buried secrets Deb is introduced to Janie's darker side, but it's not until another murder occurs that she uncovers the truth.
I loved this book. The characters were so well drawn and the sense of place alive.
September 14, 2015
A very good read, excellently constructed and with sharp characterisation all round!
Read
November 9, 2020DNF'd at 26%
I remember when this book hit the stands back in the early 90s, and it was the recipient of quite a few awards. I had kept it in mind for a while, then totally forgot about it for years, until recently I saw some mention of Margaret Maron and lo and behold, her series has grown to 20 books or so. All favourably reviewed.
I'm always interested in getting invested in a really good series to fall back on, so I was excited to finally give Bootlegger's Daughter a try.
It was a difficult go for me. I'm not from the south, but I have read a considerable number of books set in there, but this was the first time there were several turns of phrase and grammar that had to make me stop and wonder if these were typos or not. And for such a smallish novel, there were a ton of characters that were lightly introduced which did not help one bit to keep track of who was related to who. Also, at least three times, something was written that made some sort of inference as to why someone would do or think this or that, and I had to stop and think, why are we even asking that question? What does that have to do with what was just said?
For example:
Our main protagonist is chatting with someone about his ex-wife, who had been cheating on him. The ex-wife's friend had also been cheating on her partner (she (the friend (this is exhausting))had dated this guy previously) and she (our protagonist) asks if that was why the two woman weren't friends anymore. This made no sense to me and I spent five minutes going back and re-reading to see if I had missed something. And I did...it was a timeline thing which wasn't clear. I'm still not totally clear on it.
This type of thing happened at least twice in a mere 69 pages. Maybe it is me and I'm thick. Regardless, I have no time for writing that takes me out of reading momentum to try to get things straight.
This book wasn't for me, unfortunately.
I remember when this book hit the stands back in the early 90s, and it was the recipient of quite a few awards. I had kept it in mind for a while, then totally forgot about it for years, until recently I saw some mention of Margaret Maron and lo and behold, her series has grown to 20 books or so. All favourably reviewed.
I'm always interested in getting invested in a really good series to fall back on, so I was excited to finally give Bootlegger's Daughter a try.
It was a difficult go for me. I'm not from the south, but I have read a considerable number of books set in there, but this was the first time there were several turns of phrase and grammar that had to make me stop and wonder if these were typos or not. And for such a smallish novel, there were a ton of characters that were lightly introduced which did not help one bit to keep track of who was related to who. Also, at least three times, something was written that made some sort of inference as to why someone would do or think this or that, and I had to stop and think, why are we even asking that question? What does that have to do with what was just said?
For example:
Our main protagonist is chatting with someone about his ex-wife, who had been cheating on him. The ex-wife's friend had also been cheating on her partner (she (the friend (this is exhausting))had dated this guy previously) and she (our protagonist) asks if that was why the two woman weren't friends anymore. This made no sense to me and I spent five minutes going back and re-reading to see if I had missed something. And I did...it was a timeline thing which wasn't clear. I'm still not totally clear on it.
This type of thing happened at least twice in a mere 69 pages. Maybe it is me and I'm thick. Regardless, I have no time for writing that takes me out of reading momentum to try to get things straight.
This book wasn't for me, unfortunately.
June 17, 2017
So I gave 5 stars to a detective story where the detective is a white, wealthy, heterosexual woman. I thought I would point that out in case my criticisms of some of the other stories I gave one or two stars to this year were wrongly taken as me not wanting to ever read about privileged characters. Far from it.
What set Deborah Knott apart from all the shallow chick-lit heroines of modern detective stories was a few things like her real and complex intelligence (not just puzzle solving skills but interesting blend of sarcasm, suspicious nature, relational thinking, reflexivity, knowledge and logic), and her moral depth (she is driven by a perception of injustice to want to be a judge and she is idealistic throughout a complex plot with diverse characters that challenge and call into question many of her values). But more than this the characters around her were likeable. I liked many of the characters, when I didn't like them I wasn't expected to. There were plenty of flaws and ambiguities but it was all woven together a lot better than just self-interested types and insecure door-mats. People were a blend of many different motivations and idiosyncrasies most of which were not immediately apparent to us.
I was surprised to find that the very heterosexual and openly quite religious Deborah was someone I related to so warmly. When she has a tiny flirtation at one point in the book I found myself wanting it to go further until the guy ruined it by saying something sexist, but I am ok with the possibility she might date one of the characters from the book down the track. They were not too annoying and her attitude to them was nice and assertive. I loved the way various couples (functional and dysfunctional) were portrayed in the book- the idea of human sexuality was neither oversimplified nor were we allowed an overly voyeuristic role in it all. The religiosity in the book managed to be ambivalent and questioning as did the relationship to authority and law.
I didn't like the ending (perhaps the last five pages) but I can accept it without deducting a star. The answer to the murder itself was great as were the characters and I intend to read more of Deborah Knott's adventures ASAP.
What set Deborah Knott apart from all the shallow chick-lit heroines of modern detective stories was a few things like her real and complex intelligence (not just puzzle solving skills but interesting blend of sarcasm, suspicious nature, relational thinking, reflexivity, knowledge and logic), and her moral depth (she is driven by a perception of injustice to want to be a judge and she is idealistic throughout a complex plot with diverse characters that challenge and call into question many of her values). But more than this the characters around her were likeable. I liked many of the characters, when I didn't like them I wasn't expected to. There were plenty of flaws and ambiguities but it was all woven together a lot better than just self-interested types and insecure door-mats. People were a blend of many different motivations and idiosyncrasies most of which were not immediately apparent to us.
I was surprised to find that the very heterosexual and openly quite religious Deborah was someone I related to so warmly. When she has a tiny flirtation at one point in the book I found myself wanting it to go further until the guy ruined it by saying something sexist, but I am ok with the possibility she might date one of the characters from the book down the track. They were not too annoying and her attitude to them was nice and assertive. I loved the way various couples (functional and dysfunctional) were portrayed in the book- the idea of human sexuality was neither oversimplified nor were we allowed an overly voyeuristic role in it all. The religiosity in the book managed to be ambivalent and questioning as did the relationship to authority and law.
I didn't like the ending (perhaps the last five pages) but I can accept it without deducting a star. The answer to the murder itself was great as were the characters and I intend to read more of Deborah Knott's adventures ASAP.
October 9, 2019
Full review can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/edgar...
November 20, 2008
This was the first book we read in our Mystery Book Club. We got to speak to Margaret Maron on the speaker phone. It made the book more interesting learning some of the thought behind it. I didn't love the book. Maybe it is because I lived in Eastern NC where the book takes place. But much of it seems authentic. I just thought there were too many controversial sub-plots. If you put so many things in it, everyone will like something. But I wil try another of the Deborah Knott books.
January 30, 2025
Very disappointed. It just went on and on about nothing, never seeming to come to any point. I decided, then, to check Kellie's review and she mentioned all the things that I dislike in my books. So...off to listen to something else.
Still, there are 20 books in this series so it can't be all bad. I won't write off the series just yet.
Still, there are 20 books in this series so it can't be all bad. I won't write off the series just yet.
April 19, 2018
Yay! I found another author that I absolutely love. Margaret Maron's character Deborah Knott is smart, funny and accomplished. It doesn't matter that she is the daughter of a bootlegger-she is going places. This book practically read itself-I am hooked and already have book #2 of this series on hold.
July 7, 2008
Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott books take me to home to North Carolina
September 30, 2013
Exceptionally well written mystery - defines the term 'page turner'. So happy there are more in the series!
September 6, 2021
When I heard that Margaret Maron had passed away, I knew I needed to reread (in some cases read) her books again. I decided to start with Bootlegger's Daughter. I remembered it fondly, and how could I go wrong with a book that won the 1992 Agatha Award and the 1993 Anthony, Edgar, and Macavity awards for best novel.
Back in the 1990s, I loved the book because Deborah Knott, the main character, was about the same age as I was. I related to her problems, her thoughts, her career choices. Now I love the book because of the insights about the land and the people in the fictional Colleton County. I *know* those people, have lived in that area, and understand the ebb and flow of life. The mystery is a bonus.
The author does play fair with the reader in this book. You can put together clues and perhaps figure out the person who murdered in the past. You might figure out who is murdering people now -- the clues are there. But in some ways, this is a novel that happens to be a mystery.
Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys well-crafted books. If you like mysteries, this should be on your "to read" list. So stop reading this review and start reading the book!
Back in the 1990s, I loved the book because Deborah Knott, the main character, was about the same age as I was. I related to her problems, her thoughts, her career choices. Now I love the book because of the insights about the land and the people in the fictional Colleton County. I *know* those people, have lived in that area, and understand the ebb and flow of life. The mystery is a bonus.
The author does play fair with the reader in this book. You can put together clues and perhaps figure out the person who murdered in the past. You might figure out who is murdering people now -- the clues are there. But in some ways, this is a novel that happens to be a mystery.
Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys well-crafted books. If you like mysteries, this should be on your "to read" list. So stop reading this review and start reading the book!
January 22, 2019
3.5 out of 5. Deborah Knott is a lawyer in a small town in North Carolina. Sick of the racist and sexist judges she pleads cases in front of, she decides to run for judge herself. Simultaneously, the teen-aged daughter of someone Deborah used to date reaches out to have her help find the person who murdered her mother years ago. And, we're off into the deep-rooted and often twisted relationships of a small town, where people have lived for generations, have intermarried (and divorced), and where everyone knows (almost) everything about everyone else. Maron gets the atmospherics of small-town Carolina just right: she probably grew up in one herself. From the details of what's served at a pig pickin' to the ubiquitous use of tobacco back in the '70s, to how women dressed for success then, she's nailed it. An absorbing mystery and the first of many in this series. I look forward to reading more.
June 14, 2019
I read this to satisfy the category of "book about a hobby" for the 2019 Popsugar reading challenge. I don't know why it showed up on a list of books about hobbies, other than that somebody assumed the title was indicative of the story. That was definitely not the case.
The story itself was fine. It's dated and southern, so it definitely represents different views of race and lgbtq+ issues. I did, on the other hand, get exposure to several southern regional expressions I wouldn't know otherwise (ex: round in the heels), so there's that.
In short, I wouldn't recommend it but I wasn't mad I read it.
The story itself was fine. It's dated and southern, so it definitely represents different views of race and lgbtq+ issues. I did, on the other hand, get exposure to several southern regional expressions I wouldn't know otherwise (ex: round in the heels), so there's that.
In short, I wouldn't recommend it but I wasn't mad I read it.
April 11, 2021
The Deborah Knott series by Margaret Maron are set in North Carolina in a fictional county located near the Research Triangle of Durham/Chapel Hill/Raleigh. They are not scary murder mysteries with no gore to speak of. Just the story of Knott as she becomes a judge and also, along with the deputy, solves mysteries. I've read every one of them. Sadly, the author has recently passed away.
April 28, 2021
I read this for the first time maybe 15 years ago. I really liked it then. I have since moved to NC, and it still holds up in terms of sense of place. Characters are interesting and likable; mystery is good but not intense.
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