Slow Dollar

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Summary: A welcome return to greatness in the Knott series
Review: Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott Series is a delight and this book certainly does not disappoint. In this latest installment, Judge Knott presides at a case where four young men have vandalized a game owned by Tallahassee Ames, who is part owner of a carnival which is playing in town. Very shortly thereafter,Tallahassee's son is killed while Deborah is at the carnival. As she does some investigating, Deborah discovers that she is related to Tally and to her son, Braz. She pursues the investigation while trying to develop a relationship with Tally, a sometimes tricky balancing act. Deborah's large extended family, consisting of 11 older brothers and their families, provides background and several interesting characters for this book. Braz and his step-father had bought up the contents of several storage areas which had been auctioned off, so there were several angry people trying to get their property back who had a motive for killing Braz. The book contains a lot of information about living in and running a carnival, and even contains a glossary of carnival terms. It is nicely paced and even contains a little romance, which should combine to be very pleasing to both old and new Maron fans.

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Summary: Behind-the-scenes carnival life
Review: Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott Series is a delight and this book certainly does not disappoint. In this latest installment, Judge Knott presides at a case where four young men have vandalized a game owned by Tallahassee Ames, who is part owner of a carnival which is playing in town. Very shortly thereafter,Tallahassee's son is killed while Deborah is at the carnival. As she does some investigating, Deborah discovers that she is related to Tally and to her son, Braz. She pursues the investigation while trying to develop a relationship with Tally, a sometimes tricky balancing act. Deborah's large extended family, consisting of 11 older brothers and their families, provides background and several interesting characters for this book. Braz and his step-father had bought up the contents of several storage areas which had been auctioned off, so there were several angry people trying to get their property back who had a motive for killing Braz. The book contains a lot of information about living in and running a carnival, and even contains a glossary of carnival terms. It is nicely paced and even contains a little romance, which should combine to be very pleasing to both old and new Maron fans.

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Summary: Pick this one up!!
Review: This book was pure pleasure. Living in NC I like to read regional authors. Maron's best book to date.

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Summary: :)
Review: this is a great book! i'm glad that i discovered margaret maron.

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Summary: Better and Better
Review: This is one of the few mystery series going today that, even with this, the 9th entry, just keeps getting better. There has been only one book (Killer Market) in this series that I found to be even a bit lacking and that is quite unusual in a series that has gone on this long. In this episode, Judge Deborah Knott goes to the local carnival with her friends and discovers a dead body. As she works to solve the murder with her friend Dwight, we are exposed to more of her large family, but it really never gets confusing. Maron manages to make it clear who belongs to whom, even with the added relatives that this tale brings into the picture. The mystery is interesting and hard to solve and, just as importantly, there is progress in Deborah's personal life that is very satisfying to read. I know that Maron's next book is a stand-alone (neither a Knott nor a Harald book...will she ever write more Sigrid Harald books?) but I will definitely buy it. I just hope she returns to North Carolina soon.

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Summary: Judge Knott discovers a long lost relative and murder
Review: When the carnival comes to Dobbs, Deborah has already met the owner. Two drunken fools damaged one of her rides and Deborah was the judge to hear the case. More trouble occurs in Dobbs. The eldest son of the owner is found dead, by Deborah, at the Dozer with a mouth full of quarters. While investigating the case, she finds that Tallahassee Ames, the part owner of the carnival is really, her niece, Olivia. She hasn't seen Olivia since she was a small child, but promised her late mother to always treat her as family. Too bad Olivia's father doesn't feel the same way, since it was his grandson that was murdered. Deborah is also changing her relationship with Dwight Bryant.

This is one of the best novels of the series. Ms. Maron is always at her best when she involves Deborah's huge family and its different characters in the story. A new family member is always welcome and Tally and her family add color to an already colorful brood. Deborah's new relationship with Dwight makes me wonder why nothing ever happened before. I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.