Killer Market

Maron's Southern mysteries are just terrific; from the accurate descriptions of the courtroom scenes, the "hearty" Southern food, the family, and the country, it is obvious that Maron has either lived through these experiences or has done some really good research. I started the series with this book and have gone back and forth in the series until I finished them all. This one was possibly my favorite, in that Maron posed so many possible suspects with so many possible motives that it really was hard to tell who the murderer was (although some of my friends claim that they spotted the murderer right off the bat). In any event, Maron does keep you guessing. My only complaints, and they are gentle ones, is that the chapter headings seem to have no bearing on the story itself and simply serve to bog the reader down. Additionally, it seems as though the later books in the series presuppose that the reader has read the previous ones; some characters and relationships just "appear" and are not explained in enough detail to determine their relevance to the story or to Deborah. Otherwise, an excellent book and an excellent series.

This author is remarkably easy to read and her Deborah Knott series always extremely entertaining. Usually Deborah's adventures are set in her home town among her large family. This homespun feel adds a lot to the attractiveness of the series. This was necessarily missing in this installment as Deborah travels to another town to help out a fellow judge for a week. Also, the author chose to centre the plot around an international furniture market being held in the same town that week. While the change of settings added novelty, the furniture market setting was a bit distracting and confusing. Nevertheless, as with all books by this author, it is very highly recommended.

I have read all of the Maron's and I enjoyed this one...it was a fun and rather wicked look at the furniture/decorating world and a good plot that was not overly contrived.

Killer Market, by Margaret Maron, continues the crime solving adventures of Judge Deborah Knott. As usual, Ms. Maron, captures the essense of the South. Her dialogue is realistic, her characters are believable and interesting, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning pages!! I highly recommend this book.

Once a year, the population of High Point, North Carolina doubles as the town hosts the International Home Furnishings Market trade show. District Court Judge Deborah Knott gets a first hand look at the sudden over crowding when she substitutes for a vacationing judge and finds no hotel rooms available for her. Deborah gets lucky when an elderly citizen, Matilda Jernigan, invites her to stay with her. The desperate judicial official quickly accepts. However, before long, Matilda disappears along with Deborah's purse. Day one in High Point may have been one of the low points in Deborah's life. Day two proves to Deborah that day one was, in deed, a high point as the police question her about them finding her purse near a murder victim, Chan Nolan. Deborah realizes that she either solves the murder or comes up with an alibi to keep the police away from her. Deborah works with an old law school crony, Chan's mother-in-law in an attempt to uncover the identity of the killer. It does not take long for Deborah to realize that Chan had many enemies with strong motives for eliminating him. Deborah has to wade through each individual's motives and alibis if she plans to discover who did it. The fifth entry in the Deborah Knott series is not up to the excellence of its four predecessors. Deborah seems out of her element in her first book outside of her hometown and the solution appears to pat to satisfy fans of the series. Anyone who wants a taste of how good Margaret Maron normally is, needs to pass on this book (except for furniture lovers) and try any of the other entries. Harriet Klausner