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memphisholli's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not as taken by these as I used to be....but, this one was a quick, decent read.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
I love Deborah Knott mysteries and this is one like the others, although not showcasing judicial responsibilities. Maybe it's time for her to retire...
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
Well done. I really enjoyed this. Deborah Knott and friends are branching out, and I like that. There's a nice mix of the local and international here, and while I felt at first that the tie to recent events in the US was over-done, by the end I'd changed my mind. And I do like the way you always learn about something interesting and a bit off-beat from Margaret Maron's books, in this case vultures.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
A British ornithology who is studying turkey vultures, a missing local realtor of questionable morals, and a dead pilot in a local motel are all involved in the latest Deborah Knott mystery. Set, as usual in Colleton County, North Carolina, a rural county outside Raleigh, the local airport seems to be involved in secret, controversial CIA flights involving terror suspects. The FBI will become involved before the truth is uncovered in several, seemingly interconnected, cases and moral choices will have to be faced by several of the book's major characters. I missed not having more involvement from Deborah's huge extended family, but loved the presentation of adoption as such a positive experience. This is the eighteenth book in the Deborah Knott series and the series is still going strong.
sscs's review against another edition
3.0
I so want to declare one of my favorite mystery writers "back," but she's just not quite there yet. This is her best effort in years, though, since "Winter's Child" at least. While it is inevitable that the main character of a long series gets a little dull, it has been painful to watch Deborah get less interested in solving mysteries and more so in raising her stepson and what she's making for dinner. In this book the decline continues. To my thinking, here she only shines in the scenes that are in her courtroom. Taking her place as the main detectives in this book are Sigrid Harald* from Maron's other series and Deborah's husband Dwight.
Deborah's decline as a main character sucks, but this book is at least partially redeemed in my eyes by the mystery which is, thank goodness, well-written and fair play. This is Maron's first book in years that felt like it was written by an Agatha winner and is a huge climb in storytelling from the nadir that was "Sand Sharks." It's not the most difficult mystery Maron has ever written, but it is hard enough to be fun without the solution at all feeling out of the blue.
"The Buzzard Table" is a long way from Maron's best work, but it is enough to keep a diehard fan reading.
Oh, almost forgot. Got this one on audio. The lady reading it, C.J. Critt, seriously needs to dial the theatrics down a bit.
*For Sigrid Harald fans from back in the day, getting Grandmother Lattimore's perspective on Sigrid and to some degree getting her side of the story is awesome, no lie. It took literally 30 years for the Lattimore side of the family to get character development, but it happened. If Grandmother Lattimore gets her own book, I will read it.
Deborah's decline as a main character sucks, but this book is at least partially redeemed in my eyes by the mystery which is, thank goodness, well-written and fair play. This is Maron's first book in years that felt like it was written by an Agatha winner and is a huge climb in storytelling from the nadir that was "Sand Sharks." It's not the most difficult mystery Maron has ever written, but it is hard enough to be fun without the solution at all feeling out of the blue.
"The Buzzard Table" is a long way from Maron's best work, but it is enough to keep a diehard fan reading.
Oh, almost forgot. Got this one on audio. The lady reading it, C.J. Critt, seriously needs to dial the theatrics down a bit.
*For Sigrid Harald fans from back in the day, getting Grandmother Lattimore's perspective on Sigrid and to some degree getting her side of the story is awesome, no lie. It took literally 30 years for the Lattimore side of the family to get character development, but it happened. If Grandmother Lattimore gets her own book, I will read it.
ncrabb's review against another edition
2.0
At six chapters in, I had to ask whether this series is running out of gas. I hope not. I’ve enjoyed it so much, and I have lots of books in the series I’ve not yet read.
Sadly, it appears to be a rather loosely plotted book wherein Deborah Knott-Bryant has little to do but fret about when and how to adopt her stepson and cook spinach lasagna. Ok, I’ve over simplified that a bit, but not by much.
It seems a female real estate agent with a dying marriage got in the unfortunate habit of showing more than houses. They found her murdered in a secluded place.
There’s a Brit who claims to be an ornithologist studying the habits of buzzards or turkey vultures. He is also a photographer, and a super-distant relative of Deborah Knott’s. He didn’t kill little Miss I’ll-Show-You-the-House-and-So-Much-More, but he’s clearly up to some bad stuff, as a friend of the Bryant family, Sigrid Harald, who stars in her own Margaret Maron series apparently, determines.
I’ll go back and fill in other books in the series I’ve missed, but not for a while, and perhaps with a bit less enthusiasm than I’ve approached this series in the past.
Sadly, it appears to be a rather loosely plotted book wherein Deborah Knott-Bryant has little to do but fret about when and how to adopt her stepson and cook spinach lasagna. Ok, I’ve over simplified that a bit, but not by much.
It seems a female real estate agent with a dying marriage got in the unfortunate habit of showing more than houses. They found her murdered in a secluded place.
There’s a Brit who claims to be an ornithologist studying the habits of buzzards or turkey vultures. He is also a photographer, and a super-distant relative of Deborah Knott’s. He didn’t kill little Miss I’ll-Show-You-the-House-and-So-Much-More, but he’s clearly up to some bad stuff, as a friend of the Bryant family, Sigrid Harald, who stars in her own Margaret Maron series apparently, determines.
I’ll go back and fill in other books in the series I’ve missed, but not for a while, and perhaps with a bit less enthusiasm than I’ve approached this series in the past.
nonna7's review against another edition
4.0
always look forward to the newest Judge Deborah Knott novel by Margaret Maron. They combine an interesting story with a touch of romance and insight into southern culture that we generally don't see portrayed in the media. This book deals with a local murder as well a local airstrip that is being used for refueling by CIA planes taking prisoners to foreign countries for "questioning" - knowing that they will be beaten and tortured until they confess. Buzzards set the theme for the book - birds that eat fresh kill. Mrs. Lattimore, one of the last of the grand dames, is dying. Her days are numbered so her daughter, Anne, a now retired well known photo journalist, and granddaughter, Sigrid Haralson, an NYPD police detective (and Maron's first character before she switched to Judge Deborah Knott) come to visit with her for a while. A surprise guest is Martin Crawford, an ornithologist who is staying at an old farmhouse studying buzzards. He is also a nephew of Mrs. Lattimore and, of course, Anne's cousin although she has never met him before. He DOES look familiar though! His mother was Mrs. Lattimore's sister who married a British citizen and moved to England. She estranged herself from her family after her first fiance dumped her for her sister, now Mrs. Lattimore. She died when Martin was young, and he was raised by his stepmother who was from Pakistan. So he learned Pashtun and Arabic and a number of other languages besides. The story had a lot of twists and turns, with a second murder and the near death of a teenage boy. It's a quick read and very entertaining.
nutti72's review against another edition
5.0
Quite possibly my favorite Margaret Maron & that's saying a lot.
rainweaver13's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best in the Deborah Knott series, but a satisfying read. More predictable than most.