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timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
4.0
Familiar characters I like to check in on, fine story, perfect one-day read!
mg_in_md_'s review
3.0
Normally, I try to read mystery series in order since I enjoy seeing how the characters and relationships evolve over time. However, when I saw that this book was nominated for an Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel for 2014, I decided to dive in to the latest offering in this series when I spotted it on the shelf at my local library. I've heard great things about the rest of the series and am looking forward to going back to the beginning. This offering centers around the death of Judge Deborah Knott's beloved Aunt Rachel who was in hospice care. The suspects are many but the motive is murky. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and the various issues, such as elder care, that were woven into the plot. I also liked the setting and the Seagrove pottery reference since it reminded me of a fun visit I made to Seagrove with my best friend and browsing through the Seagrove store on a return trip to NC with my Mom! :)
retiredlibrarylady's review
4.0
Love the Deborah Knott mysteries and I loved this one, but I think anyone would need to start at the beginning of the series. The family is large and confusing, and those dynamics really play into this story about the murder of Deborah's Aunt Rachel. Rachel was dying; why would anyone murder her? As is often the case, to keep a long-buried secret buried.
cimorene1558's review
4.0
I can't think of any other contemporary writer who keeps writing decent books of exactly the kind her readers want. These aren't fabulous or anything, but unlike plenty of other series, if you liked book 1 you'll still like book 14 or whatever number this is in exactly the same way. I like that, consistency can be very reassuring.
jenniferdenslow's review
4.0
So here's what I like about this series of mysteries which continue to focus on judge Deborah Knott: after almost 20 books, the characters continue to develop and seem well rounded. Maron's writing fails to fall into formulaic triteness and remains fresh and interesting.
pinkbasil's review
4.0
19th book and I'm still not tired of this series -- love the setting -- North Carolina -- the characters and the food!
nonna7's review
4.0
I discovered Margaret Maron when her very first Deborah Knott novel came out. She had recently ended her Sigrid Harald series, one that I read literally one after another. Deborah is based on her own life in North Carolina. The very first one, Bootlegger's Daughter, introduced us to Deborah who had returned to her home after sowing some youthful oats. In this book she has been married over to years to one of her best friends, Dwight, and has adopted Dwight's son, Cal, after the death of his mother. Now life is rolling along with her cases as a local judge and Dwight's cases as a high ranking local police officer. This novel centers around the sudden death of her Aunt Rachel, her father's sister who was murdered in her hospice bed. After spending months in silence, she "wakes up" in a way and starts talking in a series of disjointed stories. We learn that one person is greedy enough to eat the chocolate from TWO Easter basket, while another is not the father of his own child. She also talks about the death of one of two uncles Deborah never met - younger twin brothers of her father. One died in a swimming accident, while the other ran off after his brother died, joined the army and died in a training accident before the family could top him. When someone smothers the old woman so hard that her nose is broken, Dwight and Deborah find themselves going back in time to discover the link between the ramblings of a dying woman and today. In the meantime, an elderly woman is about to lose her herm Can Deborah do anything about that injustice. This was an enjoyable and, as always, well written book. Sadly, I'll now have to wait a year or so for the NEXT one!
nutti72's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. We learned all about Kezzie's twin brothers who died. They had been mentioned in previous books, but now we got the whole story on their deaths.
jamread2021's review
2.0
Quick read and okay addition to the series. I did not find the mystery as compelling as others in the series but I do like getting to know the all the Knott relations better.