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azwahine_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
romanici's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook. Plot driven, and it was an okay plot for a series starter. Looking forward to more character development in book two, otherwise will reconsider series. Not a fan of the narration, so will read book 2 as a paperback.
billymac1962's review against another edition
DNF'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.
macboone's review against another edition
5.0
Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott books take me to home to North Carolina
mschrock8's review against another edition
3.0
Filing in a cozy mystery series.
Borrowed on Hoopla through JCPL.
Listening length nine hr, 35 min
Borrowed on Hoopla through JCPL.
Listening length nine hr, 35 min
lvoorhies's review against another edition
5.0
I love Margaret Maron's mysteries. Deborah Knott is one of my favorite characters. I love that these mysteries have tons of characters as Deborah Knott, has a huge Southern family and all of them play a role in the books. Maron mysteries are in my top three with Elizabeth Peters and Laurie R. King.
git_r_read's review against another edition
5.0
I read this first in the Deborah Knott series a while back. It must have been a long while back as it was practically like a brand new book for me! It could be that I am getting older and I've pushed some knowledge and memories out to make room for new schtuff....nah...I read it a really really long time ago.....
Deborah Knott is a lawyer in Colleton County, North Carolina and is running for district court judge after a run in with a definite justice is not blind judge. She has one or two things going against her: her daddy was a reknowned bootlegger back in the day and Deborah has been asked by 18 year old Gayle Whitehead to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother, Janie, when Gayle was 3 months old.
The judgeshop campaign and the investigation all snarl up to cause Deborah headaches and trouble, but she perseveres.
My favorite of the series, this one introduces the colorful (but not overdonely so) (is so a word!) characters and family members. I'd love to see Maron's charts for keeping each brother and their families straight. They do come to life while reading or listening to the story.
Five Southern comfort beans.....
Deborah Knott is a lawyer in Colleton County, North Carolina and is running for district court judge after a run in with a definite justice is not blind judge. She has one or two things going against her: her daddy was a reknowned bootlegger back in the day and Deborah has been asked by 18 year old Gayle Whitehead to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother, Janie, when Gayle was 3 months old.
The judgeshop campaign and the investigation all snarl up to cause Deborah headaches and trouble, but she perseveres.
My favorite of the series, this one introduces the colorful (but not overdonely so) (is so a word!) characters and family members. I'd love to see Maron's charts for keeping each brother and their families straight. They do come to life while reading or listening to the story.
Five Southern comfort beans.....
ceebs's review against another edition
3.0
I took my time with Bootlegger’s Daughter and had a better time of it.
It’s a cozy mystery set in fictional Colleton County, North Carolina, imbued with lush descriptions of southern life and scenery. I want some cold, strong sweet tea now!
While I could have done without the many descriptions of clothes (I don’t give a damn what people are wearing most of the time), I have to admit that sometimes the clothes did flesh out a character, like Denn and his edgy look that sets him apart from the rest of the town.
Occasionally I was confused by all the characters! I flipped around in the book to remind myself who was who a good number of times, but that might be because it took me so long to read it.
There were surprisingly about ten or so minor flaws in the text (‘quiet’ and ‘quite’ were interposed a few times), but I’ll put that down to the editing.
This kind of book is not my usual cup of tea, but I am glad I pushed through because there is one hell of a satisfying ending - action-packed and poignant.
It’s a cozy mystery set in fictional Colleton County, North Carolina, imbued with lush descriptions of southern life and scenery. I want some cold, strong sweet tea now!
While I could have done without the many descriptions of clothes (I don’t give a damn what people are wearing most of the time), I have to admit that sometimes the clothes did flesh out a character, like Denn and his edgy look that sets him apart from the rest of the town.
Occasionally I was confused by all the characters! I flipped around in the book to remind myself who was who a good number of times, but that might be because it took me so long to read it.
There were surprisingly about ten or so minor flaws in the text (‘quiet’ and ‘quite’ were interposed a few times), but I’ll put that down to the editing.
This kind of book is not my usual cup of tea, but I am glad I pushed through because there is one hell of a satisfying ending - action-packed and poignant.
elizatanner's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first of the series and first time author for me. I quite enjoyed the mystery and the building of the main character. I will be finding more from this author/series.