New York Times bestselling author Margaret Maron returns with a thrilling new Deborah Knott mystery . . .
THE BUZZARD TABLE
Judge Deborah Knott and her husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, are back home in Colleton County amid family and old friends. But the winter winds have blown in several new faces as well. Lt. Sigrid Harald and her mother, Anne, a well-known photographer, are down from New York to visit Mrs. Lattimore, Anne's dying mother. When the group gathers for dinner at Mrs. Lattimore's Victorian home, they meet the enigmatic Martin Crawford, an ornithologist researching a book on Southern vultures. He's also Mrs. Lattimore's long-lost nephew. With her health in decline, Mrs. Lattimore wants to make amends with her family-a desire Deborah can understand, as she, too, works to strengthen her relationship with her young stepson, Cal.
Anne is charmed by her mysterious cousin, but she cannot shake the feeling that there is something familiar about Martin . . . something he doesn't want her or anyone else to discover. When a string of suspicious murders sets Colleton County on edge, Deborah, Dwight, and Sigrid once again work together to catch a killer, uncovering long-buried family secrets along the way.
From Booklist
In the eighteenth Deborah Knott mystery, the North Carolina judge once again appears with MaronοΏ½s other series lead, New York police detective Sigrid Harald, just as in Three-Day Town (2011). Sigrid has come to Cotton Grove with her award-winning photographer mother, Anne Lattimore Harald, to visit SigridοΏ½s ailing grandmother. A passionate young protester arrested for attempting to photograph CIA flights out of the local Colleton County airport, a secretive ornithologist, and a promiscuous local realtor bludgeoned to death in one of her properties combine to keep the small-town judge and her sheriff husband, Dwight Bryant, hopping. When a pilot is murdered, and the FBI takes over the investigation, Sigrid offers her able assistance to Dwight to figure out exactly what international intrigue is taking place right in his own backyard. As always, Maron skillfully layers an absorbing plot with the doings of DeborahοΏ½s large extended family and the domestic details of their semirural lifestyle. In addition, the contrast between Deborah, who is warm and caring, and Sigrid, who is reserved and cerebral, gives MaronοΏ½s tale added depth. --Joanne Wilkinson
Review
"Smartly written" (The New York Times )
"Maron is at the top of her form" (Our State Magazine )
"As always, Maron skillfully layers an absorbing plot with the doings of Deborah's large extended family and the domestic details of their semirural lifestyle. In addition, the contrast between Deborah, who is warm and caring, and Sigrid, who is reserved and cerebral, gives Maron's tale added depth." (Booklist )
"Maron...adroitly melds ugly American (open) government secrets with classic whodunit intrigue and stirs the pot by itemizing domestic travails that will touch readers' hearts." (Kirkus Reviews )
"In Maron's intriguing 18th Deborah Knott mystery...Maron successfully combine a look at family foibles and relationships with a series of moral choices that challenges the characters' sense of law and justice." (Publishers Weekly )
"This book has plenty of suspense and the characters are well done. One of Ms. Maron's strengths is the believability of her characters. They add to the story and don't distract the reader with useless red herrings. As usual, the interplay between Dwight and Deborah is wonderfully romantic even in the midst of a murder. I have to say that I will be glad to see them back home in the next book. I just love the family dynamics and the southern ambiance in these books. Can't wait for the next book in the series!!" (imainlinefiction.blogspot.com on THREE-DAY TOWN )
"Dwight's obsession with New York gourmet delights and Deborah's passion for stylish, impractical footwear are charming, but Sigrid's slow but steady police work carries the day. Fans who have hankered for Deborah and Sigrid to find themselves in the same story will be charmed." (Kirkus on THREE-DAY TOWN )
"This is a strong addition to a series that's won Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards." (Publishers Weekly on THREE-DAY TOWN )
"[Maron] plots like a modern-day Christie, but the North Carolina charm is all her own." (Kirkus on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )
"Warm and authentic family relationships are the heart of this evergreen series." (Publishers Weekly on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )
"[A] winning entry and a fine holiday mystery." (Booklist on CHRISTMAS MOURNING )
"There's nobody better."
(Chicago Tribune )
"Every Margaret Maron is a celebration of something remarkable." (New York Times Book Review )