Home Fires

Rating:
Summary: "Cozy" read; but is it a mystery?
Review: Although I enjoyed the slice of Southern life that Maron serves up, I was disappointed that the "mystery" was so low-key. The story was almost totally devoid of tension and suspense. I haven't read any of the other books in this series, so I don't know if this is typical for this writer. Interesting characters were introduced but not developed enough. Her huge Southern extended family is interesting; but I wanted more!

Rating:
Summary: "Cozy" read; but is it a mystery?
Review: Although I enjoyed the slice of Southern life that Maron serves up, I was disappointed that the "mystery" was so low-key. The story was almost totally devoid of tension and suspense. I haven't read any of the other books in this series, so I don't know if this is typical for this writer. Interesting characters were introduced but not developed enough. Her huge Southern extended family is interesting; but I wanted more!

Rating:
Summary: HOME FIRES NOT FOR ME!!!!
Review: Guess I am by my self but I did not care much for Home Fires. I have read five other books in this series and liked them all. I could just not get into Home Fires. Deborah's nephew, A.K., is caught turning over headstones in a cemetery, then a black church is torched and a body found in the ashes. Was A.K. involved is this too? It seems to me that a big part of the book was spent in talking about Deborah's family. I stayed so confused over whose child was whose and which brother was the 4th born or 2nd born or the third one up from her that I just never got into liking the book. Would recommend skipping this one if you are reading the series.

Rating:
Summary: A regional who-done-it beyond compare
Review: Judge Deborah Knott is seeing her lover when she receives the call from her brother Andrew that her nephew A.K. is in trouble with the law for desecrating gravestones at a nearby cemetery. A.K. and two of his buddies spray painted racial slurs on the graves of African-Americans.

Shortly after the arrest, a black church is burned with the graffiti being identical to that of the cemetery. The police believe the three teens did the act. Deborah, who is running for reelection in Colleton County, North Carolina, begins her own investigation. However, two more churches are torched and two corpses are found. If Deborah does not uncover the culprit soon, a race war may engulf her beloved hometown.

Award winning Margaret Maron returns with her sixth Knott regional who-done-it. HOME FIRES is a brilliant, in-depth portrayal of the modern south with its pressing social issues. The characters are well defined and though the mystery is relatively simplistic, the novel is another winner. This series and Ms. Maron's Sigrid Harald tales are all worth reading as they demonstrate just why the author is a multi-award winner.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Like a visit with an old friend
Review: The Deborah Knott series is low-key, and the endings are correspondingly not shell-shockers. But in every book, Maron adds a little more information about Deborah and her family members, coworkers, and friends. I especially enjoyed reading about Cyl Degraffenreid, a character about who Maron has written in the past, but never to this extent. I hope we see her more in future books--she's complex, and as a reserved,none-too-social African American attorney, a nice foil to Deborah's warm, open character.

Rating:
Summary: Like a visit with an old friend
Review: The Deborah Knott series is low-key, and the endings are correspondingly not shell-shockers. But in every book, Maron adds a little more information about Deborah and her family members, coworkers, and friends. I especially enjoyed reading about Cyl Degraffenreid, a character about who Maron has written in the past, but never to this extent. I hope we see her more in future books--she's complex, and as a reserved,none-too-social African American attorney, a nice foil to Deborah's warm, open character.

Rating:
Summary: A sure-fire way to please the mystery lover on your list!
Review: The Walters, long time owners of the now finacially troubled mill, are looking for a buyer. The community splits over the sale of the mill to a big-city investors. What will happen to the millworker's jobs if the sale goes through? But what if it doesn't? And what about the recent rash of peculiar fires? Is there a shady conntection between the fires and the mill buyout, or is something else fueling these mysterious blazes? In "Home Fires", Margaret Maron again delivers a vividly realistic, enticingly suspensful mystery. A sure-fire way to please the mystery book lover on your holiday list!

Rating:
Summary: A sure-fire way to please the mystery lover on your list!
Review: The Walters, long time owners of the now finacially troubled mill, are looking for a buyer. The community splits over the sale of the mill to a big-city investors. What will happen to the millworker's jobs if the sale goes through? But what if it doesn't? And what about the recent rash of peculiar fires? Is there a shady conntection between the fires and the mill buyout, or is something else fueling these mysterious blazes? In "Home Fires", Margaret Maron again delivers a vividly realistic, enticingly suspensful mystery. A sure-fire way to please the mystery book lover on your holiday list!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This author writes like an angel.

The Deborah Knott series shows that mystery writing can be highly enjoyable and compelling without unnecessarily confusing plotting, gory crime scenes or characters that just take themselves too seriously. I would recommend this author and the Knott series to anyone looking for a good, cosy read.

Needless to say, I am going to snap up all other books written by this author as soon as I can get my hands on them.

Good reading!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This author writes like an angel.

The Deborah Knott series shows that mystery writing can be highly enjoyable and compelling without unnecessarily confusing plotting, gory crime scenes or characters that just take themselves too seriously. I would recommend this author and the Knott series to anyone looking for a good, cosy read.

Needless to say, I am going to snap up all other books written by this author as soon as I can get my hands on them.

Good reading!