by Margaret Maron
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Product Description
Unchecked urbanization has begun to eclipse the North Carolina countryside. As farms give way to shoddy mansions, farmers struggle to slow the rampant growth. In the shadows, corrupt county commissioners use their political leverage to make profitable deals with new developers. A murder will pull Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant into the middle of this bitter dispute and force them to confront some dark realities.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The characters make the book..., 2008-10-08
A Deborah Knott Mystery
Margaret Maron
ISBN: 9780446496109
Grand Central Publishing, 2008
Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for ReviewYourBook.com, 10/08
The characters make the book...
5stars
This is the first Deborah Knott Mystery that I've read. The foundation of this book is the changing rural environment. What was once a picturesque North Carolina countryside has become subdivisions. In the midst of change comes discontent, greed, and corruption. The best part of this book are the characters. They come to life on the page. While I certainly did not like all of them, I did feel as though I knew them. Read and recommend.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A Solid Win for Maron, 2008-10-02
Reviewed by Sandie Kirkland for RebeccasReads (9/08)
Deborah Knott, district judge in a small town in North Carolina, is concerned about the changes taking place in her area. The old farms are being broken up and ritzy housing developments are growing up everywhere, most on half-acre lots. Along with the new houses come outsiders who think their money trumps the family relationships and trust built on generations of local families, and that their culture should displace the existing one.
As worrisome as the new money is, things get dramatically worse when Candace Bradshaw, chairman of the county commissioners, is found murdered in her big new expensive house. Allegations of political misconduct and insider corruption abound. Deborah's husband, who is a sheriff's deputy, investigates the case, and Deborah finds herself getting drawn in. In addition, her dad, patriarch of one of the old families and a former bootlegger, is acting strange and Deborah is worried about what is going on with him.
The fourteenth mystery in this series is a big hit for Margaret Maron. Those readers who have followed the series will be pleased to come back for another visit with Deborah and her eccentric family. Those readers for whom this is a first read will be quickly drawn into the series and immediately go look for earlier books in the series. I especially liked this one as I live in the area and could relate to the locations and the social relationships outlined. A solid win for Maron.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A 5-Star Read!, 2008-09-07
Margaret Maron's latest novel is the best one, yet! Death's Half Acre has it all: tantalizing politics, family secrets (that you never knew) and a revealing plot starring the old bootlegger, her aged father. You won't be able to put the book down, once you begin. The ending is the best! Never before has Maron's book stumped me this well. Highly recommended for Maron's faithful followers, and a great first read if you are a newcommer to this author's award-winning novels.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
One of the best in the series, 2008-09-01
Once again, Margaret Maron writes a compelling mystery with all the right ingredients: a strong believable heroine, a suspenseful plot, a strong sense of place and even a few touches of humor. Luckily I set aside some time on a rainy weekend. It's not a book I can put down easily.
Fans of Deborah Knott will be relieved to find that Deborah's marriage has not weakened the series. We don't get drowned in domestic details but we see glimpses of Deborah enjoying the challenges and rewards of her new roles as wife, stepmother and dog owner. She's caught up in the dynamic economy of North Carolina and the plot details are firmly grounded in 21st century technology and culture.
The plot has been summarized elsewhere. I didn't feel the solution was given away (or else I'm particularly dense) but the ending was consistent, believable and totally satisfying.
As other reviewers noted, Maron has a gift for creating characters who are neither angels nor devils. We might raise an eyebrow at some actions of the "good guys" and it's hard not to be sorry for the villains as they're carted off to jail, served with lawsuits or (in one delightful subplot) simply outwitted by a cunning old-timer.
This series has become one of my favorites. I look forward to each volume and get withdrawal pangs when I finish and realize there's a long wait for the next.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Solid and Thoughtful Mystery, 2008-09-01
I recently discovered Margaret Maron's charming Judge Deborah Knott mystery series. Before you get misled by the whole "judge" thing, let me assure you that these tales aren't loaded with technical legal jargon you're going to have to be up to speed on. Rather, if you're not from the rural areas, you're gonna have to learn ruralisms and add a bit of redneck to your diet.
Maron has carved out a space of her own with her Knott stories, and I look forward to each new novel every year. Deborah Knott has an extended, and complicated, family, and I've adopted them as my own. Sitting down with these books is almost like going back home to attend a family reunion. There's business, of course, but there's also a lot of gossip about what's going on in the family and in the town.
This time around, the ecology of the town and the outlying lands take up a lot of Deborah's - and the reader's - attention. This is an issue I've been taking into consideration myself, especially since my hometown is starting to insist on bursting at the seams. I love the fact that every restaurant I used to drive to is now practically in my back yard, but traffic and population density have gotten to be problems. And a lot of the trees are gone. I miss the trees.
The murder in DEATH'S HALF ACRE takes a while to get discovered, even though it takes place in the opening pages. Maron introduces the other issues and the mystery almost sits on a back burner too long. Once Candace Bradshaw's secret dealings start to slide out into public view, it doesn't take long before another murder becomes necessary.
I like Maron's characters a lot. Not just the family, though they're a hoot, but also the various bit players. Candace Bradshaw reminds me of some of the hard-nosed women and girls I grew up around. Small towns are going to make those women as a byproduct every time because it's easy to get ostracized in a small town.
The pacing was good, and I liked the subplot where Deborah's daddy had to deal with the local reverend who was taking advantage of his flock. Maron ties together a television show and that plot very well, and I saw what was coming just ahead of the reveal, which is the best place to do that.
However, I was disappointed in how little Deborah was in the book at first. She was definitely in at the end, with her life on the line, but through the meat of the book she was conspicuously missing in action. I read these books to hear her "talk" to me, to nudge me and make me think, and to let me know that we have a lot of the same outlooks and values. Hopefully Deborah will be back on stage more in the next novel.
If you haven't discovered this wonderful series, you can pretty much jump in with any of them. Maron lays out the family and the background pretty quickly, then you're usually in the middle of the plot. These mysteries are great for the beach and for quiet, rainy days.
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