Margaret Maron is one of my tried and true mystery authors, not the best but reliable and fun to read. By "reliable," I mean that the books never let you down; that is, if you're searching for a good dose of Southern comfort. Maron wrote two series, one set in New York and one set in her native state of North Carolina. I much prefer the Carolina series featuring Deborah Knott. Deborah is a county judge who comes from a large happy North Carolina family.
Since storyline plays second fiddle to the books' engaging characters and well-described locales, I suppose you could call these mysteries "cozies." The term was invented in the late eighties to describe the feel-good type of mystery, the kind you want to get cozy with in bed before you go to sleep. In general, I have a poor opinion of this genre. Formulaic books about small English villages or single mothers who knit, cater, or run bookstores bore me.
But I've wandered off the subject: Margaret Maron's North Carolina series. If the books are cozies, they're a cut above most of them. (I must confess to liking some cozies: Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver series, for example. Miss Silver is a retired schoolteacher who knits socks, sweaters and baby booties for her friends and relatives. She's a gentler kinder version of Miss Marple.) But there, I've wandered off the subject again. I'm beginning to sound like Miss Silver. What was I saying, dear? Oh, my, I seem to have dropped a stitch...
Ahem. Margaret Maron. Well, her plots, though not brilliant, are solidly constructed, but its her characters who really shine -- and her descriptions of Carolina's countryside and culture. I read the latest one last night, Christmas Mourning. Her descriptions of North Carolina's winter landscape were so vivid that I got homesick for my own native state of Kentucky.
I also like Margaret Maron's NC books -- not the others so much. It probably does remind me of KY, especially her moon-shining father. She is one of the few authors whose books I buy when they come out. I re-read them when I am in a bad mood or have a cold. They always cheer me up.
ReplyDelete