Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Home Fires
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Margaret Maron
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character
Series: Deborah Knott # 6
Mysterious, Dec 1998, $22.00, 243 pp.
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
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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