Southern Discomfort

Margaret Maron

3/29/2001

Deborah Knott has been appointed the new judge in her district. At the party after her swearing in, she finds herself agreeing to help build a home for charity. The Women's Aid Society is building a home for a local single mother. Deborah is learning her new job and how to build a house at the same time.

Her niece, Annie Sue, is putting in the wiring in the house. Deborah comes back to help Annie Sue one night. She finds Annie Sue then takes her to the hospital for being beaten and raped. The man who did this is then found dead at the half built house. Someone...Annie Sue?...had hit him repeatedly with Deborah's hammer. The same night Annie Sue's father also goes to the hospital. Did he have a heart attack or is there a different problem?

This is a cozy mystery, well written and enthralling. I knew Annie Sue couldn't be the murderer. But who was? One of her friends? The man's pregnant wife? One of Annie Sue's brothers or male cousins? This story is more than the mystery. It is also a look at life in a small North Carolina community.

You can find more about this book at .

The Bootlegger's Daughter
Southern Discomfort
Shooting at Loons
Up Jumps the Devil
Killer Market
Home Fires
Storm Track
Uncommon Clay
Slow Dollar
High Country Fall
Rituals of the Season
Winter's Child
Hard Row
Death's Half Acre