When Judge Deborah Knott is asked to substitute for a hospitalized judge in gracious old Beaufort, North Carolina, she is looking forward to spending a restful week at her cousin's cottage on nearby Harkers Island - relative peace and quiet is Deborah's plan for the entire week. However, when her first clamming expedition turns up the corpse of a well-known fisherman in the shallow water, peace and quiet quickly flies out the window. Discovering the body puts her right in the middle of the contentious fight between the long-established locals who make their living from the sea and the more recent - and rising - tide of well-to-do "dingbatters": weekenders and land developers who view the coast as their personal playground and gold mine. Deborah soon realizes that the centuries-old way of life in this isolated part of the South is just as endangered as loons and sea turtles, and the fisherman's murder is somehow tied to the coming changes. In her time both on the bench as well as off, Deborah has certainly seen her share of change, and she's intensely aware of the rage and fear and greed such changes arouse. Even so, sipping her bourbon in the fresh salt air does wonders for Deborah's weary soul, and life at the beach takes a definite upswing when she meets a game warden who's hunting for loon poachers. Yes, in her mind, Deborah's short vacation certainly has proved to be beneficial. Not until a second murder occurs and a lover from her past is implicated does Deborah realize she's up to her own neck in intrigue - and dangerously close to a killer...To be perfectly honest, I may not have been in the proper mood to read this book to begin with. It was very difficult for me to get into the flow of the story. I had such trouble keeping the characters straight in my mind, that it lessened my enjoyment of the book somewhat. Actually, it was only when the story picked up appreciably - about halfway though, I think - that I began to enjoy it more.I have one other book by Margaret Maron on my bookshelf, the twelfth book in this series. I may read Winter's Child some time in the future, but I have to give this book - Shooting at Loons - a B!
I loved this book, it kept me guessing until the very end. So many suspects, and I learned a great deal about life on the water, and the people that make a living there and those who try to take that away. I'm really enjoying Margaret Maron's mysteries, and Judge Deborah Knott's way of somehow becoming involved in and around the people or crime that has been committed. Great reads and now I'm off to start the next story of Southern rural living, and the characters that make you laugh one minute and cringe the next. From Amazon: Margaret Maron has garnered both the praise of critics and the raves of satisfied readers for her award-winning Deborah Knott series. The Indianapolis News notes that a Deborah Knott book is “more than just a mystery; it is a portrait of a place.” The Houston Chronicle compares Maron’s rich description of central North Carolina to the writings of Sarah Orne Jewett and Kate Chopin. And the Raleigh News & Observer gets it exactly right when it says that the series is “like pecan pie. It leaves you wanting more.”Now, in SHOOTING AT LOONS, we follow Judge Deborah Knott to the state’s lush Crystal Coast, where expensive yachts ride at anchor…and murders wash in on the “Down East” tide.
What do You think about Shooting At Loons (1995)?
Deborah Knott is at it again. This time she has been "loaned" to the North Carolina coast for a week to hear cases for a vacationing judge. She is staying at her cousins house out on the islands and has close friends that she visits with. When she finds a dead body the race is on, will she solve the mystery or will someone get to her first.I do enjoy these stories and the cast of characters that inhabit them. Deborah is a fascinating character and all of her relatives just add to the fun.I thought I had this one figured out and Maron threw me for a loop so as usual I was surprised at the ending.More of her books are on my tbr list.
—Patty
I didn't enjoy this novel as much as some of the others in the Deborah Knott series... not sure if it's because I didn't sit down and just read it in one or two sittings as I do with most of Maron's novels, or what. Perhaps, as a result, the plot seemed a bit convoluted at times. Overall, though, it was still a fun read and I did wind up reading the last half or so of the book in one sitting. I thought I had it all figured out, but wound up fairly pleasantly surprised. I'm enjoying this series and will continue to pace myself so I don't read all 14 or so novels in "one fell swoop" (to sound quite Deborah-like).
—Kristy
I like Judge Deborah Knott. Except for one book, she seems to get involved in solving the murder/mystery almost accidentally. It seems to evolve as she learns more about the current location she is in (she seems to get loaned out often to other locations in North Carolina to fill in for other judges) and the people she is with. Deborah is not immediately involved in the investigation of the murder of a local that was part of her history as she was growing up; she seems to get more actively involved, after the pivotal murder of the antagonist, a real estate agent, which really happens fairly late in the book. Earlier in the book, rather than focusing on the two bodies she has stumbled upon, Deborah seems more caught up in understanding and learning about the dynamics of the island, which include nefarious real estate developments and dealings. Of course, the current evolution of the tourist trade and development of the island clash with the locals, their culture and history on the island. Deborah seems to stay relatively neutral, as she navigates and starts to understand the current status of the island, even though she has her own historical ties to some of the locals.
—Barbara
