Overview
"Opening night at the annual Harvest Festival carnival and the moonlit autumn evening has brought out half of Colleton County to ride the Tilt-O-Whirl and Ferris wheel, throw quarters at Polly's Plate Pitch, or toss pingpong balls into bowls of live goldfish against a cacophony of music, clacking machines, and hucksterism. The air is sweetly redolent of hot grease, fried dough, grilled meats, and spun sugar...and one whiff is all it takes to send Judge Deborah Knott straight back to her childhood, holding her mother's hand, riding on the shoulders of one of her eleven brothers, or clinging to her daddy's pants leg, dazzled by the bright neon tubes and colorful chasing lights." Unfortunately, all is not try-your-luck and stuffed prizes this year. Murder stalks the midway, and when one gaffed game ends with a brutal death, Deborah discovers more than a body.Synopsis
For Judge Knott, the case before her seems to be an ordinary misdemeanor — except that the personal property that's been destroyed is an inflatable carnival ride. When the carnival comes to her own town a few weeks later, Deborah soon discovers there's nothing ordinary about this rag-tag collection of rides and games. Why does the ride owner's charm bracelet awaken half-forgotten memories? And what is her connection to Deborah's own family? When one of the concessionaires is found dead, his mouth stuffed with quarters from his game of chance, Deborah soon learns that he was also chancing a little blackmail on the side — blackmail that may threaten one of her brothers. In carnie lingo, "A fast dime is better than a slow dollar." Torn between judicial ethics and family love, Deborah must decide who gets which before more lives are ruined and the carnival moves on.
Publishers Weekly
Step right up! Play a game and win your girl a prize! The carnivals in town and Maron brings to this ninth Judge Deborah Knott mystery (after 2001s Uncommon Clay) the vigor and verve that have served her so well to date. Larceny, both grand and small, as well as death hover over the Ames Amusement Corporations show on its arrival in Colleton County, N.C. Deborah, her irrepressible siblings (shes one of 12, the youngest and the only female) and some newfound kinfolk gather to mourn her great-nephew and carnival worker Brazos Hartley, after the young man is stomped to death, his mouth stuffed with quarters. The rural North Carolina dialogue and carny talk are perfect, especially descriptions of food, fashion and enchanting scenery of Indian summer in the South. The author draws family relationships so clearly you feel you could melt right into the crowd for barbecue, biscuits, slaw and cobbler. Before Maron is done, theres a bizarre theft of some tacky paintings, a second murder and a steamy romance. Is Judge Knott finally going to settle down and marry? Maron is one of the most seamless Southern authors since Margaret Mitchell, yet she beautifully writes a series about a New York police detective, Lieut. Sigrid Harald, with equal authority. A Knott family tree and a glossary of carny terms round out a novel that Nero Wolfe would describe as most satisfactory! (Aug. 20) Forecast: The first Knott novel, Bootleggers Daughter, won all four major mystery awards"the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha and the Macavity. A national print campaign, ALA and North Carolina appearances, plus Web marketing, should ensure healthy sales. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.