Review: The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron (Giveaway too!)

The Buzzard Table
(A Deborah Knott Mystery)
18th in Series
Mystery
Grand Central Publishing (November 20, 2012)
Hachette Book Group
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0446555821

Maron’s two series’ collide again just like they did in Three-Day Town, the last book in this series. This time New York police detective Sigrid Harald travels to Cotton Grove with her award-winning photographer mother, Anne Lattimore Harald, to visit Sigrid’s ailing grandmother. They get together with Judge Deborah Knot and her husband, Sheriff’s Deputy Dwight Bryant for dinner at Mrs. Lattimore’s Victorian home. This is where they meet Mrs. Lattimore’s long lost nephew, Martin Crawford, an ornithologist researching a book on Southern vultures. Anne is charmed by her newly found cousin but something makes her believe they have met before.

When a string of suspicious murders hit the county Deborah, Dwight, and Sigrid once again work together to catch a killer, uncovering long-buried family secrets along the way.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I am a long time fan of Margaret Maron. She plots a mystery masterfully. She keeps the reader engaged from the first word until the last. I love the way she has blended both of her protagonists in these last two stories.

These characters are still fresh and evolving even as we finish this 18th book. Dwight has some things in his past that he has not shared with Deborah that will see the light of day in future editions and in this story had him facing some tough decisions. Deborah’s relationship with Cal took a turn that made this reader actually shed a tear. Sigrid’s connection to Colleton County gives her reason to visit and help Dwight and Deborah in the future now that her series has ended. Cameo or surprised appearances are always nice.

The buzzard theme was a little strange at first and I probably learned much more about turkey vultures than I ever wanted to, but true to Maron’s style she brings it all together in a way her readers will love.

This book could be read as a stand alone but this series is best when you start at the beginning. Deborah has a huge family and without the background from previous novels it can be hard to keep them all straight. You will also see the way family is really the tie that binds all of these wonderful books together.

Check out Margaret Maron’s website to find out more about this wonderful author here.

The publisher sent me a digital copy of The Buzzard Table so I am unable to give my review copy away but I am giving away my gently read hardcover copy of

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”