Southern Discomfort

Written by Margaret Maron

Narrated by C. J. Critt

The governor of North Carolina has appointed Deborah to a judicial seat in the District Court Division. On her weekends, the fledgling judge has been helping an all-woman building crew complete a home for a needy single mother. Her attempts to gain positive P.R. go awry when her niece is found battered and half-naked in the partially completed home, with Deborah's own bloody hammer lying nearby.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2008
• ISBN: 9781449800444

Reviews for Southern Discomfort

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Deborah Knott mystery series. In this book we find the bootlegger's daughter being sworn in as a state judge. I really enjoy Margaret Maron's southern mysteries. Not only are the mysteries tricky, but all the Southern mannerisms, names and their culture are included in each book. There is lots happening in Deborah's little town in South Carolina. There is a local lothario who is terrorizing the young girls in the community. There is a charity home being built by the women in the town. And some men around town seem to be having heart attacks and strokes more than usual. Deborah manages to straighten all this out with the help of her plentiful family and friends, I listened to this book on audio, and I have to admit it was a good way to enjoy this mystery. The narrator brought all the colourful characters to life. It's like being an in-person observer to life with Deborah.

[jean_sexton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott novels is like stepping back into where I lived and worked for so long. I have known these people, or at least their twins, for all of my life. And I remember when women had to prove themselves better than men doing the same job to have the same level of approbation. The mysteries were challenging, although one plays into stereotypes true when it was written back in 1993. It is easy to see why it was nominated for both the Agatha and Edgar awards. The bonus is the social interactions in this very North Carolina family.So take a trip back to the early 1990s in rural North Carolina. If you like mysteries or good Southern writing, this book might well suit you.

[fernemysteryreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've had several novels by Margaret Maron on my tbr shelves and I'm not sure why I didn't try one before this time but I'm so glad that I finally decided that her books were next to read. Unfortunately, I am starting with number 2 in the series but it did not deter my appreciation or delight in meeting the lead character of Deborah Knott and it was easily read as a stand-alone.I really enjoyed Margaret Maron's descriptive writing that at times highlighted for me her wonderful sense of humor. Over the years I've read many different descriptions of characters described as nerds but this description becomes my favorite as the author’s humor is evident: "The investigator from Environmental Health, an environmental epidemiologist to give him his official title, was named Gordon O'Conner. Thirtyish, going bald early. Despite laid-back sneakers and jeans, there was an edginess about his wiry build that made me think he'd probably been a nerd in grade school. An intelligent nerd with something of a terrier's nervous intensity just before he picks up the rabbit's trail." As the author continued description of the character it also became more evident that her descriptions were more meaningful as she uses items which everyone has familiarity and it heightened visual ease. "He wore rimless round glasses perched on a long thin nose. The lens were thinner than fine crystal and polished to a shining gloss that rivaled the gloss of his bald dome. Behind those glasses, his eyes gleamed like two large black coffee beans; yet, they couldn’t have needed much correction because the lens didn’t distort their appearance any more than ordinary window glass." Two (2) other features of the novel presentation that complemented the storyline very effectively are the chapter titles and at the beginning of each chapter the italicized definitions of building terms (identified by the chapter titles) which are credited on the copyright page to: 6th edition of "Rate Training Manual NAVPERS 10648-F", prepared by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Department of the Navy. Anyone who has read novels in A Writer's Apprentice Mystery Series by Julia Buckley will especially delight and appreciate the chapter "lead-in" of these italicized sentences. Margaret Maron and Julia Buckley use them very productively. As I continue reading the Deborah Knott Mysteries I look forward to discovery if this feature continues throughout the series. Fingers crossed.

[danhammang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a tale made especially enjoyable by the evocations of time and place like the mid-summer night walk hearing the corn grow. There was a sophomoric attention to matters of personal hygiene right alongside nuanced character descriptions set in sadly perennial social issues in the tangled jungles of families struggling to do right by each other. It is a delightful slice of life from the Tar Heels of North Carolina.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Deborah Knott may have lost the district election, but a bigoted judge's sudden death--and some old-fashioned political horse trading--have won her a governor's appointment. True to Southern form, her swearing-in is followed by a raucous reception that brings out every elderly aunt and cousin in the county.

[kimsalyers · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

wasn't very interesting to me

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of insights into family life in a bucolic NC town. Rape, incest,teenage girls angst, race, gender issues, missing pets, and even murder create opportunities for Judge Knott to get involved. Good story line holds everything together and we even learn the the tools and methods necessary to build a house for a needy family. Lively entry in this enjoyable series.

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Deborah is now a judge with all the positives and negatives that the job entails. She has volunteered to help build a houses for homeless women and during that task her niece is attacked, a man is killed and her brother is poisoned.Review: This was an interesting set of crimes, particularly since at the beginning of the book, everything is foreshadowed. The murderer isn't apparent until nearly the end of the book because of some very nice writing devices and the missing animals are explained equally well. Fun to read.

[jim53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More or less what I expected: Deb'rah is now a judge and getting used to her new role, and her extended family continues to get caught up in all sorts of goings-on. Judge Knott is helping out with building a habitat-type house for a local family, as is her niece Annie Sue, who along with her teenage contemporaries is about ready to bust out of her father's tight control. Two mysteries arise, and Deborah is involved in solving both. I liked the chapter titles and headings, which describe many facets of building a house but also clearly apply to the story. Maron's prose is comfortable, her characterizations easy to swallow if not terribly subtle. I'm not sure I was ready for the motivation behind the final revelation.

[bookswoman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Newly sworn in Judge Deborah Knott has a new job and many complications caused by her extended family. Niece Annie Sue along with her friends Cindy and Paige are at *that* age, 16 going on 35 and out to prove that they are all grown up and ready to experience life. Throw in a cocky male and trouble is brewing. When weird things start happening, including a rash of unexpected deaths, and Annie Sue's father (Deborah's brother) Herman comes up sick the wheels are in motion for Deborah to start unraveling a complex set of clues.

I'm really enjoying this series and still don't know why it took me so long to start reading it. I'll be moving along to the next in the series, soon.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Deborah Knott has just been appointed as judge. She's also been drafted to help in a project in which women are building a home for a needy family. It's not long before we see members of Judge Knott's family in distress and a murder is discovered. This book is lighter on the mystery element than some, but it's high on the Southern charm. I enjoyed seeing the importance of religion in Southern life depicted in a favorable light. I've read several others in the series out of order, but this is probably my favorite of Maron's books in this series to date.

[daniexj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Deborah Knott is now Judge Deborah Knott, but that hasn't stopped her life being full of interesting-ness and excitement. When she was campaigning for the Judge-ship she managed to promise (sort of) to help out with a Woman run sort of Habitat for Humanity, or at least Habitat for Dobbs. The organizer catches her and makes her follow through on her promise. One of her brothers gets sick, and then one of the building inspectors gets himself killed (with the hammer that Deborah had been using) and the mystery unfolds from there.The novel was set up so that each chapter was prefaced with a different definition of something that had to do with construction (from Concrete/Cement to what Finishing is) and it took a while to get used to, but I have no doubt that if it had been too distracting I could have just skipped the italicized stuff before the chapters started.I have to admit that sometimes I still get a lot of Deborah's older brothers confused, but in this book just as in the last one Maron made sure that if a character was important that the reader definitely remember who he or she was. A great example being Annie Sue. Other than Deborah she's the one in the Knott family that to this day (with Three Day Town coming out soon) I remember the most vividly.And then there was Dwight Bryant. Maron writes all her characters with so much love and even seems to manage to write the 'bad guys' so that they aren't all bad. But Dwight is such a rich character and how Maron writes the interactions with Deborah is just priceless. A definite five star book.

[janeaustennut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great Deborah Knott mystery! The location discriptions were absolutely on target. Being a tobacco farm girl from NC, I really enjoyed reading all references to the local rural areas.

[joycepa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Second in the Judge Deborah Knott series set in North Carolina.Maron takes social issues and makes them very personal, usually through Knott's family, which is large enough and diverse enough to provide the characters and situations without seeming forced. In this book, the main issue is child molestation. However, the murder mystery is set against the background of a group of Cottton Grove women building a house for battered women; Knott promised during her election campaign to participate and now she's making good on that promise. This book was written in the early 90s, when women in the building trades were still relatively new. Maron points up the issue with a clash between her brother Herman, an electrician, and Annie Sue, his daughter, who is a much better electrician than her brother.With this book, Maron started her custom of chapter headings from relevant, though sometimes startling books. In this one, each chapter is preceded by an applicable definition of a building term, and each was taken from the Rate Training Manual NAVPERS 10648-F, Dep't of the Navy! Plot is well done, the writing as usual excellent with Maron's usual sure touch of characterizations and locale. Highly recommended.