STORM TRACK by Margaret Maron (see her website)

A DEBORAH KNOTT MYSTERY

The Mysterious Press, April 2000

A hurricane is pressing in on North Carolina, but the storm encompasses far more than merely the weather--it reflects Judge Deborah Knott's life as well. A philandering wife is found dead in a local motel and the evidence points at Deborah's cousin Reid. Her friend Cyl has fallen in love with a married man. Her boyfriend doesn't visit when he says he is going to. As the barometric pressure falls, the emotional pressure increases. Will the killer strike again? As Deborah gets closer to the truth, will the storm strike her?

Because Deborah believes her cousin is innocent (at least she wants to believe in his innocence), she joins in the investigation. The most likely substitutes seem to be the men who were sleeping with Lynn Bullock. None can offer solid alibis. Of course even North Carolina gossips may have missed something. Could the killer be someone completely unsuspected.

Set in rural North Carolina, STORM TRACK depicts both a mystery and the intertwined lives of the families that make up this community. White and African-American communities overlap yet fail to communicate effectively. Who is sleeping with whom is both a source of community discussion and intense activity by many of the residents. This sense of family and of very real people distinguishes Margaret Maron's novel from more plot-centric mystery novels.

Author Margaret Maron (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Maron) writes with a clear and homey style. By pursuing both a first person point of view character (Deborah) and multiple third person viewpoints, she is able to provide the reader with information not available to Deborah, allowing the reader to cheer her on as Deborah searches for the truth.

Four Stars

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