bigcat76's Full Review: Margaret Maron - Bootlegger's Daughter: A Deborah ...
Title: Bootlegger's Daughter
Author: Margaret Maron
Series: Deborah Knott Series
Place in Series: First book (though there is a prequel)
Plot: May 1972: A young woman and her baby girl go missing, some assume that she might have gone off for an affair, some assume that she has been killed. The book opens with the discovery of the woman's body, and the still wiggling baby girl in an old abandoned mill. Next chapter: April 1990: the killer still has not been found and that baby girl is now 18 and wants to hire someone to find out why her mother died (she is somewhat less concerned with who the killer is, though that knowledge would be nice, but why her mother was picked for death). That girl, Gayle Whitehead, also wants to know what her mother, Jane Whitehead, was like since the people that knew Jane are reluctant to say anything but nice things about Jane to Gayle. Jed Whitehead approaches Deborah Knott, an old family friend (babysitter for Gayle, brief girlfriend of Jed), to ask her to talk Gayle into not using her college savings to hire a private investigator (Gayle has won a full-scholarship to college and so does not need that trust fund for college expenses (right after I wrote that I recalled what a scholarship covers and what a young woman might like to do at college, draw your own conclusions)). Deborah is somewhat reluctant, but meets up with Gayle. Gayle notes that she had suddenly realized that Deborah would be the perfect one to do the investigating. Deborah notes that she is running in an election to become a judge (before this goes too far, Gayle states that Deborah will be traveling around for the election anyway and Deborah eventually agrees to conduct an investigation). The book continues from here.
Review: This is the first book by Margaret Maron that I have read, and the first book in the Deborah Knott series. This specific book is the winner of the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, & Macavity Awards. There are currently eleven books in the series (including a prequel to "Bootlegger's Daughter" titled "Bloody Kin" and a collection of short stories).
Deborah is a female lawyer in Colleton County, North Carolina who has decided to run in the current judicial election (and is the daughter of a noted ex-bootlegger). While Deborah is running for said election, she has also been asked by a young woman that she used to babysit, Gayle Whitehead, to look into the death of that woman's mother, Jane Whitehead, 18 years ago. Deborah talks to the people that investigated the case (the original investigation and the investigation that occurred around 1980), and talks with those that knew Jane. Meanwhile Deborah is running in the Democratic primary (because of the nature of the county, the winner of the Democrat primary is the one that will likely become the next judge (with about an 80% probability), and tries to recover after two letters are distributed. One is on her letterhead and basically states that the voters should vote for her because her opponent is black, the other is on the black candidate's letterhead and states some negative things (like how Deborah is the daughter of a bootlegger). Both letters have a tendency to hurt her more than any of the other candidates.
At the very beginning of the book, I was concerned that I might not like the main character, and some of the plot points and dialogue that came up. As I read further, though, the book grew on me, and by the end, I rather liked the main character. The main character, and a few others, are fully developed personalities, though the lessor characters can seem a little thin (ciphers; Deborah has a fully developed character, but one of her personality traits involves internal comments about Republican's and Democrats that might be a little off-putting to some (not a big issue, basically Democrats good, Republicans bad); Deborah's law firm partners are given distinct personalities, but are mostly there to fill out the law firm; Gayle is just a young woman on the verge of going to college, and does not really have a fully realized personality in the book, the killer (who I will not disclose) has a much deeper characterization and personality than has been given to some other characters in the book(which might be a flaw, as that might indicate who the killer might be). The plot is solid, the mystery is well-designed and plausible, and the setting is well developed (really got the feeling I was there in Colleton County, North Carolina). Overall, I would give the book 4.40 stars out of five.
NOTE: This review is a heavily modified version of my review that appears on Amazon.com
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