Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron

Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron Find this book in our catalog

I have just finished reading this latest entry in the hugely popular mystery series about the feisty and attractive North Carolina district judge, Deborah Knott. Deborah is the daughter of the local (reformed) bootlegger and the last of a big family which included eleven older brothers. All of the series are vastly entertaining with a cast of characters who include Deborah's often colorful family, friends from way-back-when, and eccentric neighbors. The mysteries are well-plotted and have reasonably suspenseful endings when the bad guys get their deserts. Deborah herself has had a colorful past having kicked over the traces when her mother died when she was a teenager. She had some lost years away from home, but returned eventually to the Carolinas with her law degree and became a judge. Throughout the series Deborah has had several love interests that have not worked out and readers have been anxious to see how her love life progresses.

In Sand Sharks Deborah has been married just six months. She and her husband go their separate ways to summertime conferences, Deborah to a plush beach hotel near Wilmington, North Carolina. Deborah's is a conference of judges. During a pre-conference dinner at a riverside restaurant one very unpopular judge, rumored to be corrupt and to have caused by a careless judicial ruling the death of a young woman, is found murdered. Deborah, the one who found the body, is recruited by the local homicide detective to nose around for clues. I found this part particularly unbelievable, but the detective was using Deborah's involvement as a pretext to get closer to her attractive and recently single best friend. I thought that in Sand Sharks way too much attention was given to the love lives of the middle-aged!

I also thought that there was too much emphasis on what people were wearing, and where and what they ate, and not enough on their characters. I also thought the ending was a little cursory.

Still, don't let that put you off! This book set on the beach is a great summertime read! Deborah Knott is still a charming and all too human character: an honorable woman with a checkered past. She has a "preacher" whispering in one ear and a pragmatist" in the other. Deborah tries to do the right thing, but sometimes she and everyone else will just go on making the same old poor choices!

Cozy Mysteries Make Great Beach Reads

The independent publisher, Midnight Ink has developed somewhat of a reputation for the high number of cozy mystery writers it features in its catalog. Diehard cozy fans might enjoy visiting the Inkspot blog, where several Midnight Ink authors regularly post about writing, their books, and topics of general interest to book lovers.

The hallmark of a cozy is that it's fun. From the novels of Agatha Christie to Murder, She Wrote, cozy mysteries have won over generations of readers with their amateur sleuths, humor, and enjoyable plots. A cozy is a light mystery without significant blood or gore. A body is found but we don't witness the actual murder. The sleuth is often an amateur caught up by circumstances into solving the crime. The important thing is that at the end justice should be seen to be done and balance is returned to the world. Readers often take pleasure in the puzzle to be solved and the intriguing or eccentric characters and setting.

Despite their name, cozy mysteries do not need to be read in front of a roaring fire, but also make great beach reads.

Here are some recent cozies in Harford County Public Library for you this summer:
Handbags and homicide / Dorothy Howell
The anteater of death : a Gunn Zoo mystery / Betty Webb
Paper, scissors, death : a Kiki Lowenstein scrap-n-craft mystery / Joanna Campbell Slan
Murder walks the plank : a death on demand mystery / Carolyn Hart