New Releases by Margaret Maron

Collected short stories by Margaret Maron, each featuring Judge Deborah Knott.

Book 7 in the award-winning Deborah Knott series

Judge Deborah Knott looks into the murder of Dallas Stancil and finds that several people could have something to do with his death now that his land is worth a fortune.

MWA Grand Master Margaret Maron, Edgar Award winner Tom Franklin, and New York Times bestselling novelist Ron Rash headline a new anthology of 21 tales spanning from traditional detective stories to comic capers to darkest noir and more-something for all tastes. Murder Under the Oaks is published in conjunction with Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, held in 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina-the City of Oaks. As with the convention itself, the anthology spreads a broad canopy across a wide range of crime writers from across the country and around the world-including both veteran writers and the brightest up-and-coming talents in the field. Celebrating Bouchercon's first-ever meeting in the American South, several of the stories in Murder Under the Oaks also draw on the region's history and culture-including the birth of a secret society at the University of Virginia, a mystery from Edgar Allan Poe's childhood days, and a series of less-than-welcome visits by everyone's favorite hometown sheriff. All participants contributed their efforts to support our charity-the Wake County Public Libraries-and by extension readers and writers everywhere. All profits go to the library. Edited by Art Taylor Including Stories By J.L. Abramo J.D. Allen Lori Armstrong Rob Brunet P.A. De Voe Sean Doolittle Tom Franklin Toni Goodyear Kristin Kisska Robert Lopresti Robert Mangeot Margaret Maron Kathleen Mix Britni Patterson Karen Pullen Ron Rash Karen E. Salyer Sarah Shaber Zoe Sharp B.K. Stevens Graham Wynd"

Margaret Maron, New York Times bestselling author and Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, returns to Colleton County with an exciting Deborah Knott mystery . . . LONG UPON THE LAND On a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father Kezzie makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death. Investigating this crime, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, soon uncovers a long-simmering hostility between Kezzie and the slain man over a land dispute. The local newspaper implies that Deborah's family may have had something to do with the murder-and that Dwight is dragging his feet on the case. Meanwhile, Deborah is given a cigarette lighter that once belonged to her mother. The cryptic inscription inside rekindles Deborah's curiosity about her parents' past, and how they met. For years she has wondered how the daughter of a wealthy attorney could have married a widowed, semi-illiterate bootlegger, and this time she's determined to find the answer. But why are Deborah's brothers so reluctant to talk about the dead man? Is the murder linked to Kezzie's illegal whiskey business? And could his courtship of Deborah's mother have something to do with the bad blood between the two families? Despite Deborah's promise not to interfere in Dwight's work, she cannot stop herself from doing everything she can to help clear her brothers and her father from suspicion . . .

COMPASSION, CONNECTION, AND INSPIRATION... The path of a writing career can be rocky and twisty and full of dead ends. But it's also well-traveled-and in Writes of Passage, fifty-nine mystery authors offer the secrets that helped them navigate their success. When you're in need of an author's roadmap, "pick up this book," as Hank Phillippi Ryan says in the introduction. "Open it to any page. The sisters of SinC have shared their personal journeys-and they have many tales to tell." These tales reveal the "Writes of Passage" every author encounters, and Sisters in Crime hopes these beautifully told experiences will guide you along your way. Praise for WRITES OF PASSAGE: "Every writer-beginner or bestseller-gets lost sometimes. Some days words don't flow and the path is hidden. Writes of Passage is a magic-box of wise words for those cloudy days. Like a lunch-date with all your funniest, kindest friends, this book will remind you of the joy of writing, inspire you to stick at it and remind you that you're not alone." - Catriona McPherson, Agatha, Macavity and Bruce-Winning Author of the Dandy Gilver Series and the Anthony-Nominated As She Left It "Writes of Passage is that centering book every author needs, whether multi-published or still striving, the one that captures our collective experience as writers with compassion, connection, and inspiration. Its insightful essays will surprise you and renew you every time you open it, for as long as your writer's journey continues." - Laura DiSilverio, 2014 President, Sisters in Crime; Author of the Lefty-Nominated Swift Investigations Series, the Mall Cop Series, and The Reckoning Stones (2015) Books in the Sisters in Crime The Writing Life Collection: WRITES OF PASSAGE: Adventures on the Writer's Journey BREAKING AND ENTERING: The Road to Success SHAMLESS PROMOTION FOR BRAZEN HUSSIES Part of the Henery Press Non-Fiction Collection, if you like one, you'll probably like them all...

As Deborah and her husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, investigate they cross paths with an unlikely set of suspects: Rachel's longtime minister; her neighbor, the respected local doctor; the friendly single father who often sought her advice; and perhaps the most puzzling party of all, the Designated Daughters, a support group for caregivers that Rachel's own daughter belongs to. When Judge Deborah Knott is summoned to her ailing Aunt Rachel's bedside, she assumes the worst. Thankfully when she arrives at the hospice center she learns that Rachel hasn't passed; in fact, the dying woman is awake. Surrounded by her children, her extended family, and what seems like half of Colleton County, a semi-conscious Rachel breaks weeks of pained silence with snippets of stories as randomly pieced together as a well-worn patchwork quilt. But the Knott family's joy quickly gives way to shock: less than an hour later, Aunt Rachel is found dead in her bed, smothered with a pillow. Who would kill a woman on her deathbed? Was it an act of mercy, or murder? Soon Deborah and Dwight realize that the key to solving this case is hidden in Rachel's mysterious final words. Her mixed-up memories harbored a dark secret-a secret that someone close to them is determined to bury forever.

New York Times bestselling author Margaret Maron returns with a thrilling new Deborah Knott mystery where Deborah, Dwight, and Sigrid once again work together to catch a killer, uncovering long-buried family secrets along the way. Judge Deborah Knott and her husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, are back home in Colleton County amid family and old friends. But the winter winds have blown in several new faces as well. Lt. Sigrid Harald and her mother, Anne, a well-known photographer, are down from New York to visit Mrs. Lattimore, Anne's dying mother. When the group gathers for dinner at Mrs. Lattimore's Victorian home, they meet the enigmatic Martin Crawford, an ornithologist researching a book on Southern vultures. He's also Mrs. Lattimore's long-lost nephew. With her health in decline, Mrs. Lattimore wants to make amends with her family-a desire Deborah can understand, as she, too, works to strengthen her relationship with her young stepson, Cal. Anne is charmed by her mysterious cousin, but she cannot shake the feeling that there is something familiar about Martin . . . something he doesn't want her or anyone else to discover.

Three-Day Town is the winner of the Agatha award for best novel where Deborah and Dwight must team up with Lt. Harald to catch the killer before he strikes again. After a year of marriage, Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are off to New York City for a long-delayed honeymoon. January might not be the perfect time to take a bite of the Big Apple, but Dwight's sister-in-law has arranged for them to stay in her Upper West Side apartment for a week. Deborah had been asked to deliver a package to Lieutenant Sigrid Harald of the NYPD from Sigrid's Colleton County grandmother. But when the homicide detective comes to pick it up, the package is missing and the building's super is found murdered.

It's Christmas in rural North Carolina's Colleton County and Judge Deborah Knott is looking forward to a family celebration when a tragedy clouds the holiday season. A beautiful young cheerleader dies in a car crash and the community is devastated by her death. Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant soon learns that her death was not a simple accident, and more lives may be lost unless he and Deborah can discover why she died.

A relic of Manhattan's Gilded Age, the Erich Bruel House on Gramercy Park contained three floors of glorious art--and one Christmas corpse. Now it's up to Lieutenant Sigrid Harald to wrap up this homicide before the killer strikes again.

A small-town judge finds drama, danger, and murder at an oceanside work conference in this fifteenth entry in the award-winning mystery series. "Maron's homespun evocation of people and place is typically pitch-perfect, her use of the judicial milieu skillful—and her engaging heroine as welcome a companion as you could wish for under a beach umbrella." — Publishers Weekly When Judge Deborah Knott travels to Wrightsville Beach for a summer conference for North Carolina District Court Judges, she stumbles upon the body of one of her colleagues. Meanwhile, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, is in Virginia with his son, tying up loose ends left by the death of his first wife. When another judge is found murdered at the conference, it soon becomes evident that Deborah may be the killer's next target. Her relaxing trip to the seaside soon transforms into a harrowing experience, and she must summon all her strength and investigative expertise to track down the culprit before she becomes the next victim. "Maron is a pro . . . and Sand Sharks is up to her usual standard. As Deborah breezily narrates the details, the author spins out a scenario with plenty of intriguing characters (and possible suspects) and enough false leads to keep readers guessing." — Wilmington Star-News

Margaret Maron—winner of the most prestigious awards in mystery fiction—returns with another novel featuring her critically acclaimed sleuth Deborah Knott. Unchecked urbanization has begun to eclipse the North Carolina countryside. As farms give way to shoddy mansions, farmers struggle to slow the rampant growth. In the shadows, corrupt county commissioners use their political leverage to make profitable deals with new developers. A murder will pull Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant into the middle of this bitter dispute and force them to confront some dark realities.

A judge's new marriage is tested as she and her husband hunt for his missing ex-wife and son in the twelfth entry in this award-winning mystery series. "Outstanding. . . . Maron brilliantly connects the unconnected, hides one killer in plain sight and tucks another into a most unexpected position." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) It's one month after their wedding, and the future looks bright for Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff Deputy Dwight Bryant—until a disturbing call from Dwight's eight-year-old son Cal calls him back to Virginia. When he arrives, he is shocked to find that his ex-wife has left the boy alone for almost twenty-four hours. Worse, as Dwight tries to confront her, she takes the child and leaves town without a word. As Dwight embarks on an all-points search, Deborah hurries to his side. But will they be able to work together to decipher the ex-wife's motives—and, more importantly, will they find young Cal before he comes to harm? "In Maron's charming, folksy, small-town world, even the mayhem is domestic in nature, in this case prompted by stolen antiques and highway litter." — Booklist

When another body is found, these newlyweds will discover dark truths that threaten to permanently alter the serenity of their rural surroundings and their new life together. As Judge Deborah Knott presides over a case involving a barroom brawl, it becomes clear that deep resentments over race, class, and illegal immigration are simmering just below the surface in the countryside. An early spring sun has begun to shine like a blessing on the fertile fields of North Carolina, but along with the seeds sprouting in the thawing soil, violence is growing as well. Mutilated body parts have appeared along the back roads of Colleton County, and the search for the victim's identity and for that of his killer will lead Deborah and her new husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, into the desperate realm of undocumented farm workers exploited for cheap labor. In the meantime, Deborah and Dwight continue to adjust to married life and to having Dwight's eight-year-old son, Cal, live with them full time.

With friends and family over-reacting to her announcement that she plans to marry Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, Judge Deborah Knott gratefully seizes the opportunity to put a five-hour drive between herself and Colleton County when the Chief District Court Judge offers her a week on the bench in Cedar Gap. It is early autumn, leaves are turning, and summer residents are preparing to close up their mountain "cabins" (palatial houses perched atop the most desirable locations) and return to their winter homes in Florida. But Deborah's peaceful break is disrupted when one Floridian is found murdered. He won't be going home, and Deborah won't be either - until she tracks down the killer.

- "High Country Fall, Margaret Maron's most recent installment in the Deborah Knott series, was published in Mysterious Press hardcover in 8/04, with a first printing of 40,000 copies.- Margaret Maron swept the top mystery awards with her first Deborah Knott hardcover, "Bootlegger's Daughter (Mysterious Press, 1992), receiving the Edgar1 Award for Best Mystery Novel, the Agatha Award, the Macavity, and the Anthony. She also won a 1992 Agatha Award for the short story that introduced the character of Deborah Knott, and later, she received the Agatha Award for Best Novel for "Up Jumps the Devil (Mysterious Press, 1996). Maron was nominated for an Agatha Award for "Home Fires (Mysterious Press, 1998), and most recently, "Storm Track (Mysterious Press, 2000) won the Agatha Award for Best Novel. "Last Lessons of Summer (Mysterious Press, 2003), was also nominated for an Agatha Award.- "Last Lessons of Summer, Slow Dollar, and Uncommon Clay were all selected as Mystery Guild Main Selections.

Hailed as 'one of the most seamless Southern writers since Margaret Mitchell' by Publishers Weekly, Margaret Maron has won multiple awards and received immense acclaim for her hugely popular Deborah Knott series. Now Maron introduces us to a new heroine who returns to her North Carolina roots to unearth the darkest secrets of her past. In the suffocating heat of a Southern August, Amy Steadman, heir to a merchandising and publishing empire, has come to clean out the house of her murdered grandmother - and perhaps find some answers. Beneath her quiet, accommodating manner, a storm is brewing. For here in this gracious home, Amy's own mother had committed suicide when her daughter was barely three years old. The tragedy put an end to her mother's turbulent marriage to Amy's father. But the secrets surrounding her mother's death live on. Sorting through her grandmother's things, Amy reflects on the parallels between her parents' relationship and the growing suspicions she has about her own husband, who may love her legacy more than he loves her. summers, Amy meets relatives she never knew, and feels an unexpected emotional connection with the burly, knowing state investigator looking into her grandmother's murder. Suddenly, she begins to connect the dots between her troubled life and the heritage that has shaped her. Yet the more she learns, the closer she comes to a murderous force who may be in her own family - one who will not hesitate to lie, deceive, or kill...

Judge Deborah Knott of Seagrove, North Carolina, must unearth a local family's tragic past to find a vengeful killer in the eighth installment of the award-winning mystery series by Maron.

The eighth in a series of anthologies of original stories celebrating cozy mysteries, including short stories from Nevada Barr, Amanda Cross, Mary Daheim, Jonathan Gash, Edward Hoch, Susan Holtzer, HRF Keating, Susan Kenney, Alanna Knight, Janet Laurence, Miriam Grace Monfredo, Abigail Padgett, Lynda Robinson, and Sister Carol Anne O'Marie.

At a stop along her campaign trail, Judge Deborah Knott attends a community picnic at the Mt. Olive Church. When the historic building is destroyed by a fire shortly after the outing; and the charred skeleton of a young man is found among the ashes; Knott begins her own investigation into the tragedy. Earlier national news reports of a fire at a local African-American church had already gained the attention of Wallace Adderly, a Black Panther from the 70s. Knott and Adderly team up to discover if the blazes are merely coincidence, or the work of a racist arsonist. As the number of suspects rises, Deborah finds herself re-examining her own beliefs and values as she and Adderly race to prevent another devastating loss in the community.The mass market edition of Killer Market (Mysterious Press 8/97) will be published simultaneously with Home Fires Burning.A Main Selection of The Mystery Guild.

Le Sud profond, où machisme rime avec racisme : c'est là que Deborah, jeune avocate éprise de justice, fille d'un ancien trafiquant d'alcool, a l'ambition de devenir juge ! Elle est en pleine campagne électorale quand on vient lui demander d'enquêter sur un meurtre commis dix-huit ans plus tôt. Crime apparemment gratuit, resté impuni. Fidèle à ses principes, Deborah accepte de se pencher sur cette affaire " classée ". Mais en fouillant dans le passé, elle réveille de vieux démons, déterre quelques cadavres et...met le feu aux poudres !

Contains twenty-two short mystery stories by Margaret Maron, including selections that feature her recurring characters, Judge Deborah Knott, and Lieutanant Sigrid Harald.

First in a series featuring Deborah Knot, bootlegger's daughter and lawyer in a small North Carolina town, who is running for District Judge.

Sigrid Harald, a police detective, investigates the murder of a dancer, whose death was witnessed by a crowd of children