The Bootlegger's Daughter / Margaret Maron

 This is the first book in a great series about a county circuit judge in rural Nouth Carolina. The protagonist Judge Deborah Knott, is so smart and funny that I often laughed out loud. More meat than most Southern cozies, Deborah is a steel magnolia who does not suffer fools lightly. There are alot of issues in this stories - there is a gay couple battling old school homophobia, racism, frank discussions of divorce and lingering corruption close to home, which is handled in a very realistic manner. Deborah is ambitious and flawed, but that made her seem extremely human to me. She wrestles with ethical decisions. That said, the book is also filled with memorable descriptions of a small Southern town where everyone knows everyone. This series has a large and entertaining cast of characters you will want to re-visit often. There are 10 titles in the "Deborak Knott series" so far and I hope many more titles to come. Remember, you may interlibrary loan titles not owned by PCL.

Dale

04/19/06