Mystery Authors You May Have Missed
Margaret Maron
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Photo by John Maron |
Biography
Margaret Maron was born in North Carolina and raised on a farm near Raleigh. She married Joseph Maron in 1959. After many years in Brooklyn, she returned to North Carolina and began writing mysteries influenced by her North Carolina roots.
What she writes: Maron is a contemporary southern writer. Her two mystery series feature women sleuths Deborah Knott, a lawyer and judge, and Sigrid Harald, a policewoman. The mysteries are classical whodunnits, suspenseful with detailed settings and convincing characters. Maron thoroughly researches her subjects, increasing the depth of her stories. Her books exude southern charm and a strong sense of place.
Margaret Maron has commented that many of her books attempt to examine the conflicts of life in North Carolina as its culture moves from an agrarian economy to one based on rapid expansion and high-tech industries. The Deborah Knott series is a portrait of life in the new South. It is narrated by the protagonist and is set in a small town, a place where everyone knows everyone else with frequent appearances by Knott's relatives and former lovers. The Sigrid Harald mysteries occur in the city and have varied settings: the art world, a dance troupe, a law office. Harald's southern heritage is a central part of her characterization.
| List of works |
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| Sigrid Harald Series | ||
| One Coffee With (1981) | Baby Doll Games (1988) | |
| Death of a Butterfly (1984) | Corpus Christmas (1989) | |
| Death in Blue Folders (1985) | Past Imperfect (1991) | |
| The Right Jack (1987) | Fugitive Colors (1995) | |
| Deborah Knott Series | |
| Bootlegger's Daughter (1992) -- large type -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Southern Discomfort (1993) -- large type -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Shooting at Loons (1994) -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Up Jumps the Devil (1996) -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Killer Market (1997) -- large type -- cassette | |
| Home Fires (1998) -- large type -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Storm Track (2000) -- large type -- cassette -- eBook | |
| Uncommon Clay (2001) -- large type -- cassette | |
| Slow Dollar (2002) -- large type -- CD -- cassette -- eBook | |
| High Country Fall (2004) -- CD -- eBook | |
| Rituals of the Season (2005) -- CD -- eBook | |
| Winter's Child (2006) -- CD | |
| Non-series books | |
| Bloody Kin (1985) | |
| Shoveling Smoke: Selected Mystery Stories (1997) | |
| Last Lessons of Summer (2003) -- large type -- CD -- eBook | |
| Suitable for Hanging: Selected Stories (2004) | |
| Bootlegger's Daughter, the first Deborah Knott mystery,
won four major mystery awards: The Edgar Allan Poe Award, Best Mystery Novel, 1992 The Agatha Christie Award, Best Mystery Novel, 1992 The Anthony Boucher Award, Best Mystery Novel, 1992 The Macavity Award, Best Mystery Novel, 1992 |
| Maron's other awards include an Agatha Award, Novel, 1996, for Up Jumps the Devil; an Agatha Christie Award, Best Mystery Novel, Malice Domestic, 2000, for Storm Track; and an Agatha Award, Best Short Story (tie), Malice Domestic, 2003, for The Dog that Didn't Bark. In 2005, she received another Agatha award nomination for best novel for High Country Fall. |
| "Every Margaret Maron is a celebration of something remarkable." - Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review |
| "A writer gifted with the ability to convey an enthralling sense of time and place...." - Greensboro [North Carolina] News & Record |
| "She's one of the most seamless Southern writers since Margaret Mitchell" - Publishers Weekly |
Biographical information taken from The St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers Fourth edition, 1996.
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