I was disappointed in this book...largely because it wandered all over the place. Descriptions of clothing and scenes were long and drawn out. The plot was hard to follow and the characters There was quite a bit of time wasted chatting about locations and people in North Carolina about which I cannot relate because I've not been there, nor lived there. In fact, it was so boing that I skipped about three hours of this nearly ten hour listen....just to figure out if she won the election. Not as bad as a DNF, but nearly so. ( )

Very good first book in a series, even though I did figure out whodunit before the main character did! I like the rural North Carolina setting & Deborah Knott's job as a criminal lawyer makes her investigating less of a stretch than most cosy mystery protagonists. ( )

Set in a fictional version of Johnston County, North Carolina—though Maron makes the standard disclaimer that it is all fiction—Bootlegger’s Daughter has Deborah Knotts practicing law and running for judge. She must live down her father’s reputation as the county’s most famous bootlegger and her own stories from her own wild youth. An 18-year-old girl she used to babysit asks her to investigate her mother’s unsolved murder. It is a cold case, and the scandal does not mix well with electioneering. Cozy and not-so-cozy mysteries like this one profit from settings with lively local detail. No one did it better than Margaret Maron, whose Deborah Knott mysteries eventually ran to 20 volumes. Set in its own time in the early nineties, the story mixes nostalgia with hard-edged themes of race and gender. Four stars. ( )

After finishing it I was really curious to go to the Goodreads and check the rating, because I was pretty sure it would be somewhere around 3.03.
Well, go figure... ( )

When I heard that Margaret Maron had passed away, I knew I needed to reread (in some cases read) her books again. I decided to start with Bootlegger's Daughter. I remembered it fondly, and how could I go wrong with a book that won the 1992 Agatha Award and the 1993 Anthony, Edgar, and Macavity awards for best novel.

Back in the 1990s, I loved the book because Deborah Knott, the main character, was about the same age as I was. I related to her problems, her thoughts, her career choices. Now I love the book because of the insights about the land and the people in the fictional Colleton County. I *know* those people, have lived in that area, and understand the ebb and flow of life. The mystery is a bonus.

The author does play fair with the reader in this book. You can put together clues and perhaps figure out the person who murdered in the past. You might figure out who is murdering people now -- the clues are there. But in some ways, this is a novel that happens to be a mystery.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys well-crafted books. If you like mysteries, this should be on your "to read" list. So stop reading this review and start reading the book! ( )