I was very excited to see the continuation of a feature which I enjoy as it provides a "heading" and/or very effective "lead-in" at the beginning of each chapter. In this novel the italicized sentences are verses of hymns which are credited on the copyright page to: "Gospel Hymns: Nos. 1 to 6," by Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan and George C. Stebbins. Copyright 1895 by the Biglow & Main Co. and The John Church Co.

Deborah is staying at a cousin and his wife's cottage on Harkers Island on the southern coast of North Carolina as she's substituting for another judge at the Carteret County courthouse. Discovery of a body brings Deborah a close-up view and understanding of the differences between appreciating the offerings of the island as a "weekender" or "tourist" and that of a "local."

Margaret Maron does an excellent job of giving readers this "insider's or local view" through Deborah's experience and learning curve which gives her a deeper perspective to the challenges of all parties. Sadly, "weekenders" and vacationers are not always respectful to the environment of not only coastal towns but all locations they so revere during their escape planning.

This book is one of many that clearly highlights that a novel doesn't need to be over a certain number of pages to offer a powerful message and especially for those that visit coastal towns. I think this novel would make an excellent book club selection to provide a comfortable setting for thoughtful discussion. ( )

Asked to sit in for a hospitalized judge in gracious old Beaufort, Deborah hopes to spend a restful week at her cousin's nearby Harkers Island cottage; but her very first clamming expedition turns up the corpse of a well-known fisherman in the shallow waters. Discovering the body puts her right in the middle of the fight between the locals who have long made their living from the sea and the new tide of well-to-do "dingbatters": weekenders and land developers who view the coast as their personal playground and gold mine. Deborah soon realizes that the centuries-old way of life in this isolated corner of the South is as endangered as loons and sea turtles, and the fisherman's murder is clearly tied to the coming changes. On the bench and off, she can feel the rage and fear and greed these changes arouse. Even so, sipping her bourbon in the fresh salt air proves beneficial for Deborah's soul, and life at the beach takes a definite upswing when she meets a game warden who's hunting for loon poachers. Not untila second murder occurs and a lover from her past becomes a suspect does Deborah realize she's up to her own neck in intrigue - and dangerously close to a killer... ( )

Good entry in a nicely developing series. Deborah takes her show on the road as visiting judge on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Excellent locale and political environment descriptors support the mystery nicely. Family ties and history confound the current crime scene. She finds a serious friend and resolves the situation but not without some serious conflicts. ( )

Synopsis: Deborah Knott has been assigned to fill in for a judge one one of the islands off North Carolina. Luckily, she has cousins in the area who let her use their house. She finds that the blissful days of her youth had not been as happy as she remembered and the current situation with curtailment of fishing seasons, regulation of how to fish, and where to fish has become a hardship for some of the subsistence fishermen in the area. Shortly after arriving, she discovers one of the local fishermen has been murdered and a local realtor is developing the land in the area. Murder of the realtor leads her to believe that a local judge is involved and puts her life at risk.
Review: This interesting, fun to read, book takes you down several paths before revealing the murder and making all the clues that led in one direction lead in another. ( )

I didn't enjoy this novel as much as some of the others in the Deborah Knott series... not sure if it's because I didn't sit down and just read it in one or two sittings as I do with most of Maron's novels, or what. Perhaps, as a result, the plot seemed a bit convoluted at times. Overall, though, it was still a fun read and I did wind up reading the last half or so of the book in one sitting. I thought I had it all figured out, but wound up fairly pleasantly surprised. I'm enjoying this series and will continue to pace myself so I don't read all 14 or so novels in "one fell swoop" (to sound quite Deborah-like). ( )