Judge Deborah Knott Books In Order

Publication Order of Judge Deborah Knott Books

The Judge Deborah Knott series is a novel series comprising of 20 mystery novels written by the award winning American author, Magaret Maron. The novels of the series were published from the year 1992 onward and the writer is still working on the series. The 20th novel of the series is about to be published soon in early 2015. The series follows the adventures in the life of Deborah Knott, who is a district attorney and the daughter of the infamous bootlegger from North Carolina. She is the main protagonist of the series. Deborah is the youngest child among twelve siblings and the only daughter of the bootlegger. Her father is retired and she currently works as a partner in a law firm along with two her cousins, being a former ADA. She was a about to become a district court judge as she was the only candidate to fit for the post. But she loses her first election. However, Deborah gets appointed later to fill in a vacancy.

The series deals with the happenings in the life of Deborah Knott and gives a brief description about her former boyfriends. Deborah, however, is currently not involved in any relationship with any of her boyfriends as she considers her career to be her prime focus at the moment. Dwight Bryant, who is a former Army Intelligence Officer, has known Deborah for many years. Their families have friendly relations and Dwight even remembers the day when Deborah was born. Her brothers have close friendship with Dwight. Eve though Dwight and Deborah have maintained a relationship of near siblings there is some kind of attraction and affection between the two. They often get involved in cases that brings them together and this has developed a comfortable awareness between Deborah and Dwight. She has described one such incident in the series when their eyes meet and get locked on each other and they get trapped in a clumsy confusion. This leads them to have a good kiss and they begin to admit the sense of awareness for each other. Although both of them remain around each other, they try to suppress the awareness towards each other and hold on their friendship. The series has received numerous awards and accolades for her work. Her description of the plot of the series as very well appreciated by the readers all over the world. She went on to be elected as the Grand Master by the Mystery writes of America.

The first novel of the Judge Deborah Knott series was titled ‘Bootlegger’s Daughter’ and was published in he year 1992 by the Thorndike Press. The original title of the novel was ‘Bootlegger’s Daughter: A Deborah Knott Mystery’ which was cut short by the publishers. Set in the district of North Carolina, the novel introduces the heroine Deborah Knott, who is also the main protagonist of the series. She is depicted as the daughter of an infamous bootlegger of North Carolina. Being a district attorney, Deborah is known for her knowledge of the past of the region. She is 34 years old and has not gotten married yet. Deborah has become successful in doing the unthinkable by becoming the only female candidate for the post of the District Judge. She is even very popular with the local people.

Deborah meets an 18 year old girl named Gayle Whitehead, who asks her to investigate the murder mystery of her mother Janie. Janie was murdered when Gayle was just an infant and the mystery of her mother’s death is till an unsolved puzzle. Deborah agrees to help Gayle in bringing her mother’s murderers to justice. She follows twisted bloodlines and turns up dangerous secrets that were buried for decades. Deborah holds herself as a determined magnolia and does not fear the sleazy and smear tactics that try to force her to quit the case. She visits the owner of the property where Janie was found dead and learns about her more than promiscuous past. She tries to bundle up the lost clues, and keeps digging deep to find the buried secrets. Deborah is introduced to the darker side of the life of Janie but is unable to find out the truth about her murder. Soon, another murder takes place in the city and while investigating the two cases together, Deborah uncovers the truth and serves the justice. The novel was praised by many critics for its unique content and fresh characters. It went on to sell a number of copies worldwide and Margaret Maron was motivated to continue writing more interesting novels. The success of the novel can be understood from the fact that it went on to win prestigious awards, including The Macavity Award for the Best Mystery Novel, The Anthony Award for the Best Novel, The Agatha Award for the Best Novel (1992) and The Edgar Award for the Best Novel all in the year 1993. The novel also got nominated for the Dilys Award in the same year.

The second novel of the Judge Deborah Knott series was titled ‘Southern Discomfort’ and was published in the year 1993. It was republished in the year 1994 by the mysterious Press. The novel is set in the same location in North Carolina, where the protagonist Deborah Knott is the District Judge. She has been depicted as having returned with more determination for fighting against the bad and making every citizen of her district to stay peacefully. She is seen trying to help the battered women by keeping her promise which she had made during the election campaign to build houses for them. But, instead of getting praises for her work, Deborah is set up in a murder case as her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. She has to come out clean from this mess as the question now is about her dignity. She cannot let the people question her attempts and see her as a murderer. Hence, Deborah gets herself ready to fight the evil and bring back her reputation of being a selfless and hardworking District Judge. The plot of the novel shows interesting twists and turns and continues to charm the readers with its unique content. It became a huge success and brought a lot of appreciation and prosperity for Margaret Maron. She is still working on bringing out interesting novels, so that she can deliver what is expected of her. The novel was nominated for a number of prestigious awards like The Agatha Award for the Best Novel in 1993 and The Anthony Award for the Best Novel in 1994.

One Response to “Judge Deborah Knott”

1. Donna gibbs: 6 months ago

   I picked up High country fall at a cabin I visited in NC. I couldn’t stop reading ! I definitely want to read more of her books I’d love to start at Bootleggers daughter…

   Reply