Book Review and Giveaway: Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron

This is a solid, entertaining, mystery read.
Three Day Town
by Margaret Maron

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (November 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446555789
• ISBN-13: 978-0446555784

    Genre: Mystery
    My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

 

Book Description

Series: Deborah Knott Mysteries | Publication Date: November 21, 2011

Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are on a train to New York, finally on a honeymoon after a year of marriage. January in New York might not be the perfect time to visit, but they'll take it. The trip is a Christmas present from Dwight's sister-in-law, who arranged for them to stay in an Upper West Side apartment for one week. While in New York, Deborah has been asked to deliver a package to Lt. Sigrid Harald of the NYPD. Sigrid offers to swing by the apartment to pick up the box, but when they reach the apartment, they discover that it is missing and the doorman has been murdered. Despite their best efforts to enjoy a blissful getaway, Deborah and Dwight soon find that they've teamed up with Sigrid and her team to catch the killer before he strikes again.

Review:
Deborah Knott and her “new” husband, Dwight Bryant, are a Judge and Deputy Sheriff, respectively, from North Carolina.  They head to New York for a January honeymoon, carrying with them a package to deliver for a distant relative.  They soon meet up with some artsy and theatrical people in the apartment building where they are staying as guests. They are invited across the hall to a party and during the event they discover the very scandalous package has been taken from their unit.  And unfortunately something else has been left behind.

I liked the main characters, Deborah, Dwight and Lt. Sigrid Harald.  They each have strengths and weaknesses that reflect realism. Deborah might have been the most surprising to me as she seems pretty laid back for a Judge, even for a Southerner. But I am glad she wasn’t an arrogant character as she wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

Sigrid is the most aloof of the main characters but she has to maintain a certain persona to maintain authority and respect.  She is brusque and efficient. There didn't seem to be a great report between Sigrid and Dwight but that doesn't seem unusual since this wasn't Dwight's jurisdiction. Other characters and suspects are quirky and/or fit as interesting additions to the layout of the story.

I liked how the clues and suspects developed with each day bringing a little more information and another suspect to consider.  Things were going really well until Deborah did what no self-respecting law enforcement officer (or protagonist) should do... she goes out alone... without her phone... and without waking her husband. WHAT! We all know you don’t go check on a noise or go to the basement alone when two bodies have been found, one person is missing and there is a murderer on the loose! Something bad will happen... and of course it does.

Other than that obvious “don’t go there” moment the mystery had a very easy and enjoyable flow. Deborah helps her nephew back home with his own little mystery through email and phone contact that adds to the action of the story. There is a light, maybe not so subtle, humor. For example - I got a kick out of this passage (p 36.):

Elliott Buntrock crossed the room in long strides and tried to close it [open French doors].
“Somehing’s caught in the hinge,” he said and pulled the door toward him to see what it was.
A shoe.
With a foot in it.
Connected to the leg of someone slumped against the railing of the icy marble balcony.

This is the first time I have read this author and I am sure I would enjoy more mysteries from this series.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing division of Hachette for this book to read and review.

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