Up Jumps the Devil Deborah Knott Mystery [4] Margaret Maron Grand Central Publishing (1997) Tags: Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Cozy Mysteryttt Contemporaryttt
Colleton County, North Carolina judge Deobrah Knott embarks on a Thanksgiving Day investigation into the murder of a man from her father's moonshine-making past.
Up Jumps the Devil
Margaret Maron
Deborah Knott 04
A 3S digital back-up edition v1.0
click for scan notes and proofing history
Contents
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GREAT PRAISE FOR UP JUMPS THE DEVIL, THE LATEST DEBORAH KNOTT MYSTERY FROM MARGARET MARON, WINNER OF THE EDGAR, AGATHA, ANTHONY, AND MACAVITY AWARDS “With vivid detail and engaging, credible characters, Maron’s series featuring North Carolina district court judge Deborah Knott brings to life fictional Colleton County and chronicles a charming but rapidly changing South… The old-fashioned warmth of the extended Knott family and Maron’s well-constructed plot make this series a standout.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The draw here… is Maron’s evocative sense of place, her smooth writing, and her flawed, intelligent heroine. Another fine entry in a solid series.”—Booklist “Deborah is a pithy and knowledgeable narrator… capturing the nuance and flavor of the region.”—San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle “The three best things about Maron’s series of mysteries starring Judge Deborah Knott are the setting, the plots (lots of big and little stories), and Knott herself—a realistic blend of toughness and compassion.”—Chicago Tribune “As has been said before about the three previous novels, it is true that Deborah shares top billing with her locale, which is part of the attraction. Once again she evokes in vivid and interesting fashion her rural region of North Carolina and updates the reader on the status of the large Knott clan and its neighbors.”—Mystery News “Ms. Maron develops the case smoothly and expertly… She’s been away too long.”—Wilmington Sunday Star-News (NC) “As pungent and satisfying as the barbeque dinners its characters so readily consume—Maron has a knack for creating full-blooded characters and for outlining the tensions between New and Old Southerners.”—Seattle Times “Wonderful… great reading… Reads like a highspeed drive in a souped-up car carrying a load of moonshine down a mountain road. The trip’s exciting from start to finish with enough thrills (and laughs) for even the most speed-addicted of us. Don’t miss UP JUMPS THE DEVIL.”—Mostly Murder “The Edgar-winning Maron continues to give a superior portrait of North Carolina and its people… injecting regional humor and courtroom wit.”—Arizona Republic “Thankfully, Deborah’s back… Maron convincingly evokes a down-home atmosphere replete with barbeque and catfish… The collision of rural past and urban future gives the tale depth and poignancy.”—Orlando Sentinel “Delightful… enthralling… a lot of fun. Anyone who likes a good mystery will enjoy this book as will anyone who has ever cherished a love for a particular place and its people”—Austin American Statesman (TX) “Ibid with the obvious love for the land, and with a caustic wit that is both penetrating and amusing.” —Southbridge Evening News (MA) “Judge Knott is, as ever, the quintessential steel magnolia.”—Philadelphia Inquirer “Unravels just right… Maron infuses this series with realism and unromanticized local color.”—Atlanta Journal & Constitution “A work as rich, textured, and uniquely southern as pecan pie.”—Greensboro News & Record (NC) “The world of deer racks, rabbit dogs, and jaunty picnics provides a framework for Deborah’s glimpse into the dark and greedy side of man’s nature… a fine novel.”—Roanoke Times (VA)
Books by Margaret MaronSIGRID HARALD NOVELSFugitive ColorsPast ImperfectCorpus ChristmasBaby Doll GamesThe Right JackBloody KinDeath in Blue FoldersDeath of a ButterflyOne Coffee With THE DEBORAH KNOTT MYSTERIESUp Jumps the DevilShooting at LoonsSouthern DiscomfortBootlegger’s Daughter
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher. In such case neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”WARNER BOOKS EDITIONCopyright © 1996 by Margaret MaronAll rights reserved.Cover design by Rachel McClainCover illustration by Dan CraigWarner Books, Inc.1271 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10020Visit our Web site atwww.warnerbooks.comA Time Warner CompanyPrinted in the United States of AmericaOriginally published in hardcover by The Mysterious Press.First Printed in Paperback: July, 1997
For Sara Ann Freed,
now my nurturing editor,
but years ago the friend who first said,
“Why don’t you write another book about North Carolina?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSAs always, I am indebted to many for their technical advice or help, in particular District Court Judges Shelly S. Holt, John W. Smith, and Rebecca W. Blackmore of the 5th Judicial District (New Hanover County, NC and former Special Agent Henry Lee Poole of the State Bureau of Investigation. David Brown shared the memory of his one moonshine run, Linda Bryan Murphy gave me her father’s deer story, Ann R. Stephenson tries to keep me accurate, and Susan Dunlap and Joan Hess let me bounce ideas. Thanks, guys!All chapter captions have been taken from a pamphlet published anonymously in 1773 by “Scotus Americanus”: Informations Concerning the Province of North Carolina, Addressed to Emigrants from the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, by an Impartial Hand, courtesy of the North Carolina Collection, Wilson library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
1
^ » Surely if these people, artless and undesigning as they are, could mean to deceive, it must be reckoned a very uncommon and most unnatural deception...“Scotus Americanus,” 1773
Most of my brothers—
Most of my respectable brothers, that is—
(Which also includes the ones that’ve sowed all their wild oats and are now settling into gray-haired middle age and trying to pretend they’ve been respectable all along.)
(When you have eleven older brothers, it’s sometimes hard to keep straight which ones have walked the line their whole lives and which ones are newly whitened sepulchers.)
Anyhow, most of my brothers say I don’t think long enough before I go rushing off half-cocked.
Usually I’ll argue their definition of what’s half-cocked, but every once in a while I have to admit that they may have a point.
If I hadn’t rushed out to do the right thing when Dallas Stancil got himself shot and killed in his own backyard, I wouldn’t have been left looking like a fool.