Review: Killer Market by Margaret Maron

After reading a serious history of World War I, I needed something light and fun and who better to turn to than Margaret Maron. I love her books and have been saving a couple I found at a book sale.

Judge Deborah Knott not only has a huge family, she has many friends throughout the South, and occasionally is sent to fill in for a vacationing judge in some interesting little town. This time she's been sent to High Point, North Carolina and doesn't realize until she arrives and finds every motel filled that it is Market Week. That's the week when everyone who is anyone in the furniture business arrives in High Point to sell, steal ideas, entertain, and oh yes, there's a murder.

Thankfully Deborah runs into an old friend from law school who had to drop out when her daughter was severely injured in an accident. Dixie then wound up in the furniture design business. Her best friend and neighbor Pell Austin, has a spare bedroom Deborah can occupy. That good news is clouded by Deborah finding the murder victim who happens to be Dixie's son-in-law.

The story is convoluted but easy to follow with the fun mix of characters that we've come to expect in a Maron mystery. One of them is a woman who was a brilliant designer until she fell victim to bipolar disease; she won't stay on her medications and so is believed to be a crazy bag lady.

Through the story we learn a lot about the ins and outs of furniture design and marketing. It appears to be a more cut-throat business than I would have thought. This is a good story, a fun read, and one I recommend.