I recently signed up to take an online Readers’ Advisory course, and one of the requirements was that we read at least one of four selected books. The designated books were Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (science fiction), The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (historical romance), Ice Station by Matthew Reilly (military action/adventure), and Bootlegger’s Daughter by Margaret Maron (mystery). Since I’ve never read any of these books – and up to this point, had only heard of the first one – and was not overly partial to any particular genre, I chose the mystery.

Bootlegger’s Daughter was the first in what is currently a 14-book series featuring Deborah Knott. Deborah is an attorney in a small town in North Carolina, who decides to run for a local district judge position after one too many dealings with the ‘good ol’ boy’ system. At the same time, 18-year-old Gayle asks Deborah to investigate the decades-old murder of Gayle’s mother, Janie, since, in addition to her legal prowess, Deborah used to be the family babysitter and knows them and the townspeople well.  Her investigation leads her to uncover some of the town’s most well-kept secrets, which rankles with certain people who feel those stones should be better left unturned. Meanwhile, running for judgeship provides its own share of small-town hassles, requiring some quick maneuvering from Deborah and help from her family.

As the initial book for this series, Maron does a superb job of setting up the character of Deborah as well as her friends and family for future installments. While the mystery is central to the story, Deborah’s relationships and history are equally important. Contemporary (well, 1990s) small-town Southern life is presented in a manner that recognizes both the faults and what makes them so great. For this mainly non-mystery reader, Bootlegger’s Daughter was a highly readable and pleasant surprise.