In the red clay country of Seagrove, North Carolina, Judge Deborah Knott oversees the distribution of property in the bitter divorce between two members of the Nordan clan, a dynasty of skilled potters long cursed by suicide and scandal. After a gruesome act of violence suddenly strikes the homestead, Judge Knott must stop a killer who will stop at nothing to continue a dark history of family secrets, old sins, and new blood. ( )

Synopsis: Set in the small town of Seagrove, Deborah has been assigned to adjudicate the property settlement of a divorce between two very good potters. Just before everything is finished, the husband is pushed into a kiln. At his funeral, it's discovered that there is an additional grandson who could inherit the business; this is the illegitimate child of the other dead son. The question becomes who is killing the members of this potter family, and why.
Review: Lots of twists in this one, making it interesting. ( )

In this episode of NC Culture and History, we examine the worlds of pots and potters. Maron continues her delightful insights into present and historic North Carolina so that Judge Deb'rah can find bodies and solve their murders. Always a good story and frequently as in this one, a neat twist at the end. ( )

Ah, another family with drama, though it's definitely much deadlier drama than the Knott family has.

The whole mystery is basically the story of the Hitchcock and Norden families. They're very intertwined, grew up together, all that jazz. They're also all various levels of potters. The story even starts out with everyone alive. Then Deborah finds one of the characters dead in a kiln and the mystery gets weirder and weirder from there.

It was a-- let's say an 'Away' Deborah Knott mystery instead of a 'Home' one, so very little Dwight, although we did see a bit of Kidd.

One thing I like about her novels, and as Maron writes more novels and acquires more characters it happens more often, I like how she weaves characters that the reader met in previous books into future books (and generally even if you don't recognize the character right away she gives very good cues to who they are in the story). ( )

All in all, another good Margaret Maron story. Missed Colleton County, but enjoyed the change of setting in Seagrove, among the pottery. ( )