Winter's Child (A Deborah Knott Mystery)

by: Margaret Maron

Published by: Mysterious Press, A Time Warner Book Group

Reviewed by Elysabeth Eldering

As we begin this story, Deborah and Dwight have been married just about a month when Dwight's son, Cal, calls from Virginia and says he needs his father to be at his school the next morning. Mysterious enough. Dwight would give his son anything in the world. Dwight heads up to Virginia in the dead of winter to see what is so important that his teacher would request him at school. Ends up, Cal needed him for was show-and-tel. Dwight is a deputy sheriff, and Cal wanted him to show off everything--including his gun and badge.

As Dwight stays to spend a little time with his son, he learns that his ex-wife is missing and therefore, a search ensues. Every turn seemingly leads to a dead end until some boys are looking around in a in a junk yard find the dead woman in the car. Not only had the mother been missing for two days, but she is murdered--and it was made to look like a suicide. And now Dwight's son is also missing and the mystery deepens.

When Dwight's new bride shows up to help in the search for the child, all kinds of family secrets are revealed, as well as other town secrets. (The family is the founder of the small Virginia town and with that comes things only family knows about.) You won't believe who is the real killer even though all the clues point to one person. The ending is very surprising.

Having not read any previous Deborah Knott mysteries, I felt this well-written and that the characters were easy to follow. I did get a little confused when references were made to her family tree, but I never felt too lost in the minor references.

Armchair Interviews says: A very enjoyable and quick read.