Winter's Child
by Margaret Maron
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margaret MaronEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-01
ISBN: 0446617598
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of Winter's Child
Book Review: Prider goes before the fall
Summary: 3 Stars
Winter's Child is not the kind of novel that you should really read when starting a new series - I guess. I found this out by reading it first of any of Margaret Maron's novels. Coming in the middle of things, I was very confused by what was going on.
Apparently the main protagonist for the author is a smart southern lady who is a judge in North Carolina. In this novel, however, she is relegated to the fringes of the story since the focus of the story is on her husband's previous marriage and his son from that marriage.
It all starts with a killing of the town's bad boy. This character beats up his wife, carries on affairs with other married women, gets drunk at any opportunity, picks fights in the bar and elsewhere, and litters. So, when he is killed more people than not heave sighs of relief. Since the judge's husband works as a detective, he is involved in figuring out what caused someone to kill the bully and we are treated - off and on - to a police procedural of how to track down a killer.
However, the main focus of the book is elsewhere. The detective gets a call from his 8 year old son who asks him to come to school with him. This is a bit of a problem as the son lives in Virginia. Nonetheless, hero dad goes off to Virginia for the day and is immediately embroiled in his wife's disappearance and ultimate death; his son's apparent abduction; and all kinds of shenanigans involving the ex-wife's family, friends, and town.
The judge - current wife - jumps into the fray and comes to Virginia to assist. And, thanks heaven for that, as she unravels both sets of murders and provides clues and assistance without which neither crime would be solved.
There is some sort of scizophrenia here. It appears that the judge is the central character, even in a story in which she is not the featured central character! This is only compounded by the odd choice of having the chapters that speak from the judge's point of view in the first person, and from the detectives' in the third person. That gets particularly awkward when the two meet and work together in solving the crimes.
Another thing that grated on me is the obvious placement of the women in the lead roles as both the protagonists, and the solvers of all that is going on. The men are basically clueless hunks who wonder around to support the smarter women. That is made even worse when the women are also the main ones involved in the violence - both as victims and as the perpetrators! Was it really necessary to have the judge knocked out by a conk on the head? and the female deputy grazed by a bullet?
The ultimate resolution of everything is that pride and prideful people are really violent and prone to create problems for society to avoid having to admit their failings.
Maybe because this novel is a way point on a journey to a place I do not understand, but I will not be following the travails of these people from now on which is too bad since I like the appeal of a young woman judge in the south as a crime solving sleuth!
Summary of Winter's Child
It's one month after their wedding, and the future looks bright for Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff Deputy Dwight Bryant--until a disturbing call from Dwight's 8-year-old son Cal calls him back to Virginia.When he arrives, he is shocked to find that his ex-wife has left the boy alone for almost 24 hours. Worse, as Dwight tries to confront her, she takes the child and leaves town without a word. As Dwight embarks on an all-points search, Deborah hurries to his side. But will they be able to work together to decipher the ex-wife's motives--and, more importantly, will they find young Cal before he comes to harm?Literature & Fiction Books
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