Book Review - Slow Dollar

Slow Dollar
by Margaret Maron
Mysterious Press, August 2002
276 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0892967641
Deborah Knott series #9

Judge Deborah Knott heads out to Dobb's Annual Harvest Festival with a group of friends, including best friend Portland Brewer with husband Avery and lawman Dwight Bryant and his new girlfriend Sylvia Clayton. They meet up with the carnival's owner, Tallahassee Ames. As Deborah remembers that she had met Tallahassee in her courtroom a few weeks back, she also meets up with more of the family clan--nephews Reese and Stevie, cousin Reid, and court employee Janice Needham and husband Bradley. Deborah loves carnivals--the rides, the lights, the food, and the games. As the evening winds down, the group approached the Dozer, a game played with quarters and poker chips. But as Deborah tries to find the person in charge of the game in order to get some change to play, she stumbles on a horrific scene--the body of a man with blood clotted in his nose and bloody quarters stuffed in his mouth.

The body turns out to be that of Tally's oldest son, Brazos Hartley. Braz had been an enterprising young man, buying up the contents of defaulted self-storage lockers at auctions and selling anything salvageable through on-line auctions. Unlike the rest of his family, Braz was willing to wait for the slow dollar rather than make the quick dime. And Deborah knows to her chagrin that nephew Stevie and his friend Eric have information that they have withheld from the police about that night.

The Festival is allowed to remain open and Deborah has a Yam contest-judging job to do there at the Agriculture Hall the next day. Deborah stops in to check on Tally and is hit with a startling revelation. Afterwards, Deborah, trying to digest Tally's news, and Dwight look to wring out the truth from Stevie and Eric about the night of the murder. And there are still all of the original self-storage locker owners to be located. It seems that some of them took offense when Braz bought the locker contents at auction even though they had been informed a number of times about payment due and the consequences of not paying. But before they can get Braz buried, another body is found at the carnival. Was it suicide or another murder?

Slow Dollar is a nicely paced addition to the Deborah Knott series. The story is rich with carnival life and even includes a glossary of carnie terms to help the uninitiated along. A couple of unexpected surprises will keep fans coming back for the next book. Or maybe one of them isn't so unexpected? As always, the scenes of Deborah and members of her family ring true and one scene in particular between Deborah and her father, Kezzie, is poignant and touching. Slow Dollar is a definite good read!

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