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Deborah Knott Mysteries #9
Slow Dollar
Slow Dollar, by Maron, Margaret
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
65 people are currently reading
504 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Maron
116 books758 followersBorn and raised in central North Carolina, Margaret Maron lived in Italy before returning to the USA. In addition to a collection of short stories she also authored numerous mystery novels.
Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
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Her works have been translated into seven languages her Bootlegger's Daughter, a Washington Post Bestseller won Edgar Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards.
She was a past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime writers' league, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.
Like Margaret Maron on Facebook
Follow Margaret Maron on Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
May 26, 2020
3.5/5; 4 stars; B+
I’m glad I checked out this series. I am fond of series with small towns and likable reoccurring characters and I think I’m going to like following Judge Knott and her family and friends for a while.
C.J. Critt was the narrator for this one and that added a lot. She is a favorite narrator.
I’m glad I checked out this series. I am fond of series with small towns and likable reoccurring characters and I think I’m going to like following Judge Knott and her family and friends for a while.
C.J. Critt was the narrator for this one and that added a lot. She is a favorite narrator.
April 28, 2016
When I wrote a review for Bootlegger's Daughter 9 books ago, I said that reading about Deborah Knott was like sitting out on the backporch with friends on a warm summer evening, sipping sweet tea while listening to a great Southern storyteller. SLOW DOLLAR continues that style. If you're looking for car chases and such, go somewhere else. If you want a good mystery in a rich Southern setting, interesting, human characters, and the chance to learn a little about something you don't know (in this case, an inside look at traveling carnivals), you going to love Deborah Knott.
The inside look at carnivals in SLOW DOLLAR is fascinating and well-researched. There's even a glossary of carny terms in the back of the book. I can't say much more without giving something away, but I highly recommend this novel.
The inside look at carnivals in SLOW DOLLAR is fascinating and well-researched. There's even a glossary of carny terms in the back of the book. I can't say much more without giving something away, but I highly recommend this novel.
December 12, 2019
Judge Deborah Knott goes behind the scenes at a traveling carnival when a bizarre murder involves her family. After solving the case (of course), her love life takes an unexpected turn. I was especially interested by the carnival background and the thread about buying and selling storage unit contents. 3.5 stars
July 31, 2020
This was a Deborah Knott book I had missed. In it, the local carnival comes to town and a worker is killed. Debrah discovers her niece is the owner of the carnival. She was the child of the first marriage of one of her eleven brothers. While it is all resolved in four days, there's lots of carney talk. And she gets engaged to Dwight. Since I've already read about the wedding, thus filled in a gap in the story.
March 25, 2019
A smoothly written and leisurely mystery with a carnival setting--it even has an index of carny words and phrases in the back--that is enjoyable and light; somewhere close to a cozy, but not quite.
September 12, 2019
These books are short and sweet, but I really have enjoyed all of them. I liked the new characters/family introduced in this one and I like the direction of Deborah's love life.
December 14, 2023
Very interesting about carnival life
October 28, 2025
Great book about the life of carnies and a family reunited. The plot was thickened with two murderers and a little romance thrown in, would highly recommend!
April 22, 2018
A good read with twisty plots, family drama and a look into the world of Carnies. I enjoyed the Glossary of Carnie terms.
December 15, 2014
This book takes place at the Colleton county fair in North Carolina. The main character is Deborah Knott, she is a judge and while attending the fair, with her best friend Portland Brewer, Avery Brewer, and Dwight Bryant, a murder takes place. A young man is stomped to death and his mouth filled with quarters. Her childhood friend is the deputy sheriff Dwight Bryant and together they team up to find the culprit. Along the way she finds out that the owner of the Ames Amusement Company is a long lost aunt and it is her son (Deborah’s cousin) that was murdered. Some of Deborah’s own nieces and nephews could be suspects.
While investigating the murder, there are many twists and turns, there is a theft of some artwork and then yet again another murder at the carnival. There is a lot of “carney” talk throughout the book and it is entertaining. You will learn some slang about the games and what it means. During the book Dwight and Deborah become quite close, will she realize how he really feels about her? Will her newfound aunt want to stay in town? Will they solve the murders before anyone else gets killed? You will have to read it to find the answers!
This book is one of a series that is written by Margaret Maron. She has written a total of 20 books about this character and her life.
I would recommend this book, it is entertaining, and mysterious. The characters are fun and believable. I would like to read some of the other books about them.
While investigating the murder, there are many twists and turns, there is a theft of some artwork and then yet again another murder at the carnival. There is a lot of “carney” talk throughout the book and it is entertaining. You will learn some slang about the games and what it means. During the book Dwight and Deborah become quite close, will she realize how he really feels about her? Will her newfound aunt want to stay in town? Will they solve the murders before anyone else gets killed? You will have to read it to find the answers!
This book is one of a series that is written by Margaret Maron. She has written a total of 20 books about this character and her life.
I would recommend this book, it is entertaining, and mysterious. The characters are fun and believable. I would like to read some of the other books about them.
September 1, 2013
I've been reading Maron since February when a friend gifted me with one of her for book a hospital stay. I liked them immediately, and have enjoyed watching the recurring characters develop over the course of the series. They keep getting better and better. This is the best book so far in the series IMHO. Deborah is becoming more mature and thoughtful. Her relationships with her family are stronger, and she has finally moved into a home of her own instead of bunking in with an aunt and uncle. Deborah's a grown-up now, finally, and her actions an problems reflect this growth.
The inside knowledge of carnival people and carnival life adds a spice to the book that piquant. I've read books about circus like and am interested in the differences and similarities of the two cultures. Maron does her homework and gives a very convincing portrait of carnival life, from the happy children with sticky hands, to the hardened old-timers who have seen everything.
If this book doesn't bring up happy memories for you of warm summer nights filled with the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of a weekend carnival, then I am sorry for you. It's not too late. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, they spring up, shine, then move on. Next time you're driving by and see on, pull over and prepare to enjoy yourself.
The inside knowledge of carnival people and carnival life adds a spice to the book that piquant. I've read books about circus like and am interested in the differences and similarities of the two cultures. Maron does her homework and gives a very convincing portrait of carnival life, from the happy children with sticky hands, to the hardened old-timers who have seen everything.
If this book doesn't bring up happy memories for you of warm summer nights filled with the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of a weekend carnival, then I am sorry for you. It's not too late. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, they spring up, shine, then move on. Next time you're driving by and see on, pull over and prepare to enjoy yourself.
June 26, 2015
Not sure if I'll pick up more of this series, I liked the parts from Deborah's point of view, and the chapter from Dwight's POV was interesting, but the scattered in chapters from other characters POV seemed unnecessary and didn't really add to the story. The content could have been revealed in other less jarring ways.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
November 4, 2016
As a series goes Knott's is a good strong four. Much better than average and this one is a very significant piece of the series as there are major changes in relationships in this story. There are new members of the Knott family discover and there is a major change in the main character's history. It is a story centered in the carnival life and that is a very different and interesting venue for a story. As in many of these Knott stories it is not necessarily possible for the reader to solve the crime before Deborah does and in this story the reason for the murders and the murderer is not obvious until the very end. I think that it is both the fascination and part of the frustration with most mystery series that the central character is always personally involved. The evil character is always out to get the solver of the crime. At least in these mysteries it is the family that is somehow always involved but Deborah is not personally under attack in most of them. Somehow her extended family is threatened or implicated but always absolved.
June 9, 2018
Slow Dollar by Margaret Maron (Crime Fiction) I love Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott books. I think I've read them all. These books are centered around Magistrate Judge Deborah Knott who lives in a small North Carolina town, fictional Dodd. The basis of all her stories is her life with a very large extended family and her married life with the local major in the sheriff's department. Each one of Knott books tell as different bit of information about North Carolina. She has included the famous pottery colony and the well known furniture industry. Slow Dollar gives the reader a look into the traveling carnival world while solving the murder of the owner's son.
If you like light mysteries, I recommend Margaret Maron. I enjoy how Deborah Knott's life follows through each book. Maron gives the reader a wonderful look at rural farm life that is fast disappearing.
If you like light mysteries, I recommend Margaret Maron. I enjoy how Deborah Knott's life follows through each book. Maron gives the reader a wonderful look at rural farm life that is fast disappearing.
April 29, 2015
A good mystery book. Ninth in the DK series. This one is about family, carnivals, settling for someone to marry who you love but are not IN LOVE with, and long lost family members.
February 20, 2024
SPOILER ALERT
The Dobbs Annual Harvest Festival is in full swing with complete with a carnival. When Judge Deborah Knott and her family are enjoying the games and food, Deborah finds the body of Brazos Hartley, son of Tally Ames, part owner of the carnival, his mouth stuffed with quarters. He was working the Dozer game. As Deborah and Dep Dwight Bryant investigate the killing, she discovers that Tally (Tallahassee) is Olivia, a girl from her childhood (and though two years older is Deborah's niece), and the daughter of her older brother Andrew, though he refuses to acknowledge her. He got her pregnant and her father forced the wedding with a shotgun. Then Olivia's mother Carol ran away before Deborah's mother could get Olivia and take her home.
There is a second son, Val who dislikes Deborah, knowing the story. Tally now owns the farm that her family owned and plans to stay there from time to time. Deborah arranges to have Braz buried in the family cemetery and there is a wake planned by the family members. He was family after all.
When Polly Viscardi is also found dead, at first it appears a suicide. But once deemed a murder the plot thickens. Braz turns out not to have been an honorable man. He has a large back account that people thought came from his astute sales of items from auctioned storage units. In fact he was blackmailing members of the carnival. He had witnessed Skee Matusik smother his wife who was ill. Then Polly had seen Skee move around the tarp that separated his child's pond game from the Dozer. Skee had killed Braz and then Polly. But there were plenty of others who for one reason or another were suspected.
During the investigation Dwight and Deborah are closely together, and Dwight who has loved her from afar for years proposes they get married. It sparks for Deborah and they find their marriage is heartedly supported by the family.
The author helpfully provides the ongoing family tree, and in this installment a glossary of the slang and vernacular of the carnival. Use of the jargon of the carnival provided for an authentic and enhanced story.
The Dobbs Annual Harvest Festival is in full swing with complete with a carnival. When Judge Deborah Knott and her family are enjoying the games and food, Deborah finds the body of Brazos Hartley, son of Tally Ames, part owner of the carnival, his mouth stuffed with quarters. He was working the Dozer game. As Deborah and Dep Dwight Bryant investigate the killing, she discovers that Tally (Tallahassee) is Olivia, a girl from her childhood (and though two years older is Deborah's niece), and the daughter of her older brother Andrew, though he refuses to acknowledge her. He got her pregnant and her father forced the wedding with a shotgun. Then Olivia's mother Carol ran away before Deborah's mother could get Olivia and take her home.
There is a second son, Val who dislikes Deborah, knowing the story. Tally now owns the farm that her family owned and plans to stay there from time to time. Deborah arranges to have Braz buried in the family cemetery and there is a wake planned by the family members. He was family after all.
When Polly Viscardi is also found dead, at first it appears a suicide. But once deemed a murder the plot thickens. Braz turns out not to have been an honorable man. He has a large back account that people thought came from his astute sales of items from auctioned storage units. In fact he was blackmailing members of the carnival. He had witnessed Skee Matusik smother his wife who was ill. Then Polly had seen Skee move around the tarp that separated his child's pond game from the Dozer. Skee had killed Braz and then Polly. But there were plenty of others who for one reason or another were suspected.
During the investigation Dwight and Deborah are closely together, and Dwight who has loved her from afar for years proposes they get married. It sparks for Deborah and they find their marriage is heartedly supported by the family.
The author helpfully provides the ongoing family tree, and in this installment a glossary of the slang and vernacular of the carnival. Use of the jargon of the carnival provided for an authentic and enhanced story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2017
This is my favorite in the series, so far. This one delves more into the family connections of the immense Knott clan. Just as with any group of characters we whom we spend lots of time, getting more background info is interesting. This one looks at the traveling carnivals that spring up throughout the summer and fall months. I had a great Uncle that owned a carnival business in the midwest. He retired to FL in 1950. I felt the depiction was both honest and insightful.
This series always sings true to the area we live in (rural agriculture near Raleigh). I also find that each book is well researched for its subject. Getting to know the Knott clan and their history is always fun. Deborah is funny, smart and flawed. Her attitude towards love, family, ethics and life are enough like mine that I truly identify with the character. Oh yeah, and a little light murder to solve.
This series always sings true to the area we live in (rural agriculture near Raleigh). I also find that each book is well researched for its subject. Getting to know the Knott clan and their history is always fun. Deborah is funny, smart and flawed. Her attitude towards love, family, ethics and life are enough like mine that I truly identify with the character. Oh yeah, and a little light murder to solve.
February 12, 2019
Oh, I am so glad that Deborah agreed to get married! And the man she has chosen! YAY! Oh yeah, there is also this carnival where she discovers some relatives and some people get murdered and its all very unusual, but I love the romance. It was very interesting to read about the Carnie lifestyle and learn the words that they commonly use. I was not surprised to realize how easy it could be to murder someone in a traveling show like this, but was very surprised about the murderer. Very unexpected. For those of us who are Deborah Knott fans, this was a great addition to her story. One thing that is fun about this series is that you learn so much about niche subjects, like the Carnie world here, pottery and furniture in others, for example. I recommend this, but readers should start this series at the beginning, with Bootlegger's Daughter.
July 6, 2023
The best in the series so far. Moved along at a brisk pace. And we are introduced to more members of the Knott family (without it growing overly complicated). I do appreciate the family tree which has made an appearance in the last couple of books. I thought getting insight into Dwight's feelings after the proposal was sweet, but I only hope Deborah takes their progressing relationship as serious as he does. He deserves someone who wants him for the right reasons, not just someone who is "settling". I hope he is honest about his real feelings for her at some point. Maybe this will make Deborah realize her feelings are deeper than she initially admitted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2024
I was hoping this installment would change my mind about this series but it's only confirmed that it's not for me. Admittedly, I skipped books 3 to 8 because I found the first 2 books such a bore. All the reviews I've come across gave these books, including Slow Dollar, gave high ratings so I can only conclude that what I deem interesting and engaging are not the same as those reviewers. Again, I was so bored by Slow Dollar and the murder mystery was way back in the background while everything else took precedence - the carnival, small town life, everything but focusing on the murder.
Looks like this will be my final attempt to follow this series.
Looks like this will be my final attempt to follow this series.
December 10, 2020
I has been my favorite of this series so far. It continues to immerse me in Southern language and culture and families ties. This books is a "2 fer" because we also get a dose of carnie (traveling carnival) culture. It's colorful characters and language comes out as the murder took place at a traveling carnival. Also Deborah's love live is addressed in a way I find more suitable. With a more prominent role of an old character, it seems Deborah's role in unraveling the mystery seems more believable and fitting.
Certainly a "must read" for fans of this series.
Certainly a "must read" for fans of this series.
February 1, 2019
When the son of a carnival family gets murdered and the body is found by Judge Deborah Knott there are several potential suspects. The story wanders (and I don't mean by that that it is slow) through Knott family history, carnival life, relationships. If you like gentle and amusing but solid mysteries this may be for you a good book. The characters are great, amaingly and yet realisically drawn and none are without human flaws. This book is one in a series and they are all of high quality.
June 10, 2020
Another good read from Margaret Maron. I'm glad she included a glossary of carnival terms at the end of the book for us readers. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Deborah and Dwight and the relationship Deborah had with her own family members. As usual I didn't figure out who the murderer was, and I admit there were parts of the plot that I had questions about. I've enjoyed this series.
October 4, 2020
Love this series. Guess when I finish it I'll have to start on the author's other series. Just imagining all of Deborah's brothers and relatives is mind boggling - especially to an only child with no children of my own who has been known to go 20-30 years between face to face visits with my few cousins even! And the couple I do keep in contact with (slightly) don't have children either!
But I do love a good mystery, and these are written so well that I rarely have the culprit pegged!
But I do love a good mystery, and these are written so well that I rarely have the culprit pegged!
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September 20, 2023The Deborah Knott Mysteries wrap up the reader into a world of family and place of belonging. The youngest child and only daughter in a large Southern Family, the main character, Deborah Knott, knows someone or is related to someone who knows someone, and somehow everything that happens is connected. Killer Market is mainly set in the surroundings of a traveling carnival, but there is more going on (of course). Another mystery with unexpected depth from Margaret Maron. Highly recommended.
July 12, 2018
Better a slow dollar than a fast dime
Everything you wanted to know about a carnival - and maybe the best/worst odds for the games you play. Maron is one of my favorite authors - best to start with her earlier works as this one gives away another story line. And look for her series with the New York city detective.
Everything you wanted to know about a carnival - and maybe the best/worst odds for the games you play. Maron is one of my favorite authors - best to start with her earlier works as this one gives away another story line. And look for her series with the New York city detective.
October 3, 2018
Judge Knott finds new relatives by accident when it turns out that the murder victim is her nephew.
There are many twists and turns in the plot about the murder and in the lives of her many brothers.
Things are heating up in her romantic life also. Keeps you reading to find out what happens next.
There are many twists and turns in the plot about the murder and in the lives of her many brothers.
Things are heating up in her romantic life also. Keeps you reading to find out what happens next.
September 19, 2019
Well, *that* was a hookup I wasn't expecting. Nice little love story, tucked into an interesting look behind the scenes of a traveling carnival, , wrapped around a murder mystery, and lightened by an admittedly sad family reunification. I hope Tally and company return in further episodes of Judge Knott's series.
October 6, 2021
Probably my favorite of the series so far! 😊 I will never see the carnival the same and I know more than likely I will never go again. The setting was also my favorite (I like Deborah home better) and the whole clan was in attendance. 😉 The more I read about them the more I get them straight. ☺ The killer was a surprise 😦 as was why. Really enjoying this series! 😁
June 24, 2017
I enjoy her Deborah Knott series, although this was a little tedious at points where we get into all her brothers, etc. But since the plot played partly on family connections, I guess it was necessary. Also, the shifting point of view did not work that well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews