Shoveling Smoke

by Margaret Maron

The creator of Judge Deborah Knott and Lt. Sigrid Harald and the winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, Margaret Maron writes with sensitivity about how time and place influence people and events, and how the domestic situation can breed both warmth and quiet despair. Shoveling Smoke contains 22 of Margaret Maron's best short stories, including all of the short cases of Sigrid Harald and Deborah Knott. The book concludes with a new story about Deborah Knott and a checklist of Margaret Maron's mystery novels and short stories. Introduction and prefaces to each story by the author.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Born 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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Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed most of the stories - especially the Deborah Knott stories. Love her common sense and the way she realizes things. Margaret Maron was a wonderful author -- love her stories, her characters, and the situations she sets up for either Deborah Knott or Sigrid Harald to solve. Great book

[Gayle Stever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading if you are a Sigrid Herald and Deborah Knott fan.

[Merlot58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big Maron fan, so I really liked these stories despite them being pretty simplistic. She just has a voice that I like to read.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shoveling Smoke collects several of Margaret Maron's short stories in one place. I had to borrow it through interlibrary loan because it is no longer available for purchase.

Maron is one of my favorite authors. She has eastern NC ties. Most of her Deborah Knott (Bootlegger's Daughter) books are set there. When I learned that there were short stories about Knott, I had to borrow this.

Whether they included Knott or not, I enjoyed them. Many were funny. Most were short.
The Death of Me
A Very Special Talent
The Beast Within
When Daddy's Gone
Deadhead Coming Down
Guy and Dolls
Let No Man Put Asunder
A City Full of Thieves
Mrs. Howell and Criminal Justice 2.1
On Windy Ridge
Lieutenant Harald and the Treasure Island Treasure
Out of Whole Cloth
My Mother, My Daughter, Me
Small Club Lead, Dummy Plays Low
Deborah's Judgment
Fruitcake, Mercy, and Black-eyed Peas
Lieutenant Harald and the Impossible Gun
Hangnail
That Bells May Ring and Whistles Safely Blow
What's a Friend For? with Susan Dunlap
With this Ring
Prayer for Judgment

Windy Ridge may be my favorite, if I had to pick one. The style verges on the Sharyn McCrumb ballad novel since it is set in the mountains with a gifted older woman. I also liked The Beast Within. A cat mystery.

That Bells May Ring and Whistles Safely Blow may be my least favorite. The lack of communication between generations has tragic consequences.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

The death of me --
A very special talent --3
The beast within --2
When Daddy's gone --
*Deadhead coming down --
Guys and dolls --
Let no man put asunder --
A city full of thieves --
Mrs. Howell and criminal justice 2.1 --
*On windy ridge --
Lieutenant Harald and the Treasure Island treasure --3
*Out of whole cloth --
My mother, my daughter, me --
Small club lead, dummy plays low --
*Deborah's judgment --
Fruitcake, mercy, and black-eyed peas --
*Lieutenant Harald and the impossible gun --
Hangnail --
*That bells may ring and whistles safely blow --
What's a friend for? (with Susan Dunlap) --
*With this ring --
*Prayer for judgment --
***
El Tramegra --
Io, Saturnalia! --
Shaggy dog --
Virgo in sapphires --

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery short stories, including those about Judge Deborah Knott and NYPD Lt. Sigrid Harald.
Shoveling Smoke contains twenty-two of Margaret Maron's best short stories, from her very first published mystery to her most recent tales. The book includes all of the short cases of Sigrid Harald and Deborah Knott, as well as other mysteries set in Knott's Colleton County. Some of the stories show how crime can emerge from ordinary situations; others recapture the Golden Age delight in twisty plotting with seemingly impossible crimes reminiscent of John Dickson Carr and dying messages harking back to Ellery Queen.

[Kathy Nealen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never enjoy short story mysteries as much as mystery novels. The short length severely limits the complexity, i.e., twists and turns in the plot. I started reading all of the stories in this collection but after about a half dozen, I just skipped all of them but those based on Sigrid Harald and Deborah Knott, the two sleuths featured in her novels.

[Jim Bilbro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read these stories, and I honestly can't say that I remember a thing about them. My only remaining impression is that I found them to be neither great nor terrible and a vague feeling that a woman would very likely get more out of these stories than I did. That's all I've got.

[Lindig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected short stories, including two Sigrid Harald and a few Deborah Knott. Interesting to see her writing and plotting skills develop. I still think the Sigrid Harald series is the best thing she's ever done.