I am a big fan of Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series, but had never given much thought to reading the Sigrid Harald series. It just seemed too different from Deborah Knott to interest me that much. That was before I read the most recent Knott mystery, Three Day Town, in which Sigrid played a part. I found her an interesting character, one with an intriguing back story alluded to in Three Day Town. She will also be featured in Maron's upcoming The Buzzard Table.
As ONE COFFEE WITH ( first novel in an eight book series) was written in 1982, it was a bit like a trip back in time. No cell phones, PCs, etc. but as devices played no real part in the story, it was not particularly dated. Sigrid is a detective with the NYPD (one of the first females to reach that level) and she runs into all the male prejudices attendant, but as I don't think that has changed very much I didn't find it jarring. She is called in to investigate the poisoning of an art professor at the mythical NY City Vanderlyn College. During the course of the investigation, she meets characters who will play an important part in her life. The mystery itself is very well handled, but Maron is a much better writer today.
The characters are what interested me most in One Coffee With. Sigrid herself is blind to her own attractions, so I look forward to the development of her relationship with Oscar Naumann, Department Head at Vanderlyn. There is no doubt that I will read the rest of the series. All books in the series are once again available in digital form.
RATING- 3 Stars