Southern Secrets and Lies

THE BUZZARD TABLE
Margaret Maron
Grand Central Publishing
November 2012

The newest installment in the long-running Deborah Knott series returns home to fictional Colleton County in North Carolina after last year's  Three Day Town. As a native North Carolinian I find the Deborah Knott novels almost a good as a visit home. But my, how the place has changed over the years!

The Buzzard Table has the sort of complex and layered plot that I have come to expect, full of the doings of Deborah's large extended family, the challenge of a new marriage to Dwight Bryant and a new step-son as well as the use of the county's small airfield for refueling CIA "rendition" flights. The refueling of the flights is a open secret- one that most don't care about, but some find abhorrent and try to stop by publicizing. A nearby group of citizens is trying it's best to scuttle the flights, the most visible of whom is a nerdy high school student.

Sigrid Harald, NYPD detective and her mother Anne Lattimore are also visiting. Anne's mother, the patrician Mrs. Lattimore is ill and failing. Mrs. Lattimore has asked her daughter and grand-daughter to help wind up her affairs. A long-lost Lattimore cousin, Martin Crawford, has also appeared. Crawford is an ornithologist studying the Southern vulture for an upcoming book. When the murder of a real estate agent, an assault on the nerdy student and the death of an unknown man in a nearby motel happen in swift succession Dwight Bryant has a lot of questions for Martin Crawford. Even though the investigation is taken over by the feds Dwight intends to get answers for what is happening in his county.

Well plotted and full of  colorful characters, The Buzzard Table does not disappoint. Not only do we meet new fascinating characters, the usual colorful folk of Colleton County are back. Margaret Maron provides a wealth of facts about the Southern "turkey buzzard". at the beginning of each chapter. For instance, circling buzzards are called a "kettle"- who knew?  Thanks to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance reading copy!

RATING- 4 Vultures