"Hard Row," the latest Deborah Knott mystery by Margaret Maron, has a Aug. 22 release date.
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 8-10-07
GREENSBORO, NC – B est-selling author Margaret Maron, who attended Woman’s College (now UNCG), will read from “Hard Row,” the 13th novel in the Deborah Knott series of mysteries, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, in Elliott University Center Auditorium.
The reading, part of UNCG’s FallFest, is sponsored by University Libraries and the Department of Library and Information Studies. Grand Central Publishing plans to release “Hard Row” on Aug. 22.
In “Hard Row,” Judge Deborah Knott and her new husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, search for the killer of a farmer known for his mistreatment of migrant workers. At the same time, Knott is adjusting to married life, which includes a stepson, 8-year-old Cal.
Born in Greensboro, Maron grew up on her family’s farm in Johnston County. She attended Woman’s College for two years, ’56-57 and ’57-58. Initially planning to study education, she switched her major to English after just a few classes. She transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill, but dropped out soon afterward to get married.
Her 1992 novel “Bootlegger's Daughter,” the first featuring Deborah Knott, received the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Anthony Award for Best Mystery Novel, the Agatha Award for Best Traditional Novel and the Macavity Award for Best Novel, becoming the first book to win all four awards. Her novel “Up Jumps the Devil” won the Agatha Award in 1996.
Maron has described her novels as “love letters to North Carolina.” They frequently involve hot-button issues such as race relations, real estate development, the environment and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and. In addition to writing more than two dozen books, she has published short stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, McCall’s, Redbook, Reader’s Digest and other magazines.
She has loaned her papers to UNCG’s University Archives and Manuscripts and established a $25,000 endowment to support the work of university archives.
To learn more about Maron, visit her web site. For more information about the Sept. 29 reading, contact librarian Barry Miller at (336) 256-0112 or barry_miller@uncg.edu.
