Long Upon the Land

A Deborah Knott Mystery

By: Margaret Maron

Narrated by: Margaret Maron

Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Margaret Maron, New York Times best-selling author and Mystery Writers of America grand master, returns to Colleton County with an exciting new Deborah Knott mystery....

On a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father, Kezzie, makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death. Investigating this crime, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, soon uncovers a long-simmering hostility between Kezzie and the slain man over a land dispute. The local newspaper implies that Deborah's family may have had something to do with the murder - and that Dwight is dragging his feet on the case.

Meanwhile Deborah is given a cigarette lighter that once belonged to her mother. The cryptic inscription inside rekindles Deborah's curiosity about her parents' past and how they met. For years she has wondered how the daughter of a wealthy attorney could have married a widowed, semi-illiterate bootlegger, and this time she's determined to find the answer.

But why are Deborah's brothers so reluctant to talk about the dead man? Is the murder linked to Kezzie's illegal whiskey business? And could his courtship of Deborah's mother have something to do with the bad blood between the two families? Despite Deborah's promise not to interfere in Dwight's work, she cannot stop herself from doing everything she can to help clear her brothers and her father from suspicion....

©2015 Margaret Maron (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Wonderful story, needs professional narrator

Maron's writing is brilliant. Clever plots woven with North Carolina life and history. But, she's not an actress. She does a great disservice to her prose. Deborah becomes an old woman, Dwight has no weight, and others have no character at all.

Margaret Maron✅

Yes, I agree CJ Critt gave a more youthful, spirited, no nonsense side of Judge Deborah Knott. I have no idea why Margaret Maron decided to narrate her last two books in this series, but I respect and enjoyed her readings. I have enjoyed so much the forward to chapters, the preacher and the pragmatist, the NC history, and the developments of each book in story and characters. Thank you Margaret Maron! 😊

Best one yet!

best story, best plot, loved learning about Knott & Stevenson family history. Hope it isnot the end of the series.

Enjoyable tale in the series - but I miss CJ Critt

If like me you have followed this series from the first to the nineteenth book--you'll certainly enjoy this tale. Not very the best of the series, but an entertaining mystery and a warm and satisfying exploration of a bit more of the history of the Knott family and Colleton County. The mysteries were well-done and believable, plus I was pleased that I did not figure out some of the twists and turns ahead of time.

I don't know the reason for it, but the loss of CJ Critt as performer/narrator is a jarring disappointment. Critt is a wonderful performer and in the first 17 books of the series became and still is the true Deborah Knott in my mind. It is tough to complain about Margaret Maron's narrating since we are such big fans of her writing! But writing and narrating are different skills.Technically Maron's narration had only a few deficiencies: for example, pronouncing 'pragmatic' to rhyme with 'frog.' Critt gave us a younger, middle-age voice that fits Judge Knott's age over the time span of the series. Maron's performance provides a sweet grandmotherly voice that sounds out of place for contemporary Deborah. Overall, Critt's full, rich voice captures the dreamy atmosphere and pace of the Carolina south.

good as ever

I love this Deborah Knott series , This is great digging back to the past. She does a great job of wrapping us in the cozy blanket with old friends, and a little murder thrown in

Best one yet

I only listen to detective stories. I like this series because it has good family values and shows that police and detectives can also have a good family life also. This one is my favorite so far because it looks into the past and fills in the blanks on how this family got started.

Both simple and complex

I have been reading Maron for several years now. I love the characters and the clever mysteries. Hear Ms. Maron actually reading the story was great fun. Her accent gives the characters life. This story deals with several mysteries, from the past and the present. Great fun. Buy it, read it or listen; you'll like it regardless.

A fitting end to the series

And Margaret Maron is a wonderful narrator. In fact, I’ve told her that if she’ll read one of the earlier books I’ll buy it again.
I hear some of you: but CJ Critt! Yes, Ms Critt is excellent ... as Stephanie Plum, of Trenton NJ. She doesn’t do so well as genuine southerner Deborah Knott.

Author makes poor narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

If it were mine, I would have paid a professional narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Deborah Knott. I like all of these books. I am, myself, an attorney and a part time judge, so I enjoy that aspect of the book, particularly.

What didn’t you like about Margaret Maron’s performance?

She's monotonous, and doesn't differentiate the voices of the characters. I also note a sing-song rhythm in the performance.

Was Long Upon the Land worth the listening time?

Yes, but I do think it cost too much for what I got.

Just wish it was even longer;-)

This was another great book by Margaret Maron. I've read all the Deborah Knott mysteries and a couple of the Sigrid ones, too. I don't like murder mysteries because I have an extremely low tolerance for violence or assault (lol law & order gives me the creeps), but her books are just so well written and she weaves such a good story that it doesn't even matter. You feel like you're there, like her family is yours, and it doesn't hurt that I grew up in rural North Carolina, so it feels like home to me. I like her books that focus on different regions of North Carolina (and even NY), but the ones that focus on her family interactions, family history, and unsolved mysteries of the past are extraordinary; this one doesn't disappoint.

CJ Critt has read all of the previous books on audible so it was surprising to hear Margaret read it, but of course she does an awesome job, too; while Critt is a fantastic performer/storyteller, I thought Margaret did an especially good job with voices like Kezzie's. Overall another great mystery (a few hours shorter than the last couple books); I'm bummed it's over so maybe I'll start the series again;-)