Last Lessons of Summer

by Margaret Maron

Book Overview

In this dark and suspenseful departure from her critically acclaimed Judge Deborah Knott series, award-winning author Maron follows a young publisher's search for answers to old murders, which leads... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892967803
• ISBN13: 9780892967803
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fabulous Stand Alone by Margaret Maron

Margaret Maron has created another great mystery that is NOT based on her wonderful Deborah Knott series. Amy Steadman is the heir to a toy/childrens book empire left to her by her Grandmother(Francis Barbour.) Amy is an artist and wants nothing to do with the business side of the company. However, since Amy's mother Maxi committed suicide when Amy was only 3 Francis was determined that Amy's father could run the company but the ownership would remain Amy's. The company business has been run for over 30 years by Amy's father. Now, he is talking of retirement and the step-brothers and half-sister that she's grown up with are showing some resentment for the years of knowing that she was the Heir to the vast empire they all had grown up with. Amy's recent marriage is having problems and it's only adding to the pressure she's under. Amy doesn't like confrontation so after her Grandmother's murder she's offered a large sum of money to sell the southern home her Grandmother inhabited in the later years of her life with her Grandfather in North Carolina.Amy decides that she wants some answers not only to the death of Francis but of the secrets behind the suicide of her mother years before. It's the perfect excuse for her to escape her problems and hopefully get some of the answers that everyone has made a point of making her forget over these years. Afraid of sending movers to go through boxes of personal items she heads off to clear the house out herself.She arrives to a family full of secrets and a murderer still out there and now threatening Amy. Her half-sister Beth runs away from her own problems with the family and shows up on her doorstep with tales of woe of her own. For two sisters who have never been close it's a learning experience and search for a killer.Around every corner you'll be wondering who could it be and does it tie to her mother's suicide? Just when you think you've figured it out you're wrong. The emotions of Amy, a woman who has wondered for so much of her life how her mother could have killed herself and how her family erased her mother from her memory Leaving Amy with no answers is emotional. I felt for her and was along for the ride wanting them to tell her what they knew and why no one spoke of Maxi. This story is wonderfully written. It made me love some of the characters and hate others. I couldn't wait for the next page. I wanted to know what happened but I didn't cheat. It's that kind of book.

Absolutely a Good Read

Enjoyed this even more than her Knotts books. Very smooth, with lots of "He/she could have done it". Well, worth giving a try if you've read the author before and certainly a good starter book for future Maron followers.

A compelling murder mystery that leaves you guessing

The inside jacket description of Margaret Maron's sensational mystery novel LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER refers to her as being the modern-day equivalent of legendary Southern writer Margaret Mitchell, who penned GONE WITH THE WIND and won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for best fiction.Although the comparison remains open to argument, Maron's LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER does strike a familiar chord with Mitchell's literary masterpiece by providing memorable characters and the many nuances of living below the Mason-Dixon Line. Like Mitchell, Maron has deep southern roots and is a highly acclaimed mystery writer. She has won numerous awards for her Deborah Knott and Sigrid Harald serial novels.But LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER isn't a serial novel. Rather it is a compelling murder mystery featuring Amy Steadman, a recent newlywed from New York City who returns to North Carolina in an attempt to investigate the grizzly murder of her grandmother, Frances, patriarch of the Barbour publishing empire. Along the way, she also looks at her beloved mother's apparent suicide and experiences swirling family angst over inheritance issues.Before the novel begins, Maron masterfully introduces to her readers a simple family tree that aids in following the story. Without a doubt, you will find it pressing not to flip back to the family tree as you read.Maron is extremely gifted in providing tension, intrigue and drama in this 295-page whodunit. There is also a measure of romantic overtones, as Amy fights the notion of a cheating husband and a sudden attraction to the local detective investigating her grandmother's murder.While LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER is well worth reading, Maron could have delved more deeply into the psyche of her characters, especially her main protagonist Amy. By the end of the story, readers may feel that they have just begun to understand Amy and her somewhat dysfunctional clan, which is why I wish Maron had not cut to the chase so quickly.In addition, Maron needs to work on her description of North Carolina. Everybody realizes the weather is hot within the confines of Tobacco Road. She could have also dug a little deeper into the description of Raleigh. The book's story takes place in North Carolina, but unfortunately Maron's initial landscape of Amy's surroundings just doesn't evoke a memorable setting.Despite these problems, LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER does leave you guessing --- and that is mystery writing at its best. --- Reviewed by David Exum from Bookreporter.com

If you like the Deborah Knott Series, Read this!

I am a huge fan of Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series, and I totally enjoyed this book. Some of the Knott series characters make appearances in this book as well, but the main characters are all new. I read this book while on vacation, and was disappointed I didn't save more of it to read on the airplane ride home...so I reread the last 4 chapters! Is this the best Margaret Maron book that I've read? Well, no. But it was fun, and like her other books set in North Carolina, you feel immersed in the sweet Southern charm of the "Old North State!"