I really really want to like this series. Judge Knott is a great character and enjoy her crazy family.

But this mystery left me a little wishful that Ms. Maron had spent as much time on the ending as she did on the beginning.

Deborah Knott has just become a district judge and we get a birds eye view of her new life. Now an elected official, Judge Knott is helping a local organization build a house for a single mother and her two kids. And from there, things go terribly wrong. Family emergencies find themselves intertwined with a murder and Judge Knott has to find the killer to clear her name.

This story has a great deal of set up so when, halfway through, the murder happens, there are a slew of suspects. Unfortunately, it felt like Ms. Maron rushed to finish the book. All the sudden the murderer (who was rather obvious) quickly admits to the murder with the rest of the storylines all coming to a nice closure and then end. For all the set up, I felt the ending was a huge let down. Would have loved to see Dwight and Deborah take more time in discovering the killer instead of just having the killer reveal themselves.

I'll give Judge Knott another try as I really do like her. Just hope the story is more evenly thought out.