Uncommon clay - Margaret Maron

The dark earth in the piedmont of North Carolina's Randolph Country is heavy with bright clay. And it is of the same rich soil that attracts many of the South's most skilled potters. Also drawn to this region is the visiting judge Deborah Knott. She faces the most exasperating case a judge can handle: overseeing the equitable distribution of marital property after a bitter divorce. The Nordans - James Lucas and Sandra Kay - both potters, are divorcing after almost twenty-five years of marriage. As creative as it was stormy, the Nordans' history together produced great artistic achievements. Much of the credit for this stellar legacy goes to Amos Nordan, James Lucas's father and the proud clan patriarch. But Amos is not untouched by tragedy. Two years earlier an even more talented son Donny, apparently committed suicide in a manner so scandalous that Amos still cannot bear to speak of it. Suddenly, amid the petty bickering, an even more gruesome death strikes the Nordans, and the violence stalking the family homestead threatens to shut down the kilns for good.;Judge Knott must use all of her insight into the darkest entanglements of the human heart if she is to trap a determined murderer.