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5.0 out of 5 stars
Pick your poison. McCrumb has something for everyone., Aug 23 2002
Sharyn McCrumb is the author of three mystery series, each very different from the others. This is the third book featuring forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. They are fairly lightwight and humerous. Some of her later volumes ('MacPherson's Lament' and If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him...') combine current and historic mysteries which I found particulary intriguing. This mix of contemporary and historical mysteries is also a key element of her second series. Based in the mountains of eastern Tennessee with titles gleaned from old Appalachian folk songs it is a more serious collection that is rich in the beauty and folklore of the region. My personal favorite is 'She Walks These Hills'. On the off chance that there is someone out there looking for something a little more irreverent than 'Highland Laddie Gone,' McCrumb has an answer for that, too. The title says it all: 'Bimbos of the Death Sun' Don't laugh. It won an Edgar.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
I love funny mysteries, Jun 7 2001
Unlike some of my fellow reviewers, I love funny mysteries. They have to be well-written, too, mind you - something that has funny lines but is otherwise incoherent wouldn't get five stars from me. However, Sharyn McCrumb is anything but incoherent. Her characters have lots of witty dialogue, but also are fleshed out to be real people. (Some more thinly fleshed out than others, but still...) Elizabeth is attending the Highland Games with her cousin Geoffrey because she happens to be the Maid of the Cat for Clan Chattan. The cat is an old, toothless mountain lion. There are funny moments with other animals too- keep an eye out for poultry. At the games, she meets a genuine Scot- who has a rather jaundiced view of the American version of things, but who also has an accent that Elizabeth compares to pancake syrup; she falls in love with it almost immediately, and then with the rest of the guy. The person who is murdered certainly deserves it, as is often the case in McCrumb's stories. She writes really good nasty people. For me, perhaps the funniest part of the book is near the end. The officer who has been working on the case also happens to be part of a Civil War recreation group- costumes, battles, etc. Elizabeth is talking to him about the next event that's going to use the grounds after the Games are finished. It's the SCA, who dress up in medieval costumes and hold jousting tournaments. About this group, "those people are weird" says Clan Chattan Maid of the Cat to Confederal Colonel Lightfoot MacDonald!!
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Aye peppy, but no fer me, May 17 2001
If peppy murder stories are your bag, here's one. Recommended to me as a Scottish forensics story, the jolly setting is Highland Games (caber tossing and fling dancing) but actually set in the hills of W. Virgina. Apparently third in a series featuring forensic specialist Elizabeth MacPhearson, she is facetious, chipper, sassy, and distances herself with clever wordplay. A number of characters are set up as people you'd love to hate (suspects) and then events are allowed to spin out apparently from those conflicts. There's no agonizing over relationships, just "off with their heads." A fast, light, vacation read for those times when you want to let the author do all the work. In fact, this is so fleet, light, and smooth, it probably takes a major writing talent to pull it off. The paper quality is strictly throwaway. Nevertheless, I learned something from this book: maybe I don't appreciate jocular murders. I know, I know: it's fiction, it's just a story, no more significant than a drive-by shooting....
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