SHARYN MCCRUMB

In Depression-era Appalachia, a desperate sheriffs widow takes on her late husbands job and discovers that a prayer the devil answers comes at a terrible price.The year is 1936 and society provides no safety net for newly widowed Ellie Robbins, a woman in a small mountain town who suddenly has to support her family on her own. Shes not trained to be a teacher or a nurse, the only respectable careers for a woman. So in order to care for her children, Ellie takes the only job available: that of her late husband, the sheriff.Ellie has long proven that she can handle herself, and her role as sheriff is largely symbolic. Yet the wariness of her male subordinates and the townspeople is palpable. Soon, as dark secrets come to light, Ellie is forced to grapple with the tenuous ties she shares with a convicted killer and the small-town superstitions that have plagued her for years.When a condemned killer is sentenced to death for his crime, her opportunity to do so presents itself in a way she never expected. Theres one task that only a sheriff can carry out: the execution of a convicted prisoner.Atmospheric and suspenseful, Prayers the Devil Answers is rich with the same masterful attention to historical detail and captivating folklore that you cherished in McCrumbs renowned Ballad novels. Her luscious writing brings her unforgettable characters to life with the pure poetry (The New York Times Book Review) that defines her astounding novels. Prayers the Devil Answers is a mesmerizing depiction of one womans tenacity and strength in even the most harrowing of circumstances.

When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home. In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Prayers the Devil Answers and The Ballad of Tom Dooley, a fascinating historical fiction novel you wont be able to put down (Bustle) based on one of the strangest murder trials in American historythe case of the Greenbrier Ghost.Lakin, West Virginia, 1930: Following a suicide attempt and consigned to a segregated insane asylum, attorney James P.D. Gardner finds himself under the care of Dr. James Boozer. Testing a new talking cure for insanity, Boozer encourages his elderly patient to share his experiences as the first black attorney to practice law in 19th-century West Virginia. His memorable case: defending a white man on trial for the murder of his young bridea case that the prosecution based on the testimony of a ghost.Greenbrier, West Virginia, 1897: Beautiful, willful Zona Heaster has always lived in the mountains. Despite her mothers misgivings, Zona marries the handsome Erasmus Trout Shue, Greenbriers newest resident and blacksmith. Her mother learns of her daughters death weeks later. A month after the funeral, Zonas mother makes a chilling claim to the county prosecutor: her daughter was murdered, and she was told this by none other than Zonas ghost... With her unique and real knack for crafting full-bodied characters and using folklore to construct compelling plots (Booklist), Sharyn McCrumb effortlessly demonstrates her place among the finest Southern writers at work today.

Sharyn McCrumb transforms mystery into astonishing literature.The Cleveland Plain DealerForensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson gets a chance to revel in the rites of the old country at the annual Glencoe Mountain Games, the Scottish festival where several hundred like-minded Americans celebrate their ancestors folkways. But the innocent ethnic fair is cursed when the loathed Colin Campbell is found murdered.Then a second murder silences everyones bagpipes for good. Enter Elizabeth, who make short work of her search for motive and murderer.I had a great time at Sharyn McCrumbs inimitable version of the Highland games.Charlotte MacLeod

"Delicious. Delightful. A Royal entertainment."Carolyn G. HartIf forensic anthropologist and ameteur slueth Elizabeth MacPherson is to have tea with the Queen of England, she has to get married first. And in the space of five weeks, she plans to do just that. When an old neighbor receives word that her husband has died again, its up to Elizabeth to determine just whose ashes the double widow has been cursing at all these years....From Mystery Writers of America award winner Sharyn McCrumb, author of MacPHERSONS LAMENT, and IF ID KILLED HIM WHEN I MET HIM...

"Who but Sharyn McCrumb can make a skull with a bullet hole funny? Those who like sardonic wit, slightly bent characters, and good fun will love Lovely in Her Bones."Tony HillermanWhen an Appalachian dig to determine if an obscure Indian tribe in North Carolina can lay legal claim to the land they live on is stopped on account of murder, Elizabeth MacPhersoneager student of the rites of the past and mysteries of the presentstarts digging deep. And when she mixes a little modern know-how with some old-fashioned suspicions, Elizabeth comes up with a batch of answers that surprise even the experts. . . .

Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumb brings you her sixth Elizabeh MacPherson mystery novel.The unsinkable Elizabeth is on tour of Englands most famous murder sites, when Rowan Rover, the group leader, is quietly asked to commit murder. He does, of course, but not without misgivings--not the least of which is having Elizabeth MacPherson, canny observer and all-around murder spoiler, on his tail..."Sharyn McCrunb is definitely a rising star in the New Golden Age of mystery fiction. I look forward to reading her for a long time to come."Elizabeth Peters

"In an earlier life, McCrumb must have been a balladeer, singing of restless spirits, star-crossed lovers, and the consoling beauty of nature. . . . The overall effect is spellbinding."--The Washington Post Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb is "a born storyteller" (Mary Higgins Clark) who astonishes readers and reviewers with the power and scope of her talent, prompting the San Diego Union-Tribune to declare: "There is no one quite like her among present-day writers. No one better, either."Foggy Mountain Breakdown, the first-ever collection of Sharyn McCrumbs short fiction, is a literary quilting of old and new, humorous and heartfelt, offering award-winning works--and two stories never before published, contrasting mountain childhoods past and present.Chilling tales of suspense alternate with evocative character portraits and compelling narratives that embrace the southern Appalachian locales and themes of McCrumbs acclaimed Ballad Novels. Within this cornucopia of two dozen stories, Old Rattler, a mountain healer, skirmishes with a serial killer . . . Princess Di investigates long-kept secrets within the House of Windsor . . . A reincarnated murder victim seeks delicious revenge . . . And while honeymooning in the bridegrooms ancestral hilltop homeplace, two newlyweds harbor second thoughts.The authors perfect-pitch ear for dialogue and ability to illuminate the dark side of human nature merge with her brilliant artistry to make Foggy Mountain Breakdown a virtuoso collection for devotees of Sharyn McCrumb--and for the legion of new readers who will find themselves caught under her spell.

"Sharyn McCrumb is a born storyteller."Mary Higgins ClarkSharyn McCrumbs acclaimed sequel to MISSING SUSAN.Forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson heads to Danville, Virginia, to save her brother Bill--a novice lawyer--from a charge that could send him to prison. It seems that eight women, the daughters of Confederate veterans, had asked Bill to sell their antebellum mansion. But the real estate deal is the cover for a calculated deception. As Bill finds himself facing fraud charges, his clients suddenly disappear without a trace. It will fall to Elizabeth to follow a twisted trail of bitterness and resentment--one that leads to a Civil War secret that may be the key to the ugly truth....A MAIN SLECTION OF THE MYSTERY GUILD

Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb, internationally acclaimed for the "quiet fire"* of her Appalachian Ballad novels, clearly has a dark side--a wicked, sardonic wit that has prompted critics to compare her to Jane Austen and Jonathan Swift. Readers and reviewers alike also have lauded Ms. McCrumb for her inspired chronicles of forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson. In her newest tale in the MacPherson saga, McCrumb examines societys fascination with beauty--and the deceptiveness of outer appearances. Elizabeth herself, hospitalized for depression over her missing husband, learns that insanity liberates one from polite hypocrisy, enabling a "crazy lady" to remark: "Anorexia is not a disease; its a career move."Out in the real world, Elizabeths brother Bill has bought a stately old mansion to use as his law office, only to find that the house comes with a charming codger-in-residence who is far too old to be a dangerous outlaw. . . isnt he? Meanwhile, the steel magnolia who is Bills law partner is trying to track down the PMS Outlaws--an escaped convict and her fugitive attorney--who are cruising pickup joints and wreaking a peculiar vengeance on lust-crazed men.Sharyn McCrumbs incisive wit and her genius for mirroring everyday life are once again on full display. The PMS Outlaws is an outrageous parable of modern mores, where beauty is the weapon, and nobody is safe.*The New York Times Book Review

The book that started it all for Edgar Award winner Sharyn McCrumbs widely acclaimed series featuring amateur sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson.When delicate Eileen Chandler is set to marry, her family fears the man is a fortune hunter. Thank goodness, Eileens cousin Elizabeth MacPherson comes early for support. Unfortunately, Elizabeth also has some detecting to do, as a dead body is found, and none of the wedding party is above suspicion...."A good deal of suspense...McCrumb writes with a sharp-pointed pen."LOS ANGELES TIMES

When forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson becomes the official P.I. for her brother Bills fledgling Virginia law firm, she quickly takes on two complex cases. Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyers wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan is implicated in the death of her Bible-thumping bigamist husband. Bills feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeths forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career. . . .