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Elizabeth MacPherson #5
The Windsor Knot
If forensic anthropologist and ameteur sleuth 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, it's up to Elizabeth to determine just whose ashes the double widow has been cursing at all these years....
281 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
69 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
About the author
Sharyn McCrumb
116 books1,131 followers
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
Sharyn McCrumb, an award-winning Southern writer, is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and The Songcatcher. Ghost Riders, which won the Wilma Dykeman Award for Literature from the East Tennessee Historical Society and the national Audie Award for Best Recorded Books. The Unquiet Grave, a well-researched novel about West Virginia's Greenbrier Ghost, will be published in September by Atria, a division of Simon &Schuster.
Sharyn McCrumb, named a Virginia Woman of History by the Library of Virginia and a Woman of the Arts by the national Daughters of the American Revolution, was awarded the Mary Hobson Prize for Arts & Letters in 2014. Her books have been named New York Times and Los Angeles Times Notable Books. In addition to presenting programs at universities, libraries, and other organizations throughout the US, Sharyn McCrumb has taught a writers workshop in Paris, and served as writer-in-residence at King University in Tennessee, and at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
December 7, 2017
2.5 Stars. The best way I can describe this book is "fluffy" and it's a quick read.
I don't know how many years it's been since I read the last book in this series and as a result I don't remember what happened in it. This book was originally published in 1990 so the series has been around for awhile!
I think I may have enjoyed this book more when I was younger. I didn't dislike it but it didn't really wow me either. Like I said, it's a quick, fluffy read. One thing I did really like about the book, however, is it was written in a time when writers really researched their subject matter and that definitely shone through in this book, but at this stage in my life also became a bit tedious as the Royal Family is not a subject with which I am obsessed.
The main character in this series, Elizabeth MacPherson, however, is obsessed with the Royal Family. So when her fiance, marine biologist Cameron, calls her from visiting his native Scotland to drop the bomb he's been invited to the Royal Garden Party as an honored guest for saving some seals, but she can't come because only spouses are allowed, she comes up with the obvious solution: move the wedding up by about a year and honeymoon in Scotland. Throwing together a formal wedding in THREE weeks shouldn't be a problem for Elizabeth's southern belle socialite aunt. (Nor should Cameron letting the Queen's people know he needs an invite for his bride-to-be).
The focus of this book was Elizabeth's wedding planning. (Who opens gifts and writes "thank you" notes BEFORE the wedding? Is that really a thing?) As I remember this series to be a mystery series (it even says "Mystery, #5" in the title), I kept wondering where the mystery was in this. It was introduced over halfway through the book when some random widow of some random dude who died 5 years ago got a call from the state of California to tell her he had died. Again - and for real this time. So whose ashes were on the mantle? Enter forensic anthropologist Elizabeth who spends about 5 minutes studying the ashes from the original death and declares it's not one, but several people who live in the urn.
This did make for an interesting concept: is crematorium fraud really a crime? (Or at least was it in rural Georgia in 1990, where it wasn't yet a common practice and the local sheriff's office didn't even have it's own fax machine?). But when the crematorium owner is found dead, there's no doubt that was a crime! But amateur sleuth Elizabeth stays true to her vow not to get involved so she can focus on her wedding, leading her cousin, Geoffery, to kindly solve the murder for the cops. Given the small cast of extraneous characters, that ended up being pretty easy to figure out.
There were some parts of this book that made it feel really dated (Princess Diana still being alive was a big one as was Fergie and Prince Andrew still being married), but there were some other parts that also showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same - Elizabeth's other cousin Charlie, responding to an ad in the newspaper made me think of today's world of online dating, for example.
Sharyn McCrumb is one of my favorite authors so I'll definitely read the remaining four books in this series. This didn't have the humor of some of her other earlier books and it wasn't bad either but parts of it did feel like drivel after awhile.
I don't know how many years it's been since I read the last book in this series and as a result I don't remember what happened in it. This book was originally published in 1990 so the series has been around for awhile!
I think I may have enjoyed this book more when I was younger. I didn't dislike it but it didn't really wow me either. Like I said, it's a quick, fluffy read. One thing I did really like about the book, however, is it was written in a time when writers really researched their subject matter and that definitely shone through in this book, but at this stage in my life also became a bit tedious as the Royal Family is not a subject with which I am obsessed.
The main character in this series, Elizabeth MacPherson, however, is obsessed with the Royal Family. So when her fiance, marine biologist Cameron, calls her from visiting his native Scotland to drop the bomb he's been invited to the Royal Garden Party as an honored guest for saving some seals, but she can't come because only spouses are allowed, she comes up with the obvious solution: move the wedding up by about a year and honeymoon in Scotland. Throwing together a formal wedding in THREE weeks shouldn't be a problem for Elizabeth's southern belle socialite aunt. (Nor should Cameron letting the Queen's people know he needs an invite for his bride-to-be).
The focus of this book was Elizabeth's wedding planning. (Who opens gifts and writes "thank you" notes BEFORE the wedding? Is that really a thing?) As I remember this series to be a mystery series (it even says "Mystery, #5" in the title), I kept wondering where the mystery was in this. It was introduced over halfway through the book when some random widow of some random dude who died 5 years ago got a call from the state of California to tell her he had died. Again - and for real this time. So whose ashes were on the mantle? Enter forensic anthropologist Elizabeth who spends about 5 minutes studying the ashes from the original death and declares it's not one, but several people who live in the urn.
This did make for an interesting concept: is crematorium fraud really a crime? (Or at least was it in rural Georgia in 1990, where it wasn't yet a common practice and the local sheriff's office didn't even have it's own fax machine?). But when the crematorium owner is found dead, there's no doubt that was a crime! But amateur sleuth Elizabeth stays true to her vow not to get involved so she can focus on her wedding, leading her cousin, Geoffery, to kindly solve the murder for the cops. Given the small cast of extraneous characters, that ended up being pretty easy to figure out.
There were some parts of this book that made it feel really dated (Princess Diana still being alive was a big one as was Fergie and Prince Andrew still being married), but there were some other parts that also showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same - Elizabeth's other cousin Charlie, responding to an ad in the newspaper made me think of today's world of online dating, for example.
Sharyn McCrumb is one of my favorite authors so I'll definitely read the remaining four books in this series. This didn't have the humor of some of her other earlier books and it wasn't bad either but parts of it did feel like drivel after awhile.
October 9, 2021
Elizabeth MacPherson is a forensic biology graduate student. She’s working to finish the degree, and she’s leisurely planning her wedding to Cameron Dawson, a Scotsman whom she met in an earlier book. That wedding isn’t supposed to happen for a year. That all changes the fateful day Cameron got the fancy invitation from Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth wants to honor him for saving seals in a previous book. He’s eager to go, and he knows that a Royal-Family-obsessed Elizabeth would love to be there with him. The problem is, the queen has a little rule that only spouses can accompany honorees. Elizabeth’s pragmatic solution? Move up the wedding by a year and get it done in three weeks at her socialite aunt’s home in Georgia.
There’s so much trivial royal family goop in here that you don’t get to the first mystery of the book until you’re 41 percent in, and yes, I did check. A widow of five years thought she had his ashes in an urn. He died in a car crash. Then she takes a call from the California Highway Patrol. That worthy agency is sure its employees found him dead in a car crash in California. If that’s true, whose ashes are in the urn? Sounds like a job for a royally obsessed Elizabeth MacPherson, and she takes the case on despite a looming wedding.
She instantly discovers the urn was not the resting place of a single individual, but a veritable dormitory of the dead and burned. There are bone fragments from numerous people, and the local sheriff is in over his head and out of budget.
Before the book ends, a crematorium owner will die.
There’s too much obsession on the Royal family to suit me. While I don’t wish any of them ill, I have only indifference toward their ongoing existence. That Elizabeth was so obsessed makes her look shallow, flighty, and superficial. Some of the subplots were fun. Jenny, the weather girl turned bridesmaid, is a fluffy southern girl with a C average in college but with the looks to be the darling of the local nightly news watchers.
There’s so much trivial royal family goop in here that you don’t get to the first mystery of the book until you’re 41 percent in, and yes, I did check. A widow of five years thought she had his ashes in an urn. He died in a car crash. Then she takes a call from the California Highway Patrol. That worthy agency is sure its employees found him dead in a car crash in California. If that’s true, whose ashes are in the urn? Sounds like a job for a royally obsessed Elizabeth MacPherson, and she takes the case on despite a looming wedding.
She instantly discovers the urn was not the resting place of a single individual, but a veritable dormitory of the dead and burned. There are bone fragments from numerous people, and the local sheriff is in over his head and out of budget.
Before the book ends, a crematorium owner will die.
There’s too much obsession on the Royal family to suit me. While I don’t wish any of them ill, I have only indifference toward their ongoing existence. That Elizabeth was so obsessed makes her look shallow, flighty, and superficial. Some of the subplots were fun. Jenny, the weather girl turned bridesmaid, is a fluffy southern girl with a C average in college but with the looks to be the darling of the local nightly news watchers.
July 4, 2010
Wedding Plan Machinations Dominate Very Light Mystery
It's amazing how reminiscent is this book of Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series, in which Judge Knott usually presides over a light mystery as an excuse for 250 pages of southern folksy chit chat. In "Knot", it's the same thing with the leading lady, Elizabeth MacPherson. Liz is a forensic pathologist, a profession apparently in vogue given the Kathy Reichs series of books and TV show "Bones". However, MacPherson is really little more than an amateur sleuth whose plying of her trade in this book lasts about five minutes while she informs an enquiring mind that an urn full of ashes is a mix of human and animal bone fragments that appears to be the leftovers from a crematorium. The only excuse for a mystery is to be found in why another character was misled into thinking her husband was dead, only to have him show up at a morgue in California some five years later (again!). It turns out a frustrated travel agent turned crook was providing false disappearance proof (ashes) for people who wanted to get lost from their current lives. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the book is about MacPherson's pending marriage on five weeks notice (a year early) in order to attend a royal tea in England.
While the writing style was charming enough, even frequently witty, the almost total lack of a plot, the complete superficiality of the characters, and the "who cares" reaction all that engendered did little to endear either the author or her work, assuming this one is representative, to this reader. The "Cat Who" books by comparison are probably more entertaining and just as meaty, read that "fluffy!" While we won't chalk this up as a complete waste of time, it's really a stretch to consider this a mystery. We'd say this might be a good choice for those that find Janet Evanovich just a little too intellectual!!!
It's amazing how reminiscent is this book of Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series, in which Judge Knott usually presides over a light mystery as an excuse for 250 pages of southern folksy chit chat. In "Knot", it's the same thing with the leading lady, Elizabeth MacPherson. Liz is a forensic pathologist, a profession apparently in vogue given the Kathy Reichs series of books and TV show "Bones". However, MacPherson is really little more than an amateur sleuth whose plying of her trade in this book lasts about five minutes while she informs an enquiring mind that an urn full of ashes is a mix of human and animal bone fragments that appears to be the leftovers from a crematorium. The only excuse for a mystery is to be found in why another character was misled into thinking her husband was dead, only to have him show up at a morgue in California some five years later (again!). It turns out a frustrated travel agent turned crook was providing false disappearance proof (ashes) for people who wanted to get lost from their current lives. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the book is about MacPherson's pending marriage on five weeks notice (a year early) in order to attend a royal tea in England.
While the writing style was charming enough, even frequently witty, the almost total lack of a plot, the complete superficiality of the characters, and the "who cares" reaction all that engendered did little to endear either the author or her work, assuming this one is representative, to this reader. The "Cat Who" books by comparison are probably more entertaining and just as meaty, read that "fluffy!" While we won't chalk this up as a complete waste of time, it's really a stretch to consider this a mystery. We'd say this might be a good choice for those that find Janet Evanovich just a little too intellectual!!!
April 17, 2019
A very funny book that will make you laugh out loud! Cameron Dawson gets invited to tea with the Queen and his fiancée, Elizabeth McPherson really wants to be able to attend the event with him. But they must be married first. Planning a wedding in three weeks (with her super organized Aunt Amanda’s help, of course). leaves little time for detecting. Sheriff Wesley Rountree and Deputy Clay Taylor investigate the case of a twice dead victim and Elizabeth assists by examining bone fragments in a funerary urn. Crematorium fraud, goofy vegetarian hippie caterers, and Elizabeth’s zany relatives add to the fun.
April 18, 2014
This was more boring than I thought it was going to be. I thought there would be more about murder but it didn't really happen in this one. The best part was definitely the bit about the gnome running on vacations. I would have like to see more of her cousin trying to get married. This is more about getting married than the actual murder. Out of all the book in the series I would say that this is the worst so far.
November 24, 2022
Rather quick read. Pleasing characters and I was not able to determine the solution to the mystery until the end.
Favorite passage: Upon reflection, he decided that he rather liked the fact that Elizabeth cared so passionately about things. Enthusiasm was something he generally lacked, having always be a bit of a plodder. He found it intoxicating to be with someone whose emotions came in primary colors, rather than in his own muted shades of prudence, moderation, and practicality.
Favorite passage: Upon reflection, he decided that he rather liked the fact that Elizabeth cared so passionately about things. Enthusiasm was something he generally lacked, having always be a bit of a plodder. He found it intoxicating to be with someone whose emotions came in primary colors, rather than in his own muted shades of prudence, moderation, and practicality.
November 1, 2017
A nice, short (200+ pgs) mystery with little blood – not even a murder until almost the end. This is the 7th or 8th book in this Elizabeth MacPherson series because when it opens, Elizabeth is about to get married. Elizabeth, and American, is studying to get her PhD in Forensic Anthropology, and is engaged to marry Scottish Dr. Cameron Dawson, a marine biologist who saved some seals from dying and has thus been invited to the Queen’s Royal Garden Party in Edinburgh, Scotland. Currently he is home in Scotland on break from his teaching position in Virginia. The problem is that his fiancé Elizabeth is enraptured with the British Monarchy…. And the only way she could accompany him to the Garden party is if they are married. As you might guess, the wedding which had been planned to be in a year, now is to take place in 3 weeks. Can Elizabeth’s Aunt Augusta pull everything together? Will there be complications? (of course, this is a mystery novel)…. A fun quick read.
May 16, 2019
Dated but Timeless
Sharyn McCrumb has managed to develop some truly memorable characters. The antics they get up to are priceless. The central mystery, while not truly center stage in the book, is both intriguing and satisfying in its development. Everyone contributes in their own way. Even the garden gnome helps to provide his own little mystery.
I snickered from cover to cover. While one of the key elements is meeting the royals, the novel is dominated by a wacky transatlantic relationship with some well-crafted mysteries thrown in. The dialog is quite clever and the action seems to dodge and weave where you would least expect it.
The only element that somewhat dates the work is the reference to Princess Diana, She was quite alive, well and living the fairy tale at the time of writing. An unfortunate consequence of weaving fiction with some reality. Don't let that stop you from enjoying this hilarious masterpiece.
August 29, 2020
This is one of Edgar Award-winning author Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson cozy mystery series. American doctoral student Elizabeth MacPerson is in a long-distance relationship with her fiance, a Scotsman and marine biologist named Cameron Dawson. When Dawson is honored for his work saving seals with an invitation to queen's royal tea, royalty enthusiast is thrilled and wants to attend with him. But guests aren't allowed -- only spouses. Elizabeth rushes the wedding plans forward, but is drawn into a mystery when a local widow learns her husband has died -- the same husband reported dead years ago.
This is a well-crafted and well-written book, on the "light reading" end of the spectrum. A fun read although a little dated (released in 1990 at the height of the Princess Diana obsession).
This is a well-crafted and well-written book, on the "light reading" end of the spectrum. A fun read although a little dated (released in 1990 at the height of the Princess Diana obsession).
September 17, 2019
I thought that I had read at least one book by McCrumb previously but I cannot seem to find it now. This one was a fun little romp in for an Anglophile such as myself (even though it is technically set in the American deep south). It was a wee bit heartbreaking to read of Lady Diana when she was still so young, but it was also nostalgic. I am not certain that I have much of a desire to read any more of her mysteries but I did find McCrumb's short story collection "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in my personal stacks, which is said to contain some decent creepy stories, so I am going to give that one a shot as I am in a mood for atmospheric stories at the moment.
November 10, 2020
Cameron and Elizabeth move up the wedding to allow Elizabeth to see her namesake Quenn Elizabeth of England. Her Aunt in Georgia is willing to plan and have the wedding. A widow of 5 years learns of the death of her husband only days ago. She has a death certificate, but yes it is her husband. Elizabeth inspects the remains and the investigation begins. Cousin Jeffery shines in this particular account. It is kight commical fare and enjoyable for what it is.
January 18, 2022
I'm not sure I should even classify this as a mystery, since the mystery did not even appear until half-way through the book, and seemed to be less important than protagonist Elizabeth McPherson's obsession with the English royal family and her wedding. Incidentally, the motive for the murder was never explained--unless I missed it somehow? However, I'm still giving it three stars for some fairly funny moments.
December 20, 2017
This is 3 1/2. I love this series, and this is a fun book. It is the one that made me want to go back and revisit even earlier ones, and maybe a few I didn't get to? And it reinforced that for me the best character is Geoffrey Chandler. I think the reason I didn't care much for Paying the Piper was his absence. Anyway, I love these books and will be ordering the entire series.
August 5, 2018
Unusual crime:
If the husband was just killed in a car accident in California, then whose ashes have been sitting on the mantle for five years, supposedly of the same man killed in a car accident in California five years ago?
Will the wedding ever take place? Will they get to see the Queen for tea at Holyrood?
If the husband was just killed in a car accident in California, then whose ashes have been sitting on the mantle for five years, supposedly of the same man killed in a car accident in California five years ago?
Will the wedding ever take place? Will they get to see the Queen for tea at Holyrood?
June 28, 2021
I had read all of Sharyn McCrumb’s Elizabeth McPherson series years ago, and remembered that I adored them when I ran across this one, and gave it a reread. Elizabeth finds out that she can have tea with the Queen of Scotland if she is married in 3 weeks. This is just a Hallmarky type, sweet little mystery, with a cast of comical characters. I may reread them all.
October 29, 2021
One of Sharon McCrumb's best books. There are several different story lines but they run side by side in a great and cohesive way. Several real chuckles as Elizabeth MacPherson and Cameron Dawson tie the knot a year early, so that Elizabeth can attend the Queen's Scottish tea. She has less than a month to rearrange all of the prior arrangements and hilarity follows
July 3, 2017
Fun, short book in the Elizabeth McPherson series depicting her crazy relatives and a garden gnome preparing for Elizaberh and Cameron's wedding. There is also the mystery of how aomeone died twice and who out of a pair of sisters is actually dead. Fun distraction, recommended.
July 10, 2018
This one kept me guessing until the end. The irony is I was as interested in the Gnome mystery as in the key story. You know it's a good find with the sub sub plot is as mysterious as the main story.
October 9, 2017
I found this a bit funnier than the others, but all of these books will have you laughing at some point. I am binge-reading this series and enjoying every minute.
May 1, 2020
Nice cosy mystery with a lot of humour throughout. Being Scottish, I picked up on a few inaccuracies, but great book.
May 11, 2024
Sharyn McCrumb is one of the most flexible writers I've ever read. She's able to pull of satire and humor like Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool. Her Elizabeth McPherson mysteries are great humor. Then you have her Ballad novels, elegant pieces of work which focus on life in a small town in Appalachia.
Her writings are laced with humor, heartbreak, tragedy and hope.
In the Windsor Knot, Elizabeth McPherson, graduate student in forensic anthropology, is informed by her fiance in Scotland that he's been invited in the Queen's Annual Tea Party in Edinburough (sp). However, fiances aren't included. Elizabeth decides to move their wedding up by a year so she can be married in time for the tea party. That's only a month away!
In the middle of all this, a local widow whose husband was killed in a car crash five years earlier gets a call from CHiPs telling her that her husband has just died in a car crash in California.
Things are getting busy.
This is a fun, light-hearted satire on Royal watching, obsessive brides, marriage, family intrigue. Always fun to read Sharyn McCrumb.
Her writings are laced with humor, heartbreak, tragedy and hope.
In the Windsor Knot, Elizabeth McPherson, graduate student in forensic anthropology, is informed by her fiance in Scotland that he's been invited in the Queen's Annual Tea Party in Edinburough (sp). However, fiances aren't included. Elizabeth decides to move their wedding up by a year so she can be married in time for the tea party. That's only a month away!
In the middle of all this, a local widow whose husband was killed in a car crash five years earlier gets a call from CHiPs telling her that her husband has just died in a car crash in California.
Things are getting busy.
This is a fun, light-hearted satire on Royal watching, obsessive brides, marriage, family intrigue. Always fun to read Sharyn McCrumb.
February 28, 2023
This is the first book I've read by this author, so maybe it wasn't the best place to start. The book was light on mystery and long on detail about the characters' personal lives, particularly Elizabeth MacPherson's wedding plans, moved up so that she can accompany her new husband to the Queen's garden party.
It seems a silly reason to rearrange a wedding schedule, and I'm not very interested in reading more about the royal family now. The references to the royal family are, of course, dated and a sad reminder of the fairy-tale quality Princess Diana's wedding once held.
I may try another book by this author, perhaps the first in the series, but I don't recommend this one as a starting point.
It seems a silly reason to rearrange a wedding schedule, and I'm not very interested in reading more about the royal family now. The references to the royal family are, of course, dated and a sad reminder of the fairy-tale quality Princess Diana's wedding once held.
I may try another book by this author, perhaps the first in the series, but I don't recommend this one as a starting point.
August 5, 2021
Well, I finished it. That makes it better than some of the books I have started this year. But this was supposed to be a murder mystery, and there was no murder until 75% of the way through the book. The rest of the plot was fine, I guess, but I just didn’t care about Elizabeth Macpherson’s wedding planning, which is what most of the book turned out to be.
July 1, 2017
Good book
This is an interesting group of characters.
I wasn't able to get the 3rd book on kindle so didn't read it and skipped to book 4. I think that I lost some of the details but still was able to follow along.
This is an interesting group of characters.
I wasn't able to get the 3rd book on kindle so didn't read it and skipped to book 4. I think that I lost some of the details but still was able to follow along.
Read
April 15, 2020An Elizabeth MacPherson mystery--she marries in a hurry in order to get an invitation to tea with the queen. The requisite murder mystery seem somewhat contrived and shoehorned in, but McCrumb is a good writer and I enjoy her tales anyway.
May 20, 2017
Funny, charming and entertaining.
December 8, 2018
A light, fun two and a half star read.
March 22, 2019
A fun read with a lot of silliness and a happy ending.
May 30, 2019
Hmmmm.....easy, quick. Okay nothing spectacular.
July 21, 2019
Light mystery fun...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews