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Elizabeth MacPherson #8
If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him...
"Whenever Sharyn McCrumb suits up her amateur detective, Elizabeth MacPherson, it's pretty certain that a trip is in the offing and that something deadly funny will happen on the road."
--The New York Times Book Review
Now, the author of She Walks These Hills brings her storytelling gifts to a novel about crimes committed a century apart.
For forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson, solving mysteries hardly seems the fun it used to be--even if she is the official private investigator for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm. Then Bill and his feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, take on two complex cases that will require Elizabeth's special participation.
Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his beautiful late-model wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan finds herself married to a Bible-thumping bigamist who has the nerve to die in circumstances that implicate his wife.
A. P. does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career.
As questions of wife abuse and abandonment emerge in the court of public opinion, Elizabeth becomes a war correspondent in the battle of the sexes--a battle as old as the hills and unlikely to reach a truce any time soon....
--The New York Times Book Review
Now, the author of She Walks These Hills brings her storytelling gifts to a novel about crimes committed a century apart.
For forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson, solving mysteries hardly seems the fun it used to be--even if she is the official private investigator for her brother Bill's fledgling Virginia law firm. Then Bill and his feminist firebrand partner, A. P. Hill, take on two complex cases that will require Elizabeth's special participation.
Eleanor Royden, a perfect lawyer's wife for twenty years, has shot her ex-husband and his beautiful late-model wife in cold blood. And Donna Jean Morgan finds herself married to a Bible-thumping bigamist who has the nerve to die in circumstances that implicate his wife.
A. P. does her damnedest for Eleanor, an abused wife in denial, and Bill gallantly defends Donna Jean. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's forensic expertise, including her special knowledge of poisons, gives her the most challenging case of her career.
As questions of wife abuse and abandonment emerge in the court of public opinion, Elizabeth becomes a war correspondent in the battle of the sexes--a battle as old as the hills and unlikely to reach a truce any time soon....
180 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 1995
87 people are currently reading
785 people want to read
About the author
Sharyn McCrumb
116 books1,133 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 159 reviews
May 20, 2016
I loved this book. I first listened to the audio book years ago in the midst of my divorce.
It has wonderful information and history about arsenic uses and poisoning. At one point it discusses pine coffins and corpses who were prepared with arsenic.
My X was still living at home and got quieter and quieter as I listened to the story. Just before the end of the book my parents brought my childhood toy box over for my kids. It was a long pine box with a lid. He left the next day. Once I realized why I made sure to have sugar cookies whenever he came over. I'd turn the plate just as he was choosing.
We make our fun where we can.
5 stars.
It has wonderful information and history about arsenic uses and poisoning. At one point it discusses pine coffins and corpses who were prepared with arsenic.
My X was still living at home and got quieter and quieter as I listened to the story. Just before the end of the book my parents brought my childhood toy box over for my kids. It was a long pine box with a lid. He left the next day. Once I realized why I made sure to have sugar cookies whenever he came over. I'd turn the plate just as he was choosing.
We make our fun where we can.
5 stars.
June 15, 2011
This fiction novel, published in 1995, focuses on three Southern USA women who have been controlled and emotionally abused by their husbands. One woman was portrayed around the time of the Civil War, and the other two are modern day (although to a Yankee like myself, these two gals still seemed to have ideas of wifehood that my grandmother progressed beyond in 1920. Sorry to any Southern sisters I may have offended.)
I like that this novel portrays a bizarre portrait of humanity. From Eleanor Royden, who has no conscience whatsoever about offing her mid-life-crisis ex-husband and his young trophy wife (Betty Broderick, anyone?), to Donna Jean Morgan, who believed her skirt-chasing Elvis-lookalike preacher of a husband when he said God approved of bigamny (in whose world is anyone stupid enough to believe this? I sympathized with Donna Jean only because she clearly has the intellect of the cement in my carport, and is incapable of an intelligent thought). To Miri Malone, who is in love with a dolphin named Porky at a Florida water park and wants sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson's lawyer brother, Bill, to get the civil right in order.
Sharyn McCrumb is an amazing writer. Bravo!
I like that this novel portrays a bizarre portrait of humanity. From Eleanor Royden, who has no conscience whatsoever about offing her mid-life-crisis ex-husband and his young trophy wife (Betty Broderick, anyone?), to Donna Jean Morgan, who believed her skirt-chasing Elvis-lookalike preacher of a husband when he said God approved of bigamny (in whose world is anyone stupid enough to believe this? I sympathized with Donna Jean only because she clearly has the intellect of the cement in my carport, and is incapable of an intelligent thought). To Miri Malone, who is in love with a dolphin named Porky at a Florida water park and wants sleuth Elizabeth MacPherson's lawyer brother, Bill, to get the civil right in order.
Sharyn McCrumb is an amazing writer. Bravo!
March 2, 2010
Sharyn McCrumb is a favourite author who caught me by surprise with this book. This is from the Elizabeth MacPherson, forensic anthropologist series. Elizabeth is still mourning her husband lost at sea in Scotland, or maybe he is not, we have no idea if he is dead or alive. Elizabeth keeps writing letters to him regardless, but of course she just hides them away. This story brings her back to Virginia when her brother Bill invites Elizabeth to join him and his partner A.J. Hill, offering her work in their small and struggling office of MacPherson & Hill Attorneys at Law. He hopes she will be able to get her life sorted out and overcome her grief. These three are the main characters consistent to the series.
Three very strange cases come up within hours of each other, so there is soon plenty to occupy all of them and the receptionist Edith, too. At the same time, their recently divorced mother has moved in with a "room-mate", causing misunderstandings and concern to her two offspring, including a hilarious get-together to meet her room-mate and new friends.
A fairly strange story line that keeps one reading, and some interesting facts turn up in research. There are many sides to this story and with a feminist like A.J. involved it becomes just plain traumatic with all three cases befuddling and frustrating at every twist and turn. Reading this book is like falling down the rabbit hole, and just as entertaining. Sharyn is one of a few authors I can’t get enough of. 4½ stars
Note: Sharyn is probably best-known for her Ballad series, with a new book scheduled to come out in June 2010: “The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel ”. She also writes a very funny series featuring NASCAR drivers with the third book “Faster Pastor” recently released. Not to mention an early Bimbos of the Death Sun sci-fi series.
Three very strange cases come up within hours of each other, so there is soon plenty to occupy all of them and the receptionist Edith, too. At the same time, their recently divorced mother has moved in with a "room-mate", causing misunderstandings and concern to her two offspring, including a hilarious get-together to meet her room-mate and new friends.
A fairly strange story line that keeps one reading, and some interesting facts turn up in research. There are many sides to this story and with a feminist like A.J. involved it becomes just plain traumatic with all three cases befuddling and frustrating at every twist and turn. Reading this book is like falling down the rabbit hole, and just as entertaining. Sharyn is one of a few authors I can’t get enough of. 4½ stars
Note: Sharyn is probably best-known for her Ballad series, with a new book scheduled to come out in June 2010: “The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel ”. She also writes a very funny series featuring NASCAR drivers with the third book “Faster Pastor” recently released. Not to mention an early Bimbos of the Death Sun sci-fi series.
February 13, 2018
I can see why the book, If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him... by Elizabeth McPherson won the Agatha Award for best novel of 1995. It answers all women's favorite mystery novel questions: How can you stop a man who won't take no for an answer?; How to poison with arsenic and get away with it; The easy way and the hard way to keep peace with a tyrant; ... AND... If a male dolphin really wants to have sex with you, should you let him? I know that last question is not really a classic mystery but hey the shocking answer is in this book and hard to erase from memory.
March 12, 2022
Great storyline with a variety of characters and innuendos to make you laugh aloud. McCrumb brings out the sad part of abuse, not just physical but mental, that tends to be overlooked in marital relationships, which may lead to serious consequences.
August 29, 2017
This is one of the funniest books I have ever read! I have had two friends who were in, or leaving, abusive relationships, and they found this novel hugely cathartic.
Be aware that this is VERY dark humor. Don't hand it to your 12-year-old, even if they can read it. If you do not care for edgy humor, this may not be your book. I won't go into plot and spoil it. Sharyn McCrumb generally writes mysteries (but not always) and they are set in her Appalachian homeland. (The middle a is soft, as in "apple", which I did not know before reading her books, and it is somewhat offensive to locals when tourists shrug and announce that THEY pronounce it the OTHER way, as if this somehow legitimized a mispronunciation. Most of us have an area near our home that is frequently mispronounced. Be kind, if you go there). Her wit is searing, and made me laugh out loud in places.
McCrumb's background is Scottish, and this often makes its way into her books, though not so much this one.
If this looks general, it is because I am introducing you to the book AND the writer, if you have not read her. I won't do any other reviews for her books, which I like; as far as I'm concerned, this is her best work so far. If you have a taste for mysteries and gallows humor (and perhaps more for women than men), give yourself a treat and read the book.
Post Script: I wrote this review in 2012, which is when I began using Goodreads. Since then I've embarked on a retirement gig as a professional reader, and I recently read and reviewed McCrumb's latest, The Unquiet Grave, which is even better than anything she has previously written.
McCrumb has not yet been made a Grand Master within the mystery genre, and this title should get those drums beating loud enough to make others notice.
Be aware that this is VERY dark humor. Don't hand it to your 12-year-old, even if they can read it. If you do not care for edgy humor, this may not be your book. I won't go into plot and spoil it. Sharyn McCrumb generally writes mysteries (but not always) and they are set in her Appalachian homeland. (The middle a is soft, as in "apple", which I did not know before reading her books, and it is somewhat offensive to locals when tourists shrug and announce that THEY pronounce it the OTHER way, as if this somehow legitimized a mispronunciation. Most of us have an area near our home that is frequently mispronounced. Be kind, if you go there). Her wit is searing, and made me laugh out loud in places.
McCrumb's background is Scottish, and this often makes its way into her books, though not so much this one.
If this looks general, it is because I am introducing you to the book AND the writer, if you have not read her. I won't do any other reviews for her books, which I like; as far as I'm concerned, this is her best work so far. If you have a taste for mysteries and gallows humor (and perhaps more for women than men), give yourself a treat and read the book.
Post Script: I wrote this review in 2012, which is when I began using Goodreads. Since then I've embarked on a retirement gig as a professional reader, and I recently read and reviewed McCrumb's latest, The Unquiet Grave, which is even better than anything she has previously written.
McCrumb has not yet been made a Grand Master within the mystery genre, and this title should get those drums beating loud enough to make others notice.
January 20, 2008
Another white-trash delicacy. This book is one in a series, but it started my obsession with Sharyn McCrumb who is one of the best Appalachian writers currently working. She's funny, she has wild imagination and, most of all, she incredibly talented.
This is a story of polygamy. Some backwoods preacher gets it in his head that God has told him to marry again after he sees some sweet thang staring up at him from the pews. (Honestly, the joke opportunities are limitless and McCrumb takes some serious pot-shots.)Then, while building a house for the new wife, the preacher drops dead. He's been poisoned by cyanide. The old wife swears she's innocent, but she certainly has opportunity and motive.
Follow this up with: Zombies of the Gene Pool, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The Rosewood Casket and some of her short story collections. Foggy Mountain Breakdown is an especially good one. If you've never read Appalachian literature before, or you are not from this area, this is a good place to start.
This is a story of polygamy. Some backwoods preacher gets it in his head that God has told him to marry again after he sees some sweet thang staring up at him from the pews. (Honestly, the joke opportunities are limitless and McCrumb takes some serious pot-shots.)Then, while building a house for the new wife, the preacher drops dead. He's been poisoned by cyanide. The old wife swears she's innocent, but she certainly has opportunity and motive.
Follow this up with: Zombies of the Gene Pool, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The Rosewood Casket and some of her short story collections. Foggy Mountain Breakdown is an especially good one. If you've never read Appalachian literature before, or you are not from this area, this is a good place to start.
March 22, 2012
Luckily this is the last book in this series that I have. I won't be buying the others.
At the first, when I realized there was multiple related stories all told together, I was really happy. That's how my favorite Ballad novels were told - many intertwined stories in a single narrative, all variations on a theme. I should have recalled that it's an Elizabeth McPherson mystery, where nothing gets taken seriously -- to the point where it becomes a farce.
So, I started with low expectations, worked my way up to high hopes, then had those hopes dashed to the ground, trod on and jeered at by political lesbians and a woman having amorous feelings for a dolphin.
Sigh.
At the first, when I realized there was multiple related stories all told together, I was really happy. That's how my favorite Ballad novels were told - many intertwined stories in a single narrative, all variations on a theme. I should have recalled that it's an Elizabeth McPherson mystery, where nothing gets taken seriously -- to the point where it becomes a farce.
So, I started with low expectations, worked my way up to high hopes, then had those hopes dashed to the ground, trod on and jeered at by political lesbians and a woman having amorous feelings for a dolphin.
Sigh.
December 10, 2016
The dolphin plot and Bill's enthusiastic treatment of it really kept this from being more of a typical vaguely entertaining mystery novel. Was its resolution meant to be funny? Just, no. This was my first McCrumb book, so I'm honestly not sure if we are meant to infer some anti-LGBT sentiment from the book. The dolphin bit seemed too close to homophobes' absurd pearl-clutching about "if gay people can get married what's next?" and the professor/mom situation seemed to position intellectuals and LGBT folks as insincere - and their allies as taken in by a scam.
July 28, 2011
There are as many reasons for murder as there are murderers. What these women have in common are cruel and abusive husbands. Is murder ever justified? And can you get away with it? In her captivating manner of story-telling, Sharon McCrumb explores these issues. Grounded in reality and history, this fiction read will keep you turning pages. Put yourself in the place of these women . . . or on the jury. What would you do?
March 4, 2019
A quick and fun read, witty and entertaining, covering three different murder mysteries. Although not a comedy at all, in places you laugh out loud, and others you wrinkle your brow and shake your head. The writer's style and main characters are enjoyable and interesting enough in this her #8th to make me want to backtrack to read the 1st installment of this Elizabeth MacPherson novel series.
Want to read
March 23, 2019Synopsis: brother Bill and his feminist partner take on two complex cases that will require Elizabeth MacPherson's forensic skills. Both murders.
November 4, 2021
Intriguing plot--or multiple plots, all interesting. The characters are well-drawn and although there are some serious topics here, the tone is lightened with humor, occasionally verging on farce.
November 20, 2021
Delightful ...
June 27, 2021
I want to start off by saying I'm a huge fan of Sharyn McCrumb. In general, I find her books to have a very good voice and tie together beautifully.
But apparently 2021 is the year of feeling personal betrayal by my favorite authors, as this is the second time I've excitedly checked out a book from one of my favorites, only to feel gutpunched by their contents.
The lesbian side plot starts out rough, with hope for a story of acceptance or an interesting perspective on those not involved in the so called "battle of the sexes" the book references in the different crimes it analyzes. As a lesbian, I continued reading with nervous excitement, surprised my identity had featured in one of these stories, and wary of what it might become. Unfortunately, the wariness was correct. Every stereotype is abound in this book, with every queer character being some kind of joke. Multiple gender-reassignment surgery jokes are made too, sometimes out of the blue, as if being transgender would be a great punchline. A woman who wants to marry a dolphin is even included in the book's queer community, in a way that makes it come off as if marrying a dolphin is the same as marrying another woman.
And don't get me started on the dolphin side-plot outside of its potentially homophobic interpretations. I was 2/3 of the way through, trying to at least get to the end and unlock the mysteries that actually compelled me to finish, but the dolphin story would just not stop! Aside from every basic complaint that comes to mind remembering it, the subplot makes a very heavy-handed takeaway of the book's themes. It was painful to get through; I kept yelling at Bill for wasting his time on it.
If not for a dolphin and a litany of bad LGBT representation done for comedic(?) value, I might have enjoyed this story. McCrumb always does a great job of blending histories through multiple plotlines, and I do deeply enjoy her ballad style novels most of the time.
SPOILER BELOW:
Her mother or her mother's so called partner aren't revealed at the end to be faking lesbianism anyways. Apparently being a lesbian gets you all kinds of positive attention and rewards at your workplace, which is news to me, because all I usually get is discrimination or very poor-taste questions about my identity.
But apparently 2021 is the year of feeling personal betrayal by my favorite authors, as this is the second time I've excitedly checked out a book from one of my favorites, only to feel gutpunched by their contents.
The lesbian side plot starts out rough, with hope for a story of acceptance or an interesting perspective on those not involved in the so called "battle of the sexes" the book references in the different crimes it analyzes. As a lesbian, I continued reading with nervous excitement, surprised my identity had featured in one of these stories, and wary of what it might become. Unfortunately, the wariness was correct. Every stereotype is abound in this book, with every queer character being some kind of joke. Multiple gender-reassignment surgery jokes are made too, sometimes out of the blue, as if being transgender would be a great punchline. A woman who wants to marry a dolphin is even included in the book's queer community, in a way that makes it come off as if marrying a dolphin is the same as marrying another woman.
And don't get me started on the dolphin side-plot outside of its potentially homophobic interpretations. I was 2/3 of the way through, trying to at least get to the end and unlock the mysteries that actually compelled me to finish, but the dolphin story would just not stop! Aside from every basic complaint that comes to mind remembering it, the subplot makes a very heavy-handed takeaway of the book's themes. It was painful to get through; I kept yelling at Bill for wasting his time on it.
If not for a dolphin and a litany of bad LGBT representation done for comedic(?) value, I might have enjoyed this story. McCrumb always does a great job of blending histories through multiple plotlines, and I do deeply enjoy her ballad style novels most of the time.
SPOILER BELOW:
Her mother or her mother's so called partner aren't revealed at the end to be faking lesbianism anyways. Apparently being a lesbian gets you all kinds of positive attention and rewards at your workplace, which is news to me, because all I usually get is discrimination or very poor-taste questions about my identity.
January 3, 2015
One of the best mystery stories I ever read and I love the title. This novel is one that remains with you for many years. I think I want to re-read it as I am mentioning it in my blog www.BestBooksByBeth.com as an example of complex characters. Both Eleanor Royden and Donna Jean Morgan are accused wives who have interesting stories to defend. You do not need to read the first Elizabeth MacPherson mystery in the series to appreciate this one.If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him...Sharyn McCrumb
October 30, 2021
I love this book. Three women face divorce in different ways. One tries to remain married in spite of the fact that he has decided he needs two wives, one is trying to decide what to do now that she is divorced, and one has murdered her ex-husband and his new wife. In the background is the death in the 1860's of a yanky who has married a very young confederate wife and is poisoned, Almost everyone is sure that she killed him, but can't quite figure out how she could have possibly done it. If you don't cry at the end of this book, you need to look around to see where you misplaced your heart.
September 26, 2010
Wow! I've found a new Southern author that gives great stories, unusual characters and out-loud chuckles! A friend recommended her books. Am I ever glad! I chose this one to read first because it has lawyers and its a mystery. Now my lawyer husband wants to read this because he kept hearing me laughing out-loud. I learned some unusual facts in this story. All I have to say is watch out for dolphins.
November 8, 2010
I love McCrumb's characters. They're fully realized and a joy to read. About the only thing I didn't like was one of the cases taken on in this book. Eleanor felt a little too much like Betty Broderick. I like my mysteries when the victims are unknown to me. I knew too much about the Broderick case and it made me really uncomfortable. While I figured out the ending before I got there - it was really a fun ride.
July 8, 2016
Men are beasts. That is the overriding message in Sharyn McCrumb's "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him . . ." Eleanor Royden shoots and kills her ex-husband, a powerful lawyer who robbed her of everything when they split, and his bimbo new wife. Donna Jean Morgan has a husband, a preacher, who has decided God wants him to have a sweet, young thing as a second wife. He winds up dead. Men are beasts, but at least they have the decency to die . . . except for Porky. He lives.
March 12, 2021
I had been wanting to read one of her books, and now I have. Not to my taste. The overall tone brought me a small amount of despair. I need some positive feelings in the books that I read. This one read a bit like an angry white man who tells jokes meant to advance his agenda. Funny, right? No, not even if I agree with the agenda.
September 29, 2016
This was a very interesting murder mystery -- but a little "out there" at times! It will make for good discussion tonight at book club -- especially in the area of gender roles, gender bias, and marriage.
February 11, 2023
I’m glad for the sake of this series that it only has one more book in it. It seems to be running on fumes. It uses the now-tiresome technique of disclosing facts relevant during the civil war, then disclosing facts relevant to the late 20th century. Granted, it all comes together, but I’m tired of the trope for the most part.
Forensic Anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson is back home in Virginia. She presumes her Scottish husband, a marine biologist, drowned somewhere in the North Sea where he went to do research. Naturally, she’s still hoping for his return, and she crafts rather sad and pathetic letters in hopes he’ll somehow get them. The letters are largely therapeutic since she never mails them.
Her parents continue down the divorce track. It appears that Mom has gone full-on lesbian, and who can say what Dad is up to? Elizabeth’s older brother, Bill, is practicing law with a flaming feminist lawyer named Amy Hill. She insists on going by A. P. Hill. Hill gets the unenviable job of defending a divorced woman who shot her husband and his new trophy wife to death, and Bill takes on a client who wants to marry a male dolphin who lives and works in a Florida amusement park. Another of Bill’s clients is married to a bigamist who insists God told him to marry the 16-year-old girl in his congregation while staying married to his 50-something-year-old first wife. He suddenly dies while remodeling a house, and it’s up to Elizabeth to figure out how that happened.
This is less humorous than I would have liked, and it was oh so predictable! You could tell less than halfway through how much of it would turn out. I nonchalantly knocked it off during a Saturday morning treadmill session. I’ll read the final book in the series, but don’t look for that review for six months or so. If all goes well in my life otherwise, I expect I’ll get to it by August.
Forensic Anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson is back home in Virginia. She presumes her Scottish husband, a marine biologist, drowned somewhere in the North Sea where he went to do research. Naturally, she’s still hoping for his return, and she crafts rather sad and pathetic letters in hopes he’ll somehow get them. The letters are largely therapeutic since she never mails them.
Her parents continue down the divorce track. It appears that Mom has gone full-on lesbian, and who can say what Dad is up to? Elizabeth’s older brother, Bill, is practicing law with a flaming feminist lawyer named Amy Hill. She insists on going by A. P. Hill. Hill gets the unenviable job of defending a divorced woman who shot her husband and his new trophy wife to death, and Bill takes on a client who wants to marry a male dolphin who lives and works in a Florida amusement park. Another of Bill’s clients is married to a bigamist who insists God told him to marry the 16-year-old girl in his congregation while staying married to his 50-something-year-old first wife. He suddenly dies while remodeling a house, and it’s up to Elizabeth to figure out how that happened.
This is less humorous than I would have liked, and it was oh so predictable! You could tell less than halfway through how much of it would turn out. I nonchalantly knocked it off during a Saturday morning treadmill session. I’ll read the final book in the series, but don’t look for that review for six months or so. If all goes well in my life otherwise, I expect I’ll get to it by August.
July 11, 2015
My first Elizabeth MacPherson novel, I think, because I haven't quite grasped her character. This book seemed almost like a collection of short stories until it pulled together a grieving girl friend or wife, an unsolved local murder shortly after the civil war and a budding law practice, MacPherson and Hill. Although most of the characters are MacPhersons, I felt like AP Hill the attorney was the most focused character in terms of getting to know her. The law practice is handling two current murderers. A dowdy woman, Donna Jean, whose husband has dropped dead of arsenic poisoning is William's case while A.P. Hill is defending Eleanor Royden. She is the ex wife of a powerful attorney, very ex because she went and shot her husband and his new wife as they slept. He and "Gisele" had humiliated Eleanor, through legal means but still quite viciously. She plummeted from being a trophy wife serving her husbands career to living in a small apartment furnished from the Goodwill, working for a living, alienated from her social set. AP gets the case because none of the local attorneys, friends of the recently decease want to take her case. They don't understand or don't want to understand how weak little Eleanor suddenly snapped because it makes them nervous at the breakfast table. AP does understand her wise cracking client, but is concerned about how she can defend her. William on the other hand takes on Donna Jean before Chevry keels over. She's trying to compel her husband to leave his second "wife" a 16 year old he's picked out of his church congregation on a divinely inspired revelation that God grants him the right to polygamy. As the wronged party, living with a teenager her husband is bedding, she's the most likely suspect. The case is complicated because she is the descendent of Lucy Todhunter, a woman who walked from a murder charge after the War. I won't go any further with spoilers, and instead turn to the characters I've placed and add a few more.
Eleanor is under care by a psychiatrist who is trying to help her cope with the loss of her beloved Cameron. Her brother is struggling with his storefront law firm, graced by his colleague AP Hill, a high octane partner. He's willing to hire his sister, Dr. MacPherson because she's s forensic anthropologist and because his sister needs work. She needs it not only financially, she needs it emotionally. But her major distraction comes when her mother announces over lunch that she's become a political lesbian and is now involved with a university professor, Dr.Casey. Eleanor is squeamish at this late in life transition to such a radical departure from housewife and mother, another startling development life has thrown at her. William seems to be oblivious at the academic saturated house party her mother throws to celebrate her new domestic circle. McCrumb satirizes the college folk in way that reminds me of the film "Citizen Ruth" spoofing the activists. McCrumb certainly has insight into the promotional politics of universities, and the diet of the ultra -radical. If she wasn't so even handed at dishing the back woods minister with two wives her analysis of retirement conversion might seem less than accepting, but she's pulling an Eleanor Royden move here. The acknowledged murderess makes a speech about Southern women, who turn things that upset them into jokes so they can continue smiling, passing at out of earshot range as happy women. For those within hearing distance it becomes entertaining, or tiresome depending on the gifts of the storyteller. But Eleanor betrays herself in her stand up comedy routine-she no longer knows how she feels about the late Mr. Royden, and seems unclear that he's really gone gone gone. She's joked herself out of her real emotions. We don't clearly know how Eleanor feels about her mother shacking up with Casey, and no real idea how McCrumb feels about the rise of the gay community.
What we are clearly presented is that the traditional women, Lucy the poisoner, her great granddaughter Donna Jean, Eleanor Royden the murderess are all traditional women accused of murder. Lucy case resolves itself on an incline, the way a voice rises in question. Did she murder her husband? McCrumb seems to convict her on the grounds that her husband's insistence on getting an heir quickly granted her the motive to kill Toddhunter, lest she die by too many miscarriages. She has motive, arguably self defense today, and means and opportunity. But did she know what would happen? Here we get into an interesting piece of medical history which I'll leave to the novel, but I am still a little incredulous about Lucy medical comprehension. It does bring up the question about Viagra- are women as happy about that as men? Does it lead to more divorces if the male climatic is enhanced by a little blue pill? Donna Jean seems too stupid to be a poisoner and is still in love with the idiot she married. Arsenic is now a controlled substance, so how does it get into Chevry? The second wife seems to be smarter, because she's tricked Donna Jean into taking on all the onerous housework, while she remains a "handmaiden" only. Again, the traditional obedient wife is the pariah, because the common folk see so clearly how she has motive for taking out the Reverend. Eleanor Royden, self acknowledged murderess is hard for people to understand, because they like her shark-like husband, who has always thrown a good party. They never thought about the means of how those dinner parties were staged, all the work of Eleanor. In her "liberated" state, post divorce poverty she has become a loose-tongued raconteur who makes everyone uncomfortable with her barely veiled anger. No one wants to look at the common betrayal of the aging wife, or contemplate that she might become murderous if pressed too far. Even a high society lady like Eleanor. So various forms of betrayal endured by women-being pressed into pregnancy, being betrayed by a secondary relationship and being dismissed from a marriage are presented as motives for murder. None of these characters were as creepy as murderess in Pretty Peggy-O, it's more like a survey on why women kill, beyond the obviously battered wife. Lucy has a good deal in common with the protagonist of one of the short stories I read, who shoots her husband after coming to the understanding that he has impregnated her as insurance that he will always be able to use the child to gain her compliance. In that story she arranges it to look like he's died from misadventure, and in Lucy's case she literally gives him a taste of his own medicine-neglect. I always enjoy her explorations of power dynamics, I just wish I was more deeply invested in these characters.
Eleanor is under care by a psychiatrist who is trying to help her cope with the loss of her beloved Cameron. Her brother is struggling with his storefront law firm, graced by his colleague AP Hill, a high octane partner. He's willing to hire his sister, Dr. MacPherson because she's s forensic anthropologist and because his sister needs work. She needs it not only financially, she needs it emotionally. But her major distraction comes when her mother announces over lunch that she's become a political lesbian and is now involved with a university professor, Dr.Casey. Eleanor is squeamish at this late in life transition to such a radical departure from housewife and mother, another startling development life has thrown at her. William seems to be oblivious at the academic saturated house party her mother throws to celebrate her new domestic circle. McCrumb satirizes the college folk in way that reminds me of the film "Citizen Ruth" spoofing the activists. McCrumb certainly has insight into the promotional politics of universities, and the diet of the ultra -radical. If she wasn't so even handed at dishing the back woods minister with two wives her analysis of retirement conversion might seem less than accepting, but she's pulling an Eleanor Royden move here. The acknowledged murderess makes a speech about Southern women, who turn things that upset them into jokes so they can continue smiling, passing at out of earshot range as happy women. For those within hearing distance it becomes entertaining, or tiresome depending on the gifts of the storyteller. But Eleanor betrays herself in her stand up comedy routine-she no longer knows how she feels about the late Mr. Royden, and seems unclear that he's really gone gone gone. She's joked herself out of her real emotions. We don't clearly know how Eleanor feels about her mother shacking up with Casey, and no real idea how McCrumb feels about the rise of the gay community.
What we are clearly presented is that the traditional women, Lucy the poisoner, her great granddaughter Donna Jean, Eleanor Royden the murderess are all traditional women accused of murder. Lucy case resolves itself on an incline, the way a voice rises in question. Did she murder her husband? McCrumb seems to convict her on the grounds that her husband's insistence on getting an heir quickly granted her the motive to kill Toddhunter, lest she die by too many miscarriages. She has motive, arguably self defense today, and means and opportunity. But did she know what would happen? Here we get into an interesting piece of medical history which I'll leave to the novel, but I am still a little incredulous about Lucy medical comprehension. It does bring up the question about Viagra- are women as happy about that as men? Does it lead to more divorces if the male climatic is enhanced by a little blue pill? Donna Jean seems too stupid to be a poisoner and is still in love with the idiot she married. Arsenic is now a controlled substance, so how does it get into Chevry? The second wife seems to be smarter, because she's tricked Donna Jean into taking on all the onerous housework, while she remains a "handmaiden" only. Again, the traditional obedient wife is the pariah, because the common folk see so clearly how she has motive for taking out the Reverend. Eleanor Royden, self acknowledged murderess is hard for people to understand, because they like her shark-like husband, who has always thrown a good party. They never thought about the means of how those dinner parties were staged, all the work of Eleanor. In her "liberated" state, post divorce poverty she has become a loose-tongued raconteur who makes everyone uncomfortable with her barely veiled anger. No one wants to look at the common betrayal of the aging wife, or contemplate that she might become murderous if pressed too far. Even a high society lady like Eleanor. So various forms of betrayal endured by women-being pressed into pregnancy, being betrayed by a secondary relationship and being dismissed from a marriage are presented as motives for murder. None of these characters were as creepy as murderess in Pretty Peggy-O, it's more like a survey on why women kill, beyond the obviously battered wife. Lucy has a good deal in common with the protagonist of one of the short stories I read, who shoots her husband after coming to the understanding that he has impregnated her as insurance that he will always be able to use the child to gain her compliance. In that story she arranges it to look like he's died from misadventure, and in Lucy's case she literally gives him a taste of his own medicine-neglect. I always enjoy her explorations of power dynamics, I just wish I was more deeply invested in these characters.
December 31, 2018
This is a rather strange book. There are three stories going on… one happening just after the Civil War, the other two are modern. Only the setting in Virginia connect the three until near the end of the book. I started this one several times before finally reading it. The setting for all stories is Virginia. In story One, a young woman marries a former Major in the Union Army when he returned to Virginia to start a business. She was less than half his age. –He made a point that everything was his and that she was to do his bidding. One day while there were visitors, her husband fell ill. She dutifully took care of him but he died a painful death. She was tried for murder, but the authorities could never figure out how she managed to poison him and she went free. In story two, (modern Virginia), A.P. Hill, is victim of the “old boys” network and is not respected even though she graduated with honors from law school. Her best friend, Elizabeth is a Forensic Anthropologist working as a secretary for the law firm while looking for work in her field. Now, Eleanor, former wife of a powerful lawyer needs a lawyer, even though she freely admits she shot her ex-husband and his new wife. No lawyer in town will touch the case – but A.P. decides she’ll do her best to prove that Eleanor was pushed to the brink by her ex-husband. In story three, A.P.’s partner, Bill, is asked to help a middle-aged not-well-educated woman whose husband, a self-ordained backwoods minister, has taken a young 16 year-old girl as a second wife. He has not, however, married her according to the laws of Virginia, just on his own interpretation of God’s will. ….. As I said, sort of confusing until the very end. It does make some great comments on women’s lib though
February 14, 2020
In many ways this is a comical book- by design, very subtle, very southern, but it's that brand of dark humour combined with dry wit and keen insight you will only find in certain parts of the south. It is a mostly sardonic look at marriage and adultery and the habitual shedding of the first wife for a younger newer model. There is a sharply funny skewering of academia's abandonment of the classics and the topsy turvy world of lesbianism as a political statement (It is really very clever, but if she published it today she'd be subjected to some nasty cancel culture from the alphabet soup cadre). Animal rights? It's here. Veganism? Addressed, and skewered. And more.
There are almost too many stories and issues packed into this title to follow them all. In some cases, there are too many to give proper attention to all of them. a historical mystery abe out the death by arsenic of a carpet bagging former Union officer shortly after the Civil War, the shooting of a powerful force in the community and his young trophy wife by his emotionally used and abused first wife, the death of a bigamist fundamentalist. There is a crime of an old geezer taking on a 16 year old girl as his second wife, although this story does not really give much attention to that aspect of the crime and treats the child as a willing tart. That bothered me.
The satire is not heavy handed, the characters are fascinating, the mysteries were not terribly difficult to spot , but still interesting.
There are almost too many stories and issues packed into this title to follow them all. In some cases, there are too many to give proper attention to all of them. a historical mystery abe out the death by arsenic of a carpet bagging former Union officer shortly after the Civil War, the shooting of a powerful force in the community and his young trophy wife by his emotionally used and abused first wife, the death of a bigamist fundamentalist. There is a crime of an old geezer taking on a 16 year old girl as his second wife, although this story does not really give much attention to that aspect of the crime and treats the child as a willing tart. That bothered me.
The satire is not heavy handed, the characters are fascinating, the mysteries were not terribly difficult to spot , but still interesting.
July 30, 2018
3.5 stars. This was the first novel by Sharyn McCrumb that I have read which was not part of her Ballad series. Although it is named as #8 in the Elizabeth MacPherson series, that character played a fairly minor role in the series and only in the last part of the novel did she finally generate some interest on my part.
The novel revolves around two young attorneys, Bill MacPherson and A.P. HIll, and outlandish clients they become involved with. One of them is Eleanor, a woman who has shot and killed her ex-husband and his new wife. Her husband was a hot shot lawyer and she can't trust any of the other lawyers in Roanoke to be impartial so she contacts A.P. Hill, a young woman only one year out of law school but a hard-core feminist. Another client is Donna Jean Morgan, whose husband has decided that God has directed him to take a second wife, 16 year old Tanya Faith. The third client is Mimi who wants to marry a dolphin. This is definitely the most hilarious part of the book.
The book starts out with a death that had taken place many years before involving Phillip Todhunter and his wife Lucy who was accused of poisoning him with arsenic but it could never be proven how it was done so she was acquitted.
There is a lot of humor to this book and it would fit into the modern category of cozy mysteries. McCrumb definitely has a way with using colorful phrases that make me smile.
The novel revolves around two young attorneys, Bill MacPherson and A.P. HIll, and outlandish clients they become involved with. One of them is Eleanor, a woman who has shot and killed her ex-husband and his new wife. Her husband was a hot shot lawyer and she can't trust any of the other lawyers in Roanoke to be impartial so she contacts A.P. Hill, a young woman only one year out of law school but a hard-core feminist. Another client is Donna Jean Morgan, whose husband has decided that God has directed him to take a second wife, 16 year old Tanya Faith. The third client is Mimi who wants to marry a dolphin. This is definitely the most hilarious part of the book.
The book starts out with a death that had taken place many years before involving Phillip Todhunter and his wife Lucy who was accused of poisoning him with arsenic but it could never be proven how it was done so she was acquitted.
There is a lot of humor to this book and it would fit into the modern category of cozy mysteries. McCrumb definitely has a way with using colorful phrases that make me smile.
June 21, 2018
A strong, very funny series mystery -- sort of what would come out if they did one of them lawyer shows (y'know, LA Law or Boston Legal, or the Good Wife), with the cast and writer of Steel Magnolias. For about 80% of the book, the primary mode is comedy, featuring smart, strong, funny specifically Southern women, and sort of things that drive them to distraction, and maybe even murder. The book threatens to get too cute in places, but stays grounded in reality. The explanations of the two mysteries both make sense, and the conclusions to the two other legal cases feel right. The shift in tone in the last pages towards something more serious is well handled, and makes the characters feel like something more than wise-ass jokesters.
Worth the time, and probably deserving of the awards. A comedy murder mystery is a hard thing to pull off, if only because killing is just not intrinsically hilarious. And this may have one of the best mystery titles ever.
Worth the time, and probably deserving of the awards. A comedy murder mystery is a hard thing to pull off, if only because killing is just not intrinsically hilarious. And this may have one of the best mystery titles ever.
October 5, 2017
This book was a bit jumbled and vague, and it took 2/3 of the book before the P.I./forensic anthropologist Elizabeth actually touched either case, despite the blurb on the back cover suggesting she was busy on both cases soon after starting work as a P.I. for her brother's law firm. Amy Hill(A.P. Hill) was a decent character, mostly, though a bit too brittle for my taste, but I suppose she could be believable enough considering she's a woman lawyer working in a town where most lawyers seem to be men. The cases were interesting, the investigation was very light on details, science or logic, and the bizarre family law case involving a dolphin was almost too cute to fit the rest of the novel. Still, it was a fun book.
August 21, 2019
This is the eighth book in the Elizabeth Mac Pherson series. I haven't read any other books in the series but I found this one enjoyable. Elizabeth is a forensic anthropologist who has been hired as an investigator at her brothers law firm while she's going through a rough patch. Her brother is defending a woman who is accused of poisoning her husband after he took a separate, illegal, wife. He's also representing a woman who wants to marry a dolphin. Meanwhile his partner is defending a woman who shot her ex-husband and his new wife. The book covers a lot of serious topics about feminism but there is plenty of humor too. I plan to look for more books in the series.
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